Chickpeas and Swiss Chard in Parmesan and Sun-Dried Tomato Broth

We tend to go through cycles of what we want to eat. It starts with the let’s eat light and healthy segment followed by the let’s have a nice big dinner spurt and then comes the we need a lip-smackingly decadent dessert after our big dinner stretch which leads us back to the beginning. Right now, it seems we’re back at the beginning, for a few days anyway, and this soup fit perfectly into that part of the cycle. This chickpea and swiss chard soup was in the April issue of Food and Wine. Not only was it a healthy meal, there’s a great tip in this recipe for adding rich flavor to a broth in a very simple way. A piece of parmigiano rind was added to simmering broth. That’s a well-known trick, and I save rinds for this purpose even though I usually forget to use them. After just a few minutes, a so-so broth is transformed. This recipe didn’t stop there either. Before serving, sun-dried tomato pesto was stirred into the soup. Not only was this a light and flavorful dish, it was also very quick to prepare.

It would have been one of those record-time dinner preparations, but I decided to make homemade pesto instead of buying a jar of it. I followed the sun-dried tomato pesto recipe from Vegetarian Classics which included flat-leaf parsley along with basil leaves, pine nuts, garlic, olive oil, parmesan, and sun-dried tomatoes which were soaked in boiling water before being drained and added to everything else in the food processor. The soup was started by simmering some broth with the cheese rind and chickpeas. The rind was discarded, and then chopped swiss chard was added and cooked for just a few minutes. The soup was removed from the heat, and some pesto was stirred into it. That was it. Each bowl was garnished with a little bit of pesto and some grated parmesan.

This recipe is a keeper for how quick and full-flavored it was. Chickpeas and swiss chard are always a great match, but the pesto perked them up and gave the soup a tangy freshness. Meals like this make our eating light and healthy kick last a little longer, but soon enough I’ll be deciding what to make for a tempting, rich dessert.

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