Baked chicken with Swiss Chard dressing and herbed potaotes (from Tuesday)
When looking up things to do with Swiss Chard besides put it in a salad, I found this recipe for Turkey Roulade. It sounded good, but I had nowhere near the amount of chard needed. Even if I went with a chicken roulade, it was the middle of the week and if I'm going to tie anything up it would probably be my 3-year old (just kidding).
I had some boneless chicken thighs I was thawing, so I decided to turn the stuffing into dressing for the chicken. I didn't have many of the items called for (and even if I do ever make this mainly as called for, no way am I going to blow $16 on the pancetta alone!) Though I'm sure my version tastes vastly different, I liked it and will probably be playing with the recipe and tweaking it a bit. As I made it, it could probably stand more herbs, lemon zest, onion, garlic and bacon, not necessarily all at once.
The flavor was nice and mild (I didn't get the strong 'cooked greens' taste that I don't like), and complemented the chicken nicely. I think it would well with pork also. Ground walnuts (or pine nuts if you want to get fancy) would also make a great addition to the stuffing.
Before I cooked the chicken I brined it, using the guidelines on this webpage. I ended up brining them for almost 5 hours, way to long for the thighs. Next time I think I'd give it 2 hours for the thighs and 3 for chicken breast. I used dried thyme (2 t) from last week and fresh oregano (4 stems) from this week, as well as a bay leaf.
Chicken with Swiss Chard Dressing
Serves 4 as a lunch portion or 2-3 as a dinner portion
1 lb boneless skinless chicken (I used thighs, they were 6 to a pound)
Salt, sugar, and herbs/spices for brining. I used thyme, oregano, and a bay leaf.
1/2 pound swiss chard
1/4 cup cooked rice
1 clove garlic
4 large sorrel leaves
1/4 pound bacon
1/4 cup loosely packed oregano leaves
1 oz swiss cheese (shredded parmesean should work nicely also)
4 bunching onions
1 clove garlic
zest of 1/4 lemon
1 large egg, beaten
dash of ground nutmeg
dash of ground pepper
dash of ancho chile powder (optional, I used this in place of red pepper flakes since the ancho is a milder heat)
optional: other fresh or dried herbs you may have on hand. Rosemary, sage, basil, parsley and chive should work well in any combination.
Optional: ground walnut or pine nut
Oil for brushing on chicken
Brine chicken according to guidelines found here if you do not already have a brine recipe you like to use. When chicken is ready, preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Rinse and dry chard, sorrel, oregano, onion and any other herbs you may be using. Remove root from chard, and seperate the leaves from stems (keep the stems).
In a medium pot, boil at least 1 quart water with a dash of salt. Boil chard stems until tender, then add chard leaves and cook until wilted. Remove from water, rinse with cold water to stop the cooking, drain and squeeze of excess water. Chop finely and put in a medium oven-safe bowl (I used a 6" diameter one). Add rice. Cook up the bacon, chopping it up into small pieces after cooking and add to mix (the bacon grease is not used). Chop the garlic clove, add a dash of salt and use knife blade to work into a paste, then add to mix. Finely chop swiss cheese (finely shredded cheese will not need further chopping) and add to mix. Finely chop sorrel, oregano, onions (including stems), and any other fresh herbs you may be using. Add in fresh lemon zest, egg, nutmeg, pepper, ancho powder, and any other items, stir until well blended. Lightly pack down the top so it has an even surface.
Spray the bottom of a cookie sheet or baking dish with oil (I use an air-pressure refillable oil sprayer), place chicken on sheet and brush or spray oil on top. Bake chicken and dressing at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until chicken is done (large chicken breasts may take longer). Chicken can also be grilled if preferred. Plate chicken, add dressing on top or next to chicken.
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