Chard chana

I first sowed my Swiss chard last autumn when we had a month of unseasonable fine weather and its taken until May for them to be harvestable. What I have learnt is that its a tough veg, lasting through the winter as tiny little plants and surviving a constant uprooting and replanting from the local cat population. So get sowing now!

The past few days of warmth was bringing back memories of Barcelona and one of my favourite haunts was Juicy Jones in El Raval that served daily thali dishes of vegan goodness. Recreating this memory at home I was short on ingredients so with a few chard leaves and a tin of chickpeas I russled up an additional thali dish that is equally tasty and fulfilling to sit on its own with rice or cous cous as it is next to hot spicy aubergines.

Chard Chana

1. Take a couple of sticks of celery, an onion and four good sized leaves of swiss chard.

2. Chop the veg to equal size and fry in some olive oil until sweated off.

3. Add a teaspoon of turmeric, a clove of garlic finely chopped, a pinch of salt and half a tin of chickpeas.

4. Continue cooking add a dash of oil to moist the dish and any additional seasoning.

5. The moisture from the veg should be enough to prevent the dish drying out but you can sprinkle with water if needed.

6. Serve when the chickpeas are heated through.

This dish works well also stuffed in a pitta cold the next day , if there's any left!

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