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4 from 1 vote

Chard and Chickpeas with Avocado Sauce

In this quick and simple dish, chard and chickpeas take on Southwestern flavors, with cilantro and creamy avocado lime sauce. Serve with steamed brown rice or quinoa. Serves 2 to 4, depending on appetites!
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time25 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Vegan
Servings: 3 servings.

Ingredients

Avocado Sauce:

  • ¼ cup water
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
  • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 clove garlic , minced
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • ½ avocado

Chard and Chickpeas:

  • 13 ounces chard , washed
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 clove garlic , minced
  • 1 ½ cups chickpeas , canned or cooked from scratch, drained
  • 2 tablespoon chopped cilantro leaves
  • 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon or key lime juice
  • 1 yellow tomato , diced (optional)
  • sea salt and cayenne pepper, as needed

Instructions

To make the sauce:

  • Scoop the avocado meat from its skin. Place in a blender along with the water, lime juice, salt, and garlic.
  • Blend until smooth, adding water and/or lime juice sparingly if needed to get the ingredients moving around. Transfer to a bowl.

Cook the chard and chickpeas:

  • Strip the chard leaves from the stems, reserving the stems if they are tender. Coarsely chop the chard leaves and dice the stems; set aside.
  • Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the chard stems, if using, and cook and stir for a couple of minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook another minute.
  • Add the chickpeas, the chard and the cilantro. Sprinkle with salt and a good pinch of cayenne. Cook and stir until the chard has wilted. At the last minute, stir in the lemon juice and the tomato, if using.
  • Remove from the heat. The tomato will become warm with the residual heat; don’t cook it anymore—you want the tomato to keep the same shape and texture as when you cut it. Serve with the avocado sauce.