Swiss Chard With Pinto Beans and Goat Cheese: After the Fire

(Hey folks! Today on Serious Eats, I recount my tentative step into the wide world of tofu. The good news: after whipping up a Sweet and Spicy stirfry from All Recipes, I’d do it again. The bad news: there is no bad news, making this an extraneous sentence.)

About two years ago, right before I started this blog, I attempted to make Swiss Chard With White Beans from a recipe I found online. Ignorant to the world of chard, I shoved a bunch in a big pot with a little water, turned the heat to high, and abandoned it for about 15 minutes.

You know how it smells when hair burns? Like, when you get too close to your birthday cake and singe your bangs? Or you try to ignite a lighter for a college comedy sketch, and you accidentally spark your left eyebrow, turning part of it white? This was like that, only possessing distinct undernotes of leafy greenness.

Turned out, chard is not supposed to be left unsupervised in a closed vessel over open flames. Besides creating an apartment-wide stink bomb, I also burned the sides of Rachel’s big pot to ashy black oblivion. As I recounted in this September 2008 post, chard’s been a non-entity in my kitchen ever since. Also, I still owe Rach a new pot.

Happily, that chardlessness ended this weekend, with a big ol’ batch of Swiss Chard With Pinto Beans and Goat Cheese from All Recipes. This stuff was good – even better than I expected, and I expected pretty great things.

The recipe starts simply by sautéing and steaming a behemoth bunch of chard over butter and olive oil, then adding beans, tomatoes, and – get this – lime juice. Say what? Yep.

Then, everything’s topped with a smattering of goat cheese, and thrown into a 350°F oven for about 15 minutes, or just enough time to warm the frommage. The result is savory, creamy, substantial, and bright all at the once. Needless to say, I will be making it again. Perhaps several times. Perhaps on a Tuesday.

In conclusion, welcome back, Swiss chard! I missed you, and promise never to scorch you and/or your cooking implement beyond recognition again.

Also, Rach, I swear that pot is coming.

Swiss Chard with Pinto Beans and Goat Cheese
Makes 5 good-sized side servings
Adapted from All Recipes.

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pinch red pepper flakes
1 huge bunch Swiss chard (or 2 smaller bunches) - rinsed, stems removed, and cut into 1/2 inch slices
1 (15.5 ounce) can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 small tomato, seeded and chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
2 ounces crumbled goat cheese

1) Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat an 8x8 baking dish with cooking spray.

2) In a large skillet or pan, heat oil and butter over medium heat. Once butter is melted, add garlic and red pepper flakes. Saute 30 to 60 seconds. Add Swiss chard. Cover. Cook 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add pintos, tomato, lime juice, salt, and pepper. Stir. Cover again. Cook a few more minutes, until chard is totally wilted.  .

3) Pour mixture into baking dish. Spread out evenly and push down a little bit. Dot with goat cheese. Bake 15 minutes. Serve.

Approximate Calories, Fat, and Price Per Serving
200 calories, 9.6 g fat, $1.05

Calculations
1 tablespoon vegetable oil: 124 calories, 14 g fat, $0.09
1 tablespoon butter: 102 calories, 11.5 g fat, $0.07
2 cloves garlic, minced: 4 calories, 0 g fat, $0.05
1 pinch red pepper flakes: negligible calories and fat, $0.02
1 huge bunch Swiss chard (or 2 smaller bunches) - rinsed, stems removed, and cut into 1/2 inch slices: 182 calories, 1.9 g fat, $1.99
1 (15.5 ounce) can pinto beans, rinsed and drained: 361 calories, 3.4 g fat, $0.75
1 small tomato, seeded and chopped: 16 calories, 0.2 g fat, $0.34
Salt and pepper to taste: negligible calories and fat, $0.02
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice: 5 calories, 0 g fat, $0.16
2 ounces crumbled goat cheese: 207 calories, 16.9 g fat, $1.75
TOTAL: 1001 calories, 47.9 g fat, $5.24
PER SERVING (TOTAL/5): 200 calories, 9.6 g fat, $1.05

