Swiss Chard and Eggplant Recipe

A couple of weeks ago, my boyfriend had a healthy cooking in-service day at work. The chef (Cooking With Chef Kate) that was there taught the people how to cook with fresher and healthier ingredients. She brought some Swiss chard from her kitchen to give out for people to go home and cook. John was one of the lucky recipients of the gorgeous rainbow Swiss chard. I had never made it before but had eaten it many times so I know what it tasted like. As we were grocery shopping for that night's dinner(shepherd's pie), I was trying to figure out what tastes would compliment the meal and also be a great color with Swiss chard. Funny enough, we were walking down the aisles of produce and suggesting different vegetables to add and all of it sudden it clicked in my brain: eggplant. I love the purplish skin and the color it turns when you fry it up. We went back and found a big fat Italian eggplant to add to the dish. We ended up using only half of it and stored the remaining half for another meal. Remember, when storing it in a air tight container, you can add salt to it or brush it with lemon juice to prevent it from discoloring too much.

One thing with my recipes is that I try to use whatever is in the house so you don't have to go out to specifically get everything in the recipe. Just substitute it for something similar to it in your house and I'm sure it will still taste great!

Start off by slicing the eggplant into cube sized pieces. Use about the same amount as how much Swiss chard you have. Heat and oil a saute pan over medium heat with porcini oil. Add the eggplant and fry until lightly brown. While the eggplant is frying, strip the leaves from the stems of the Swiss chard, and separate the colorful stems from the green leaves. Chop the stems and and shred the leaves, and place in two separate piles. Also mince half a small yellow onion and slice the other half. Chop two cloves of garlic as well. The eggplant should be ready by now -  set the eggplant aside in a bowl and keep it in a place where it stays warm. Next, oil the same pan with some lightly toasted sesame oil. Add the garlic and minced onions into the oil and stir-fry until they are softened and translucent. Next, add the chard stems into the pan. Stir fry them for 3-4 minutes so they soften. Then add the chard into the pan. It should wilt and emit some liquid. If not enough liquid comes out, add about 1/4 cup of water(or accordingly) to make sure it doesn't get too dry. Add the sliced onions at this point. Stir and toss the vegetables in the pan until they soften up, but still leaving a crunchy texture. Add the eggplant into the pan and add salt and pepper to season. I like a little spice in my vegetables so I added some (whole) Apache peppers from our container garden
 at the end for taste. If you add hot peppers, take them out right before serving.

If you try this recipe, please send pictures and let me know how it turns out for you! Bon appetit!