stuffed chard leaves with beef and pine nuts

These Stuffed Chard Leaves with beef and pine nuts make a tasty, low-carb, grain-free comfort food meal. They are studded with currants and feta cheese and topped with tomato sauce and cheddar. Read on for the recipe and to join in on a Cabot cheddar giveaway.

It’s hard to believe that it’s already been a week since I got back from vacation. In case you don’t follow me on Instagram, you may not even know that I was gone. The fam and I went to Florida for a week. First we went to my in-laws over on the Gulf side. We splashed in the pool, relaxed and checked out some gators on a fan boat.

I wish I could do my impression for you of the boat driver. I felt like I needed subtitles. Not just because the fan was so loud! “ThatsaPurpleswamphen!” He’d call, and it would take me a few minutes to figure out what he’d said. That’s a Purple Swamp Hen. Apparently there is such a thing.

Then we hopped in a rental car and drove up to Disney World.

To be honest, I was really not looking forward to the Disney part part of this trip. I thought it was going to be all waiting in scorching hot lines, kids in full-out tantrum and a gross display of humanity. But it wasn’t at all. It was lovely and I have never been so happy to be wrong. We even rocked the Disney shirts my mother-in-law gave us. We had the best time! Roller Coasters Rock!!! {However, I do not recommend the Mission Space ride at Epcot. I feel queasy just thinking about it.}

My friend who took her family to Disney earlier this year, joked with me about how hard it is to come back to reality after such a fun trip. She’s right! Since I got back that I am suffering from Disney withdrawal. Where are all of the amazingly courteous “cast members” wishing me a magical day?

To add insult to injury, I didn’t work out at all while I was gone. Well, once. But for me, once in eight days is not “at all.” And getting back into it has been ROUGH. On Sunday morning I took an awesome Prince tribute spinning class and did a little upper body weights. Then on Monday I taught BodyPump. Um, that was not easy. Tuesday I took a BodyAttack class even though my legs were crushed from the day before. And by Wednesday it hurt to go down the stairs. Too bad, more Pump for me. I guess this is what it feels like if you don’t stick with it, and keep it up. It is hard to do the workout, and then the soreness! Oh my! It is not fun.

I think it was actually, in a way, good for me to go through that to remind me how hard it is to get going with an exercise program. I’ll be nicer on my Pumpers next time. I kid.

Anyway, now it’s Friday, and I have yet another BodyPump class later this morning. And then I am packing up my sneakers and headed down to Middlebury, Vermont for a weekend with the Cabot Fit Team. We’ll be spending the weekend, touring the area, visiting a working Cabot Dairy Farm and sampling all the cheese! Then on Sunday morning, rise and shine, we head out for the Middlebury Maple Run.

I am splitting the half marathon with Danielle Omar, so my leg of the race is only 6.1 miles. You’ll notice I didn’t mention running in any of the last several week’s activities. Yikes!! I had meant to run on the 13^th, and it was blowing sleet sideways. And then again on the 26^th and we had 3 inches of fresh snow. So, I am behind where I wanted to be.

I have been attempting to toe the line of being prepared enough to run for 6 miles and not hate every minute, and not training enough to aggravate my old hamstring injury. {Yes the same one I had issues while running with the Cabot Fit Team two years ago!}

You know what will make me feel better about all of that? A little comfort food, and a little free cheese! That’s right, to celebrate my Cabot Fit weekend 2016, I made Chard Rolls with Beef and Pine Nuts (covered in melted Cabot cheddar of course) and I have a Cabot cheddar giveaway!!

If you’d like to follow along with me during my weekend with the Cabot Fit Team, please visit me on Instagram and Twitter. And you can also follow along on social media by searching the hashtag #CabotFit.

DISCLOSURE:  This coming weekend’s activities and travel expenses will be paid for by Cabot Creamery. I was not compensated to write this post. All opinions expressed here are my own.

If you love Swiss Chard, you’ll definitely want to try my Simple Sauteed Swiss Chard recipe and the Chard and Egg Bake I have here on the blog. 

Thanks so much for reading! If you try this recipe, please come back to leave a star rating and review! It helps a ton and I really appreciate it! 

Happy Cooking!

~Katie

stuffed chard leaves with beef and pine nuts

• Author: Katie Webster
• Prep Time: 25 minutes
• Cook Time: 45 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
• Yield: 4 servings 1x
• Category: Main Course
• Method: Oven
• Cuisine: American

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Description

These Stuffed Swiss Chard Leaves are total comfort food! They are stuffed with beef, pine nuts, feta and currants and cooked with tomato sauce and cheddar cheese. They are naturally gluten-free and low carb.

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Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 8 large chard leaves
• 1 pound grass fed beef
• ½ cup crumbled feta cheese
• ½ cup minced onion
• ¼ cup dried currants
• ¼ cup pine nuts, toasted
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano or ¾ teaspoon dry
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• 1 pinch allspice
• 1 15-ounce can tomato sauce, divided
• 3 ounces sharp shredded cheddar cheese, such as Cabot Seriously Sharp

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Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Set a bowl of ice water next to the pot. Cut stems of chard stalks off at the base of each leaf, leaving center rib intact. Blanch chard leaves in boiling water until soft and flexible but not so tender that they will tear, about 1 minute. Shock the chard in the ice bath and then dry with paper towels.
2. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Gently knead beef, feta, onions, currants, pine nuts, oregano, salt, pepper and allspice in a large bowl until combined. Divide into 8 even portions and shape into miniature loaf shapes.
3. Coat a 9 by 11 baking dish with cooking spray. Spread ½ cup tomato sauce in the bottom of the baking dish.
4. Lay chard leaf on work surface. Place portion of meat mixture widthwise, toward one end of the chard leaf. Wrap the meat up with the chard leaf by tucking in sides and rolling up into a tight little bundle. Place seam side down in the baking dish. Repeat with the remaining chard and filling. Pour the remaining tomato sauce on top of the chard rolls. Cover with a layer of parchment and a layer of foil.
5. Transfer to the oven and bake until the beef mixture is heated through and reaches 164 degrees when tested with an instant read thermometer, 33 to 40 minutes. Remove foil and sprinkle with cheddar. Return to the oven and bake until cheese is melted, 4 to 5 minutes longer. Remove from the oven, and let rest 10 minutes before serving.

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Nutrition

• Serving Size: 2 stuffed chard leaves
• Calories: 540
• Sugar: 16 g
• Sodium: 977 mg
• Fat: 34 g
• Saturated Fat: 15 g
• Carbohydrates: 29 g
• Fiber: 6 g
• Protein: 34 g