This is my year of doing less. Actually, I made the decision in September, as we welcomed Rosh Hashanah, that I was finally going to stop overextending myself. As Adele would say, go easy on me. 

I didn’t host 16 people like I usually do at the Jewish New Year, but took it easy and cooked for far fewer. We put up the small sukkah in October, which only seats six, so I could only host two guests at the maximum, instead of the dozen or so that usually fill my holiday table. And for the Chanukah party this year, I didn’t start frying latkes a week in advance, but outsourced all of it and hired Holyoke Hummus Company to do the frying on my behalf. The latkes were fantastic, and no one complained. A win-win for everyone, I say.

In that spirit I present this chard and quinoa dish that I made last week. For starters, I filled a huge bowl with cold water, and simply dropped the chard leaves for a soak. That’s all I did to clean them. I didn’t toast the quinoa in a separate pan and add it to the chard wilting in the saucepan, but simply moved the chard over with a wooden spoon, added my cup of quinoa and toasted it directly in the pot. Easy peasy.

For the broth, I didn’t reach into my freezer for a stock that I used to make on Sundays. Nope, I used the vegetarian Better Than Bouillon my daughter likes to add to her pasta water for something extra — a box of stock would also fill the bill.

The addition of the toasted pine nuts, which I keep stored in the freezer and raisins (in lieu of currants) to the dish kicks it up a notch, making it fancy enough for a dinner party but easy enough for a weeknight dinner. I loved a dollop of Greek yogurt for contrast and a protein boost. 

This dish reheats well and makes great leftovers. 

One Pot Quinoa and Chard

Ingredients

1 bunch chard

1 cup quinoa

Olive oil for sauteing 

2 cups stock/broth of your choice

2 tablespoons pine nuts

2 tablespoons raisins or currants (your preference) 

Salt and pepper, to taste

Dollop of Greek yogurt for serving (to keep it vegan, use an almond-based Greek yogurt, or skip altogether) 

Directions

If your chard comes with its stalks (mine didn’t), cut them off. Fill a large bowl with water and add the chard, leaves and stalks. Whatever dirt is there will settle to the bottom of the bowl as you gather the rest of your ingredients. 

Once you have gathered the rest of your ingredients, remove the chard from the water. Chiffonade the leaves (roll and slice thinly, about 1/8th inch). Chop the stalks into 1/8th inch pieces. 

Heat about a tablespoon of olive oil in a medium saucepan. Add your stalks first, if you have them. Sprinkle a pinch of salt and let them soften for about five minutes. Be sure to stir frequently so they don’t brown. 

Once your stalks have softened, add the chard leaves to the saucepan. There is no need to dry your stalks to the pot; in fact, the extra water will help wilt and soften them. You will probably need to do this in two batches to fit all the chard into the pot. After each chard addition, stir in a pinch of salt into the wilting leaves. 

Now add your cup of quinoa. Nudge your chard over to one side of the saucepan to make room. Stir the quinoa for a minute or two so that it has a chance to get toasted in the pot.

Add the two cups of broth or water and bouillon. Bring to a boil, then take it down to a simmer. Cover, and set your kitchen timer for 15 minutes.  

While your quinoa is cooking, toast your pine nuts. I did mine in my toaster oven for three minutes. If you do not have a toaster oven, carefully, and I mean carefully, toast them in a pan over low to medium heat. Keep an eye on them the entire time and remove them once the pine nuts have browned. They burn easily!

Once your timer has gone off, your quinoa should have absorbed all the liquid. Fluff with a fork, then stir in the pine nuts and raisins. The heat of the dish should plump up the raisins. 

Taste to see if it needs any salt or pepper. Season accordingly. 

To serve, add a dollop of Greek yogurt to each serving. 

Enjoy!

Molly Parr lives in Florence with her husband and two young daughters. She’s been writing her food blog, Cheap Beets, since 2010. Send questions or comments to molly.parr@gmail.com.