Truffled White Beans with Chard and Tomatoes

I am in love with truffle oil. This is a simple healthy dish that uses swiss chard, cherry tomatoes, and white beans to show off the truffle oil.  Serve over rice or with these gruyere scalloped potatoes from Cooking Light.

I was lazy with photos today, so I'll leave you with some of my favorite parts of NC:




Truffled White Beans with Chard and Tomatoes
Serves: 4
1/2 tsp olive oil
1 small red onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
3-4 cups chard, chopped. If the stems are small enough (from garden chard, like Bright Lights chard) chop them fine and set aside.
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes or 1 tomato chopped,
1 14 oz can of white beans, rinsed and drained
salt and pepper to taste
2 T truffle oil
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 c water

Directions:
1. Heat the olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add in red onions, chard stems, and garlic.  Cook for 4 minutes.
2. Once the onions and garlic mixture begins to brown, add in swiss chard. Stir every 2-3 minutes. Once the chard begins to wilt and reduce in size, move the chard around to expose the inside of the skillet. Add tomatoes.
3. Cook for 4 minutes.
4. Add in white beans, and cook until the beans are heated through, about 2 minutes.
5. Season with salt and pepper.  Drizzle with truffle oil and smoked paprika. Add water if the chard begins to look dry.
6. Serve immediately.

Split Pea Soup with Fried Egg and Chard Open-Faced Sandwiches

It feels darn good to cook again especially when Karl is making fresh bread everyday! Here is a simple split pea soup I felt inspired to cook up (thanks Alyse!) and it's served alongside fried eggs and chard-tapenade open-faced sandwiches.

Serves: 4
Make this split-pea soup, and add 1 T of Thai green curry paste instead of the curry powder. It adds just a little bit of heat.

For the open-faced sandwiches:
1-2 cups chard, chopped (include stems if young using chard)
1 clove garlic
3-4 green onions (bulbs only)
1 tsp olive oil
4 eggs
4 T water
2 T shredded parmesan
pepper to taste
Prepared olive tapenade
4 slices bread

1. Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat, once hot add in chard, garlic and green onions. Cook until the chard is wilted and soft. Remove from pan and place in a bowl.
2. Crack eggs in pan to pan fry. If using large to medium eggs do 2 or 3 at a time. When halfway done cooking (whites will have set, yolks look uncooked) add 2-4 T of water and cover the pan. Let sit 2-3 minutes. When done, sprinkle with pepper. You may need to add more or less water
3. Meanwhile mix parmesan with chard mixture, and toast the bread slices.
4. Assemble the sandwich by spreading tapenade on bottom, then chard mixture on top, then top with egg.

Impressive bread, right?