Healthy way of life

Health disturbances can appear at any time, especially if we are unmindful of the symptoms and causes. without We realize lifestyle and eating pattern that is not healthy is the main cause of factors. Although there are other causes that can not be avoided, such as genetic factors, environmental pollution.
To stay healthy, there are many ways to get it. One of them, follow the 5 steps and get the quality of life better:

1. Clean air, the lungs are healthy
To avoid interference from respiratory, breathe in the air, a clean and healthy. How? Need not be bothered looking for mountain air, the morning air was very good for your lungs. Besides avoiding the tar blackened the air, such as cigarette smoke, dust, smoke or vehicle. Clean the house and work the room regularly, including furniture, fan and AC.

2. White water is the best of any drink.
Often drink white water until 8-10 glasses of a day. This habit will help maintain kidney function and smooth channel urine. Strive to drink warm water at night and cool water (not ice water) in the afternoon. Also add a little orange extract or lemon lime. In addition to good to refresh ourselves, with drink this can help remove the toxin from the body.

3. Consumption of nutritious and balanced menu
Choose a menu with an adequate nutrition, balanced, and varied. consume lots of green vegetables and fruits that contain lots of fiber and vitamin fiber body is needed. As much as possible avoid junk food and processed food, and reduce consumption of salt and sugar. One more, do not forget breakfast! Because breakfast can support our activities throughout the day.


4. Balance between work, exercise and rest.
Working hard without a break there is no there for you. Often rest regularly 7-8 hours of at night, and often do not wait up or sleep the night too. Try to use leisure time to exercise lightly or just relax musculature joint.
With exercise 2 - 3 times a week, for 30 - 45 minutes, enough to make the body shape and the prima stamina.

5. Control of brain
Brain, as well as our bodies, he also needs a rest. Do not give too much burden, because the brain also has a limited memory. Do in leisure time activities that make the brain work more relaxed, eg make a fun hobby, like painting, reading the latest novel or just listening to music.

The role of vitamin A to prevent blindness

vitamin A deficiency is very effect for health, particularly eye health. our eyes very need vitamin A for health. here we see what becomes the role of vitamin A in preventing blindness.

1. Interference in the nerve of a child (dim twilight) when symptoms have already started the dark invisible children blindly.
2. Interference on the outside of the ball marks on the coating of white children look dull, dry and does not scintillate.
Children who lack vitamin A visible condition of the body, that body weight does not necessarily dull hair, and skin also looks dim.

Sources of vitamin A have two:
1. Animal that has a high vitamin A content found in the liver, eggs, chicken meat. while the measure has a low vitamin A is in the susu fresh shrimp.
2. Nabati womb of high vitamin A found in the carrot, spinach, kangkung, papaya leaves, cassava leaves, sausage, pumpkin, sweet potato and red. who have low vitamin A contents in the bean, corn, eggplant, melon, banana, orange, star fruit. Doctor Ramzi Amin said the SPM green vegetable the higher the vitamin A contents.

Whoever does not want the beloved heart broken in the eyes, for the prevention of Feed should be given adequate nutrition and the application of the pattern of life is good for example when watching TV and reading. While for the treatment doctors recommend that if Ramzi Amin experience disruption in the immediate treatment to specialist eye doctors.

Zucchini and Rosemary Soup: In Defense of Food

What do you do when someone in your family loathes a dish, but you adore it? Do you keep making it? Do you have pity and eliminate it from rotation? Do you keep a stash hidden in your toilet tank, to secretly parse out to yourself at random intervals?

What if you were a food blogger? What if you whipped up a soup (er … for example), and half of your crowd despised it like a despot, while the other half praised it like a prophet? Would you post it? Would you bury it in your archives, next to that Potato and Black Bean Pancakes recipe that tasted like the filling of a futon?

