Appetizers
Swiss Chard Two Ways
by NICHOLAS AMMATURO on July 29th, 2010
My co-worker has been generous enough to share some of the harvest from a farm co-op she belongs to. On my desk this morning was a bag of purple cabbage, lettuce, mariachi peppers, and Swiss chard. I am immediately picturing a light salad with the cabbage and lettuce and then using blanched Swiss chard leaves to roll up ground beef & the mariachi peppers.
In case you don’t know much about Swiss chard, here is the information from the farms website:
Chard is harvested as a green, leafy vegetable. Chard is in the spinach family but contains no oxalic acid which makes it easier for us to absorb the nutrients from the chard. These greens are high in vitamins A, E, & C and the minerals iron & calcium.
Cooking Tips
- If leaves are large & mature, remove the stem to cook separately.
- If the greens are young, cook whole.
- Use in place of spinach in most recipes.
- Sauté the leaves in garlic butter or olive oil & garlic.
- Steam large stem pieces for 8-10 min. & leaves for 4-6 min.
- Raw baby leaves are great in green salads.
- Toss steamed leaves with olive oil, lemon juice, salt & pepper. OR with sesame oil, rice vinegar or soy sauce.
Let’s try these Italian inspired stuffed/rolled Swiss chard leaves
INGREDIENTS
- 2 TBLS Canola Oil
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 bunch of Swiss chard, stems removed
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 1 1/2 cup cooked white rice/brown rice
- 1 Red/Green bell pepper (I am using mariachi pepper, which is hotter), diced small
- 1 cup prepared tomato sauce (homemade – take can of plum tomatoes, blend in blender, then cook on stove top to reduce by a 1/4)
- 1/2 tsp Salt
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
In medium frying pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add minced garlic and diced peppers. Cook 3-4 mins until pepper softens. Remove from heat, transfer to a large bowl, add ground beef , cooked rice, salt, and 2 TBLS of the tomato sauce. Mix well.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Fill a large bowl with ice and water. Take about 4-5 Swiss chard leaves at a time and blanch in boiling water for a minute and then transfer to ice bath. Remove from ice bath and pat dry with paper towels.
Spread 3-4 TBLS of Tomato Sauce onto bottom of Pyrex dish (enough to have a thin layer of sauce on the bottom)
Lay out leaves, smooth side down and place 3-4 TBLS of beef mixture on largest end of leaf. Roll towards the smaller end, until completely rolled up. Place seam side down in Pyrex baking dish. Continue with the rest of the leaves. Drizzle the remaining sauce over each roll.
Place seam side down in Pyrex baking dish. Continue with the rest of the leaves. Drizzle the remaining sauce over each roll.
Bake in oven 35-40 mins. Enjoy
So there was extra Swiss chard because some of the leaves weren’t big enough to make into rolls. So I removed the stems from the leaves and roughly chopped them.
Braised Swiss Chard w/ Feta & Craisins
INGREDIENTS
- 1/2 bunch of Swiss chard
- 1/4 cup of dried cranberries
- 1/4 cup of diced feta
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 TBLS Canola Oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
Heat oil in frying pan over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté. Place stems into pan first, 3-5 mins to soften them up. Then add leaves
Cook for 5 mins until wilted and then remove from heat. Add 1/2 tsp salt and make sure to taste it because chard can be quite bitter. Stir in feta and craisins.
Serve as a side dish or as a snack.
Olive Tapenade & Goat Cheese Crostini
by NICHOLAS AMMATURO on June 12th, 2010
Whose doesn’t love olives? I am Italian, so being from the Mediterranean, olives are kinda our thing. My mothers family still operates an olive farm in Italy, which one day I plan to visit and raid. This is a really simple, light appetizer that can be thrown together right before your company comes. If you don’t have a food processor, then you just need to chop everything up really fine, but this is much easier with one.
Ingredients
- •1 cup pitted Kalamata Olives
- •¾ cup pitted green olives
- •3 TBLS capers, rinsed and drained
- •2 tsp grated lemon peel
- •2 TBLS lemon juice
- •2 garlic cloves, quartered
- •1/3 cup olive oil
- •¼ tsp crushed red pepper
- •6oz goat cheese
- •1 8oz loaf baguette style French bread, cut into ¼” thick slices
Use a zester or cheese grater for the lemon zest. You can then squeeze the lemon into a bowl to save the juice or use a juicer
In a food processor, combine Kalamata olives, green olives, capers, lemon juice, and garlic.
Mix while gradually adding 3 TBLS of olive oil. Transfer to a medium bowl. Stir in lemon peel and crushed red pepper. Cover and chill for 1-24 hours to blend flavors.
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 450°F. Brush both sides of bread with remaining oil. Arrange in a single layer on baking sheets. Bake 5 to 7 minutes or until browned.
Let olive mixture and goat cheese come to room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.
To serve, spread the bread slices with goat cheese and top with olive mixture.
Crab Salad Wontons
by NICHOLAS AMMATURO on May 10th, 2010
This is the perfect appetizer for the spring. Its so refreshing and somewhat healthy. The crab salad is so good on its own, that you will find yourself dipping anything you can into it. I woke up at 8:00am on Mother’s Day to prepare these and ended up eating a few. Yep, crab for breakfast, why not?
The hardest part about this recipe was finding the wonton wrappers. Most supermarkets carry them in the freezer section and I have seen them before, but never needed them. Of course, the day I need them, they are no where to be found. I went from Whole Foods to Stop & Shop to Beijing, China to get these. Ok not literally China, but close enough. I googled Asian Supermarkets in White Plains, NY and came across Kam Sen Foods. Little did I know that this was the largest Asian supermarket in Westchester and had everything from Chinese herbs to Peking Duck. It was amazing, but I was on a mission and didn’t have time to explore. Grab the wontons and run.
Ingredients
FOR THE WONTON CUPS
- Cooking spray
- 18 wonton wrappers, thawed if frozen
- 2 tsp canola oil
- kosher salt or sea salt
FOR THE DRESSING
- 2 TBLS fresh lime juice
- 2 TBLS olive oil
- 1 tsp grated lime zest
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
FOR THE SALAD
- 1/2 lb lump crabmeat
- 1 rib celery, finely diced
- 1/2 cup peeled and finely diced ripe mango
- 1/4 cup thinly sliced scallions (white & green parts)
- 2 TBLS chopped fresh cilantro
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Coat 2 mini muffin tins with cooking spray.
MAKE THE WONTON CUPS
Brush both sides of the wonton wrappers with canola oil and place each wrapper into a section of a mini muffin tin. Gently press each wrapper into the tin and form it into a cup shape. Sprinkle with salt.
The trick is to make sure you crease the edges a bit inside the cups, you need to press them together, or else they will fold into each other during baking. I am speaking from experience, because my first batch got messed up and I had to eat half the wontons….yes, I had to eat them all. Don’t judge me…haha.
Bake for 8-10 minutes, until browned and crisp.
MAKE THE DRESSING
In a small bowl, whisk the lime juice and zest, salt, and red pepper. Add the olive oil and whisk until combined.
MAKE THE SALAD
In a medium bowl, gently toss the crabmeat, celery, mango, scallions, and cilantro, trying not to break up the crab too much. Add the dressing and gently toss to combine.
Both the salad and the wonton cups can be made up to a day ahead of time. Store the salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator and the wontons at room temperature in an airtight container. To serve, fill each cup with the crab salad and serve immediately.
Recipe courtesy of Finecooking.com