Swiss Chard Tahini Dip

I’ve really been feeling like cooking something green, but unfortunately no spring things have been popping up yet at the markets! I went for this delicious Swiss chard dip to tide me over until I can get my hands on some local asparagus and snap peas. It’s so good that it almost makes me feel okay that spring vegetables aren’t here yet. (Although just after I made this, I did stumble across some fiddleheads in my local grocery store, hurrah!)

While the produce options haven’t been too springy, the weather is slowly getting there—enough so that we were able to run in Prospect Park on Saturday! To soak up even more sunshine later in the day, we walked to Hometown Barbecue in Red Hook and waited in line for over two hours(!!!) to eat some delicious barbecue. I didn’t mind the line so much, because where else did we have to be, and also we drank a beer while waiting. 🙂 We finally ordered and feasted on a giant beef rib along with Texas queso mac and cheese, smoked pork shoulder collard greens, and homemade cornbread.

I would probably not wait in line for this for two hours again, but it was certainly tasty!

Needless to say, after this intense meal we were doubly ready for the Swiss chard dip the next day. A rainy and gloomy Sunday was an excellent excuse to do a lot of cooking and baking, both from cookbooks and testing out new original recipes. I’ve been experimenting more with a variety of gluten-free flours with some excellent results. There could be some cookie, brownie, and waffle recipes coming soon to the blog! Along with the fiddleheads and other spring vegetable recipes, of course.

I hope you can enjoy this Swiss chard tahini dip recipe until the springier things have sprung. It’s great served with warm pitas, spread onto sourdough toast (that’s how we had it yesterday), or as a dip for raw veggies. Probably even spring ones?!

Swiss Chard Tahini Dip

adapted from Bon Appétit

1 bunch Swiss chard, stems and ribs finely chopped, leaves sliced into ribbons
2 plump cloves garlic, minced
5 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
2 1/2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup tahini
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
sea salt

In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over medium heat. Add the chard stems and ribs, and saute, stirring occasionally, until beginning to soften, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook about 1 minute more, until fragrant. Add a few handfuls of the chard leaves and cook, stirring, until they wilt and reduce in volume. Keep working this way until you’ve added all of the leaves, then cook about 10 minutes longer, stirring occasionally, until the chard is tender. Remove from the heat and allow the chard to cool.
Once chard mixture has cooled enough to handle, squeeze out the liquid into a bowl and reserve. Combine the chard mixture with the remaining 3 tablespoons of the olive oil, the lemon juice, the tahini, the pepper flakes (if using), 1 tablespoon of the reserved liquid, and a generous pinch of salt. Pulse until creamy and well combined but not completely smooth, adding more reserved liquid if the dip is too thick. Taste and adjust seasoning. To serve, spread dip in a wide bowl and top with a generous glug of olive oil.