Mexican Rice with Chard & Red Beans

This wonderful recipe for Mexican Fried Rice with Chard & Red Beans came from a total morph-o-meal experience.

That is, when I started cooking it was going to be Linguini with Chard, Cauliflower, and Capers. By the time the pasta water was boiling, I made a shocking discovery. I had only a few strings of thin spaghetti and fewer strands of fettuccine, and absolutely no linguini. For a girl who hits a food store almost daily, it was hard to imagine how this could have occurred. I perused the many short pasta shapes on the shelves and knew they wouldn't cut it.

No matter, I'm working on being more flexible anyway. And, heck, I was really in the mood for spicy Mexican food. But I had to use that chard that had been taking up 1/4 of our total fridge space for a week. I don't know about you, but I feel chard is more limited than some of the other greens. I'd love to hear your favorite chard combinations!

So I mused on the Guadalajaran Swiss Chard Quesadilla recipe from the Feb. 2007 Vegetarian Times, but I really wasn't sold on this and was happy to discover that the recipe called for Mexican Oregano and I had none. I'd have to let that one go.

So I moved on. Chard and Jalapenos sounded like an excellent base. A stew? But by now I'm hungry and thinking I don't want to wait to cook sweet potatoes. I need something fast. Eggs? Rice?

"Now you're talking" says that creative little hedonist in my head, in her ruthlessly English accent.

So I poured her a glass of red and said, "Go do your stuff". The result was heaven.

Mexican Rice with Chard & Red Beans:

2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch chard, washed, ribbed, and torn
1/4 cup red wine
7 oz red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
2 tbsp chopped jalapenos (mine were from a jar, if using fresh, rib and seed)
1 egg, beaten
2 cups cooked rice (I used Trader Joe's Jasmine rice but brown would be good)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/4-1/3 cup salsa (I use Pace medium)
Avocado slices

Heat the oil in a skillet and cook the red onion and garlic over med-low for 4-5 minutes. Add the chard and red wine and cook until starting to wilt (5 minutes). Add the kidney beans, jalapenos and cook for 2 minutes. Add the beateb egg and rice and stir. Cook for about 5 minutes. Season. Add the cilantro and salsa and cook for 2 more minutes. Serve topped with thin slices of avocado and blue tortilla chips.