Swiss Chard with Raisins and Pine Nuts

Spinach with raisins and pine nuts is a classic Catalan dish that I’ve made several times as a side, with great results. I saw some great looking swiss chard at the store last weekend and thought the chard/pine nut/raisin combination would make a great side dish with the rest of our Spanish feast that night: a quick vegetable Fideau, roasted red peppers, and garlic shrimp.

I mostly followed a recipe in The Foods and Wines of Spain by Penelope Casas. The recipe calls for boiling the chard prior to sautéing, a step I found kind of unnecessary and think I would omit next time. I also tweaked a couple of things such as toasting the pine nuts prior to adding them to the dish.

Swiss Chard with Raisins and Pine Nuts
Adapted from The Foods and Wines of Spain by Penelope Casas

Ingredients

1/3 lb swiss chard (weight after stems removed)
Olive oil
1 large clove of garlic
1/4 c. chopped onion
1 Tbsp. raisins
1 Tbsp. pine nuts
Salt and pepper

Instructions

The recipe calls for dropping the leaves (with stems removed) into boiling water and cooking for 5 minutes. Then, she says to drain the leaves, put them back in the pot covered with cold water, bring them up to a boil, and let boil for an additional 10 minutes. Again, I would omit this and just sauté the chard for a little longer. This step might apply, though, if you’re using a heartier green, such as collards.

Meanwhile, I sautéed the onion and garlic in some olive oil. In a separate, dry skillet I toasted the pine nuts until just golden.

As the items on the stove were cooking, I poured some hot water over the raisins to soften them.

When the chard was cooked and the onion/garlic mixture soft, I added the chard to the skillet along with the toasted pine nuts and softened (drained) raisins. After seasoning with salt and pepper and sautéing for just a few minutes, it was ready to go.

As with the spinach, the bitter chard goes perfectly with the sweet raisins and the crunchy pine nuts. I’m not sure if the pictures does it justice (still working on my photography skills), but it is one tasty dish.