Recipe

Lentils and Chard

Lentils and Chard

Photo by lastnightsdinner

  • This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Recipe for Beans
  • Chef

    lastnightsdinner's Notes: This is one of those fairly seasonless side dishes that I’m grateful to have in my repertoire – it’s versatile, it’s quick, and it’s dead easy. When it’s available, I love to use bright...

    Expand

Serves 2-4

  1. Warm 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a small pot over medium heat. Add the shallot, thyme, and a pinch of salt and cook until softened. Add the lentils and stir to coat with oil. Cook for a minute before adding the water and wine. Cover and reduce the heat to low, then continue cooking until the lentils are tender and have absorbed all of the liquid, about 20-30 minutes.

    Ask a question about this step
  2. Rinse the chard well to remove any grit. Fold the leaves over so that the center stem is on the outside, and making a v-shaped cut, separate the stems from the leaves. Trim the very bottoms of the stems and discard, and then slice the stems very thinly on the bias. Fold the chard leaves in half, roll them up cigar-style, and slice into ½- to 1-inch ribbons.

    Ask a question about this step
  3. Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil to a sauté pan and warm over medium heat. Add the red chile flakes and garlic and cook just until fragrant. Add the chard stems and a pinch of salt, stir to coat them with oil, and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the sliced chard leaves and another pinch of salt and toss. Cook until they’re just wilted, then remove them from the heat. Remove the thyme sprig from the cooked lentils, then combine the lentils and chard in a serving bowl and drizzle with a little sherry vinegar, stirring gently to combine.

    Ask a question about this step

10 Comments on Lentils and Chard

Reply

Just made this and its excellent. Added some carrots and topped it with feta. A new favorite of mine for sure. Thank you for sharing!

Wedding_pictures_162 Reply

I've saved this too. I just bought Puy lentils and I know we'll be getting chard in our CSA box soon.

Lnd_jen Reply

It's a staple here when chard is in season - I hope you enjoy it!

New_years_kitchen_hlc_only Reply

LND, when you say "Beluga" lentils in the ingredient list for this, do you mean the black belugas? This is in the queue for my next Market Day . . . but with a couple of local sausages added to turn it into a one-dish meal. Perfect autumn fare. Thanks so much!! ;o)

Lnd_jen Reply

Correct - I hope you enjoy it! Great sausages would be a perfect partner to this :)

Lnd_jen Reply

Thanks! I usually just go with the flow with this - sometimes I have more lentils to chard, sometimes they're even, sometimes it's more chard than lentils - it all depends on what we can find at the farmers' market :) So glad you enjoyed this!

2-11_016 Reply

This is a fine recipe, especially good served warm with goat cheese melting into the lentils. The wine helps to keep the texture of the lentils in tact, while flavoring them nicely, and the Sherry vinegar is a good, sharp contrast. I'm not sure if I got the proportion of chard to lentils correct, as I guessed since I was using garden chard, but it was still one of the best recipes I've tried lately. Thanks!

Teresa_food52 Reply

Really good recipe. It's the second lentil recipe I see here with wine, I had never thought of cooking them with wine, it must be very good. Thank you for sharing the recipe.

N760970460_4333897_8013 Reply

I love this, Jennifer. I always make a late summer salad of wilted swiss chard and big dried beans with piles of lemon zest. Gonna try your recipe next time. :)

Lnd_jen Reply

Thank you! Your salad sounds great :)

Meet our Hotliners:

Steven Raichlen

Steven is the author of the best-selling Barbecue Bible and the host of two grilling TV shows: The Primal Grill and Barbecue University.

Steven Raichlen answered What are the best fish/wood chips to use in a stovetop smoker? 10 months ago