I have such a crush on swiss chard lately, I just can't get enough. I put it in smoothies, I put it on pizza, I put it in dal, I put it in soups, and I still can't get my hands on enough recipes. I finally resorted to searching for "swiss chard" and stumbled upon the concept of swiss chard miso pesto from Chow.com. Brilliant. I didn't follow the recipe exactly because it called for blanching the chard and I just don't blanch things. But I used the recipe for inspiration, and loved the idea of adding miso. I often have a container of miso in my fridge as I love the umami it lends to dishes so I jumped up and grabbed my Vitamix, thrilled to have a new swiss chard recipe. This pesto is such a unique way to use fresh swiss chard. I got a little too excited for the theme and first tossed this pesto with soba noodles, as the recipe called for, and it was a major fail. I should have gone with my instinct which was telling me soba noodles would have too strong a taste for the pesto. There are a lot of varieties of soba noodles and I think I used too thin a noodle and they stuck together but frankly, I thought the flavors were too competing. So the next day I tossed it with some Italian spaghetti for some good ol Italian-Japanese fusion and it was a home run. Paired with some grilled salmon and my husband and I had a perfect Saturday lunch. This would also go well with some seared ahi tuna crusted with black sesame seeds. Just sayin.
If you've never bought miso paste, give it a try. You can find it at your local Whole Foods (or Asian market, of course). I recommend yellow or red which are mild and versatile. You can of course make soup with it (see this link for info) but there are endless other options. I love making marinades with it, for shrimp, chicken and especially salmon. I mix it with a bit of agave, ginger paste, mustard and oil which makes a soft paste and spread it on salmon before grilling. You can also make salad dressing with it, or add it to pasta dishes. Sometimes I'll add it to soup that isn't even remotely Asian, like tomato soup. It just adds a bit of a salty, savory, complexity.
If you've never bought miso paste, give it a try. You can find it at your local Whole Foods (or Asian market, of course). I recommend yellow or red which are mild and versatile. You can of course make soup with it (see this link for info) but there are endless other options. I love making marinades with it, for shrimp, chicken and especially salmon. I mix it with a bit of agave, ginger paste, mustard and oil which makes a soft paste and spread it on salmon before grilling. You can also make salad dressing with it, or add it to pasta dishes. Sometimes I'll add it to soup that isn't even remotely Asian, like tomato soup. It just adds a bit of a salty, savory, complexity.
1 large bunch swiss chard (red would work best)
2 T miso paste
2 T olive oil
1 clove garlic
1 t toasted sesame oil
Wash chard and chop loosely. You can keep some of the stems in. Combine all ingredients into a food processor or Vitamix and blend away. You can salt to taste but with the miso you most likely won't need to add any. Toss with thin spaghetti (add some of the cooking water and a bit more oil, like olive or sesame, to ease the distribution).
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