On my recent trip to Lebanon, my brother and I spent quality time together making these moreish stuffed Swiss chard fingers and I think they’re just the right treat. I had never made them before and when I asked my aunt for the recipe her response went a little like this:” a handful of this, pinch of that, taste and see…” and well we had to make 3 different batches before we got it just right.
Making these heavenly chard fingers was also special because the leaves were picked from the family gardens and were grown organically. A word of warning- they really do get eaten up quickly and since it is quite time consuming to make, I strongly suggest you make a very large batch and then freeze any excess for later use.
I mean it… they are VERY moreish!
- 2.5kg/6lb of Swiss chard leaves w/ stalks or about 50 leaves
- 450g or about 2.5 cups of Egyptian or short grain rice
- 180g or about 1 cup chickpeas, soaked overnight and halved & peeled (you can substitute with pine nuts)
- 1-2 onions finely chopped or about 1 cup
- 4 medium tomatoes, finely chopped or about 2 cups
- 1 large bunch of parsley, finely chopped or about 2 cups
- 1 small bunch of mint, finely chopped or about ½ cup
- 125ml or ½ cup of olive oil
- 125ml or ½ cup of lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon sumac
- salt & pepper to taste
- 2-3 large tomatoes, sliced
- 2 large onions, sliced
- 10 garlic cloves, sliced
- water to cover
- Crack chickpeas (which have been soaked overnight) by running them over with a rolling pin so they split in half. Discard all skins.
- Remove chard stems (before or after cooking) then soften leaves by dipping 5 or 6 at a time in boiling, salted water for no longer than a minute. Have a large bowl of ice cold water at hand and as you remove the boiled Swiss chard let it cool in the cold water so to stop cooking. Then set aside in a strainer and allow to drain while you finish the process for the remaining leaves.
- Wash and drain rice. Mix the rice, chickpeas (or nuts), parsley, mint, chopped onions, tomatoes, salt, pepper, cinnamon, sumac, oil and ¾ of the lemon juice. Reserve the other ¼ of lemon juice to sprinkle on chard rolls near end of cooking.
- Stuff one leaf at a time using a heaping teaspoonful of stuffing. Fold up from bottom or where the stem end was over stuffing and fold in from each side to center; then roll up like a cigar as per below photo illustration.
- Layer the pot with the sliced tomatoes, onions and garlic and then add the chard fingers in layers with open end down. Add the remaining lemon juice and some rock salt to taste. Cover with a plate that fits into the pot, so it keeps everything from moving around, and then cover with water. Bring to a boil for about 15 minutes then uncover and simmer on low-medium heat to reduce the sauce. Entire cooking time should take about 45 minutes.
- Once finished cooking, set aside to cool for about 15 minutes then turn out onto serving platter. Serve cold. You can serve with them a chilled garlic-yogurt dressing.
What a brilliant idea!!!! I have swiss chard and was wondering what to do with them that isn’t what I usually make.. you just gave it to me!!! :)))
b7eb hal akle kteeer
I always eat swiss chard as salad. I love it, I love stuffed food and rolls like this, with spices and lemon so I will surely love your recipe when I will cook it…
I love lebanon cuisine, it has such simple but deep in flavour recipes…
Thanks for this!!!
Looks great…..must try!
Happy Birthday Beth…..I’m around Sunday & Monday…..drinks???
Great picture’s as ever. Just got stop eating all the food before you snap it…sorry!x
Sweet Beth, I hope you have had a wonderful birthday weekend. You are one of the loveliest persons I have met this year. What a treat! Love these moreish parcels. How lovely that you have managed to cook taht with your brother.
I love swiss chard and your photos remind me I have to eat some soon!
Happy birthday Bethany! I am trying it right now so will get back to u later. I ve tried it before but was not successful at it. Yours is very well explained 🙂
Looks so yummy!
I ABSOLUTELY LOVEEEEE THIS!!!!!!!!!!!! u have a lucky man @ home!!!!!!!!
craving this big time now!!!!!!!!!!
Delicious, although… ALL the chickpea skins? Eep! Might have to buy some split channa (which are already skin-free) from my Indian grocer.
A all time favorite for me – in all it’s wonderful varieties! i do not think I’ve actually tried it with chickpeas. The skinning scares me! ;o)
This really is a great recipe, Beth. Love the flavors and love that it is all wrapped up in Swiss chard which I love.
These are SO beautiful, Bethany!! 🙂 I’ve loved cabbage rolls since I was little, but I like this moreish version very much. 🙂
Dear Beth,
Having just discovered your delectable recipe for Chicken Liver Parfait, I am now a dedicated fan of your blog. My partner and I love Lebanese food and Middle Eastern flavours; this recipe appears to be too tempting. Fortunately swiss chard is a staple in Colombia where it is called acelga. Checkpeas (garbanzos) are also very abundant. I can not wait to try this recipe, especially for my vegetarian friends!
Actually this food is a local dish found in other Mediteranean areas like Greece and Cyprus. In Cyprus it is called “koupepia” in Greece its called “ntolmades”. In the Greek and Cypriot variation, instead of chickpeas they use ground meat (usually pork) and herbes like anise. In some parts of Greece, the “ntolmades” dish is served with an egg-lemon sauce which give an extra sweet and sour taste.
Love your blog !
For people who dont like chick peas I suggest, if I mayof course, to substitute them with pine nuts !!
That dish looks so scrumptious! Fabulous.
Cheers,
Rosa
This sounds delicious. Just one question (and sorry if I’m being dense), am I supposed to cook the rice and chickpeas (separately) in advance or is the stuffing raw and then it cooks in the sauce? Thanks.