Here’s why I ask.

A few days ago, as part of our Eat Your Veggies Experiment, I fed Dustin and Linda each a bowl of Bon Appetit’s Zucchini and Rosemary Soup. They HATED it. Like, if Darth Vader served it to them on the flaming corpse of a dead bunny, they couldn’t have disliked it more.

In retrospect, I should have seen it coming. Neither of them are big zucchini fans, and the texture was a little too bizarre for such particular eaters. Dustin was most wary of the aftertaste, and my sister said it looked “like snot,” which … okay, point taken.

Thing was, I loved the soup. My lunch for the last three days has consisted of: the soup, a banana, and whatever random starch I dig out of my fridge door. And without hyperbolizing in the slightest, it’s made me the happiest I’ve ever been in my whole life.

Rachel loved it, too. Even Epicurious readers were cocoa for cuckoo poops about it, lavishing the recipe with a 92% approval rating. That’s better than both Southern Fried Chicken AND Chocolate Layer Cake with Milk Chocolate Frosting. So there you go.

Subsequently, I’m postin’ it. That’s right, punks. This thing is going up on the blog, about six inches below this very sentence. No one can stop me, except maybe a Sith lord and his fiery rabbit.

Of course, if you were to try it, know the following:

1) This was already a waggin-fraggin bargain, but will be much cheaper in two or three months, when zucchini is in season.

2) You could probably cut all the butter to make it even leaner, but it’s sterile and I like the taste. (What movie?)

3) I added croutons, but omitted the scallions and chunked zucchini. You can, too. Remember: cooking has no boundaries except those you impose on yourself. (And those that fire marshals impose upon you. Those are pretty important, too.)

Have a fabulous weekend, folks. Get outside if you can, and make this soup, too. The dislikers will get over it, and you’ll be happier in the end.

Zucchini and Rosemary Soup
Adapted from the Bon Appétit/Epicurious
Serves 8

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter, separated
1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, sliced
2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary
6 cups chicken stock or canned low-salt broth
1 russet potato, peeled, sliced
3 medium zucchini, thinly sliced
Salt and pepper to taste

1 zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (optional)
Croutons (optional)
Chopped green onions (optional)

In a big pot or Dutch oven, heat butter and oil over medium-high heat. When butter melts, add onion. Cook 5 minutes, until a little soft and translucent. Add garlic and rosemary. Stir. Add broth and potato. Jack heat up to high. Once it starts boiling, drop heat to medium-low and cook/simmer 10 minutes. Add the 3 sliced zucchinis. Cook another 15 minutes. (Zucchini should be tender at that point.) Puree, using either a regular blender or a stick blender. (Be super careful with the regular one, working in batches.) Salt and pepper to taste.

OPTIONAL (I didn't do this): "Cook cubed zucchini in saucepan of boiling salted water for 30 seconds. Drain. Rewarm soup over medium heat. Ladle into bowls. Top with zucchini and croutons. Sprinkle with green onions."

Approximate Calories, Fat, and Price Per Serving
78 calories, 4 g fat, $0.78

Calculations
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter, separated: 204 calories, 23 g fat, $0.18
1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil: 66 calories, 7.5 g fat, $0.05
1 large onion, chopped: 63 calories, 0.2 g fat, $0.25
2 garlic cloves, sliced: 9 calories, 0 g fat, $0.10
2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary: 2 calories, 0.2 g fat, $0.18
6 cups chicken stock or canned low-salt broth: 30 calories, 0 g fat, $2.25
1 russet potato, peeled, sliced: 168 calories, 0.2 g fat, $0.45
3 medium zucchini, thinly sliced: 94 calories, 1.2 g fat, $2.72
Salt and pepper to taste: negligible calories and fat, $0.02
TOTAL: 636 calories, 32.3 g fat, $6.20
PER SERVING (TOTAL/8): 78 calories, 4 g fat, $0.78