Toward the end of summer, we love to take advantage of the reasonable prices on fresh leafy greens that fill the markets. One of our favorites for flavor and versatility is swiss chard. Its tender leaf has a very similar taste to spinach, but its large size makes it very useful for many dishes. In this recipe, we use it for lettuce wraps. We also often use the stems of the swiss chard as a colorful replacement for celery. The earthy crunch will give a dish a more interesting flavor than ordinary celery.
Another ingredient that we love to use regardless of the season is dried mushrooms. In this recipe, we use dried shitake mushrooms. Fresh mushrooms are often very expensive and do not last very long. It is obvious that you don’t have to worry about these going bad for a very long time. We will often use these because of their reasonable price and long shelf life. We typically head to a local Asian market and get large bags of dried mushrooms for a fraction of the price of fresh. Once you soak them in a little in warm water they are just as tender as fresh mushrooms.
Then to compliment the earthy swiss chard and savory mushrooms in these wraps, we mixed in fresh onion and garlic. They bring another depth of flavor while the fresh plum tomato brightens it with its ruby red color and juicy pulp. Soft but hearty quinoa finishes off the recipe, blending all the ingredients together while adding protein. These quinoa swiss chard wraps can be served as a light main course or as a fun appetizer. We hope you love these wraps as much as we do.
- 1 Bunch Swiss Chard, stems removed (Keep the leaves whole but dice the stems)
- 1 Plum Tomato, Diced
- 1 Medium Red Onion, Diced
- 10 Dried Shitake Mushrooms, soaked in warm water for at least 10 minutes then chopped
- 3 Cloves Garlic, Minced
- 1 bunch Chives, Chopped Small for garnish
- 1 Cup Quinoa Cooked
- ½ tsp Ground Ginger
- ½ tsp Dried Thyme
- ½ tsp Dried Rosemary
- ¼ tsp Ground Coriander
- ¼ tsp Red Pepper
- ½ tsp Black Pepper
- ¼ tsp Salt
- Tahini for topping
- Cook the quinoa as per the manufacturer’s directions. Soak the Dried mushrooms in warm water and wash and prepare all fresh produce.
- After washing the swiss chard remove the long stems from the leaves. Mince the stems and set aside. Separate the leaves that are too small for wraps and chop them into large strips. Save the leaves that are large, these will become your wraps.
- Over medium heat add a small amount of olive oil to a deep sided frying pan. Sauté the onion, garlic and swiss chard stems until onions are fragrant and becoming translucent. About 5 minutes
- Drain water from the mushrooms and chop them into strips. Add them to the pan along with all of the dry spices. Stir to incorporate.
- Add the Chopped swiss chard leaves, tomato and quinoa. Stir frequently and cook for an additional 2-4 minutes to wilt the swiss chard.
- Lay out the large swiss chard leaves on serving plates and spoon the filling into the center of each leaf. Top with tahini and chives and serve. We recommend wrapping them like a burrito but we usually serve them open and allow each person to wrap their own.
Oh my look at that! I always love seeing what people can come up with as an alternative to using carb-heavy wraps. I should definitely give this recipe a try. Thank you very much for sharing! 🙂
Thank you so much for your feedback. Please let us know how it turns out if you do make them. We love make making wraps with any large lettuce leaves that we happen to have on hand. Hope you enjoy and have a great week!