Vegetarian meals don’t generally thrill me like those made with meat.  That said, I have several delightful vegetarian items I make on occasion.  This is a great meal choice: Swiss chard tacos. My sister made these while I was visiting her.  I was skeptical but found them to be delicious and a great way to use up a lot of the swiss chard!  No meat but you won’t miss it in these flavorful and filling tacos. If you are not familiar with swiss chard it has a rib like celery or fennel and greens too.  It comes in white and green, pink and green/white  or a rainbow chard that can be deep red, orange or bright yellow.  The flavor of chard is rather earthy, goes well with bacon, butternut squash, or garlic and olive oil.

I used Mexican cheese but you can use Monterey Jack as that is what the recipe called for.  The recipe is out of an old Home and Garden magazine. I added some ground cumin too for extra spice. Don’t forget the red wine vinegar, really a great finishing touch.

The white corn tortillas (La Bandarita brand) came from Wegmans; they have one up near Boston.  There are three here near me. Enjoy!

Karen’s Swiss Chard Tacos

1 lb Swiss chard

½ tsp. cumin seeds

¼ tsp. ground cumin

½ a red onion, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 clove garlic minced

1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

1 can of black beans, rinsed and well drained

8 tortillas; corn flour

1 cup of Monterey jack cheese or Queso Fresca cheese; grated

1/3 cup sour cream, reduced fat

Directions:

Chop up the chard stems into half inch dice.  Rough chop the rest of the chard and set aside. Heat a large frying pan and add the cumin seeds; cook 1-2 minutes until fragrant.  Add olive oil then chard stems.  Cook 3 minutes until softening.  Add the chard leaves that you have rough chopped, ground cumin, onion, garlic and red pepper.  Cook 3 min, stirring.  Add the red wine vinegar and the black beans.  Stir well, cook 3-4 minutes longer.

Meanwhile; heat oven to 350 degrees.  Lay tortillas out on baking sheet.  Sprinkle grated cheese in the center of each.  Bake 4-5 minutes until cheese melting and tortilla crisp. Watch them closely so they don’t burn. Remove from oven.  Place a generous amount of chard mixture on each tortilla.  Top with a spoonful of sour cream.  Sprinkle cilantro over top if desired.

Notes: I used low fat sour cream.  I do not recommend fat free as it tastes chalky. Mine was made cilantro free but feel free to put it on yours if you like that herb.

Originally posted by me in August 2016. Minor changes made to text.