Swiss Chard Dolmas: Stop, Drop, and Roll

Swiss chard is one of those garden foods people see and immediately misidentify.

The red stalks have been mistaken for rhubarb. The green stalks are easily to confuse with celery. And those big leaves can look large and intimidating.. what are they?!?! Some are the size of my arm.. and that's just the leaf!

This year, my Swiss chard got a little out of hand, which made it the perfect excuse to figure out something useful to do with those giant leaves.

Dolmas.

And before you decide this sounds way too complicated, this one is much easier to watch than to read.

That’s why I made you a video.

Start with the leaves

The trick is getting the Swiss chard soft enough to roll without turning it to mush.

Give the leaves a quick blanch in salted boiling water, then move them straight into an ice bath. That softens them just enough to make them flexible and much easier to work with.

From there, fill, fold, and roll.

Once you see it happen once, the whole thing makes a lot more sense.

[WATCH THE VIDEO: BLANCH, ICE BATH, FILL + ROLL]

The filling can go a lot of directions

For this version, I used a cooked filling rather than starting with uncooked rice and simmering everything together.

You can use cooked brown rice, quinoa, mashed garbanzo beans, or a combination. Add herbs, seasoning, vegetables, or whatever sounds good to you.

That’s part of the fun.

The leaves are really just the wrapper.

If you already have cooked grains or beans in the fridge, even better.

Five simple steps

Blanch.
Ice bath.
Fill.
Roll.
Serve.

That’s it.

This is one of those recipes that looks a little fancy once it’s finished, but the method is very approachable once you stop staring at the giant leaf and just start.

Use what you have

This is also a good recipe for using up what is already around.

Leftover rice? Great.
A handful of herbs? Use them.
Garbanzo beans? Mash some in.
Cooked vegetables? Add them.

Season it your way.

The point here is not to make the most traditional dolma on earth. The point is to learn what to do with a food that might otherwise sit in the fridge until you avoid it long enough to feel guilty.

Stop, drop, and roll

If you have Swiss chard and you’re not sure where to start, watch the video first.

You’ll see the blanch, the ice bath, the filling, and the rolling from beginning to end.

Then grab a pot, a bowl of ice water, and give it a try.

[WATCH ME MAKE SWISS CHARD DOLMAS]

A very good reason to play with your food.