Food Matters: Braised Chard and Chicken with Steel-Cut Oats

*poor little Ells is sick, sick this week and we are all scrambling (grandparents included - thank you!) to manage the myriad of scheduling nightmares. Oh, and while we're at it, we added a broken car, tow to the mechanic, some 7am meetings, and guys painting in our house! Yikes! Back to regularly scheduled programing soon ...

The latest culinary adventure ... a keeper, for sure!

I forgot to edit our Door to Door Organics box for the week, so we ended up with a big bunch of swiss chard. I really like chard, but I generally need to be sure to plan my groceries so we have something to make with it. Yet another reason I am really liking Mr. Bittman's cookbook - it has some recipe for every manner of vegetable you could think of!

Braised Chard and Chicken with Steel-Cut Oats
*adapted from Mark Bittman's The Food Matters Cookbook
Makes: 4 servings
Time: 30-45 minutes

1 bunch chard, about 1 1/2 pounds
2 Tbs olive oil
4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 red onion, halved and sliced
3 garlic cloves, sliced
3/4 cup steel-cut oats
1/2 cup white wine or water (use the wine, seriously)
2 cups vegetable or chicken stock, or water
2 Tbs. balsamic vinegar

1. Cut the stems out of the chard leaves. Cut the leaves into wide ribbons, and chop the stems. Keep the leaves and stems separate.


2. Put the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle both sides of the chicken thighs with salt and pepper, then add to the hot pan. Cook, rotating and turning as necessary, until browned on all sides, 10-15 minutes. Remove the chicken.
3. Reduce heat to medium. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring, until softened - about 3-5 minutes.
4. Add the chard stems and oats, along with a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the oats are coated in oil, 2-3 minutes. Add the wine, stir, and let the liquid bubble away. Add the 2 cups stock all at once and return the chicken thighs to the pan.
5. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook. Check to see if the oats are tender after 15 minutes; if they're not quite done, cook for another 5 minutes. If the oats are dry, add more stock or water.
6. When the oats are almost done, add the chard leaves and vinegar. Replace the lid, remove the skillet from the heat, and let rest for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork, adjust seasoning, and serve. (Again, if you are planning this for lunch or for kids, remove the chicken before adding the chard. Chop, and stir back in just before serving).

Notes / Tips:
- As Mr. Bittman suggests, it is hard to pull off a hearty stew-type meal on a weeknight. This one is do-able. Bulgur would work in place of the steel cut oats, and would probably cook faster.
- I found this to be pretty soupy after 20 minutes, though the oats were tender. It firmed up a bit upon sitting with the chard. I've never loved steel-cut oats, but this is a great savory use for them. Sell it to your kids as "oatmeal with chicken".
- Again, I would go with boneless, skinless chicken thighs, but use your preference. I used bone-in, skin-on this time, which just created more work for me. There was too much fat after browning the chicken, so I had to remove some. Then, after the chicken cooked in the liquid, the skin was gummy, so I cut it off. Ellen was eating with us, so I went ahead and de-boned the chicken and chopped it and stirred it back into the oat mixture.
- This is a hearty meal, if not super filling. It would be good with roasted veggies or a salad on the side, or even probably cornbread.
- One thing I've noticed with this cookbook is that it doesn't call for a lot of unnecessary chopping of vegetables. If you can get by with just slicing onions or garlic, or roasting whole veggies, that is what it calls for. A great time saver!