Swiss Chard with White Beans and Parmesan

based loosely on a recipe from the New York Times Health section

serves 4 as side dish, 2 as a vegetarian meal-in-a-bowl

Ingredients

1 bunch of Swiss chard (a “bunch” is about as many stalk as you can grip in one hand)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
4-5 garlic cloves, finely minced
4 cups water or unsalted vegetable or chicken stock
1 bay leaf
2×4-inch Parmesan rind
2 cans cannellini or white beans, drained and rinsed
2 teaspoons salt (or to taste)
½ teaspoon black pepper
grated Parmesan for garnish

Directions

Wash and dry chard. Cut off chard stems and finely dice. Roughly chop chard leaves.

Heat olive oil in large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and diced chard stems. Cook until chard stems soften (but try not to let brown), about 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook additional 1 minute until garlic gets fragrant (try not to let onions and garlic brown too much).

Add water/stock, bay leaf, Parmesan rind to pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes to reduce the stock.

Stir in the chard leaves and beans, and simmer for about 10 minutes. It should be a little thicker than a soup, thinner than a stew.

Season to taste with salt and fresh black pepper. Remove bay leaf and Parmesan rind. Serve in bowls and top with grated Parmesan cheese.

This tastes better the second day.

from the excellent blog, tastespotting.com.Also has some good nutritional inspiration about Swiss Chard.