I’ve mentioned before that we try to eat vegetarian at least 2-3 meals a week. It’s a great way to save money and it’s good for our bodies. Often this means a pasta, stir fry or soup/stew that’s meatless. But every week or two I try to have a multi-course meal with lots of different tasty vegetarian dishes. This is even easier with all of our CSA produce we get every week. So on Sunday evening I made a delicious 4 course vegetarian meal. The first three courses were really all appetizers, but we often prefer several small dishes rather than a large one. The first course was an incredible swiss chard soup. I’ve never cooked with swiss chard before and as I nibbled at a freshly washed leaf, decided I wanted to try it in a soup. I kept it pretty simple, and as I tasted the soup, decided that the final touch needed to be some goat cheese drizzled in. Oh boy was it good! This is literally my new favorite soup, I don’t know if I’ll make anything else with swiss chard. (I’ve also tried it with chicken stock the next night, oh man it was amazing!)
I followed that with some stuffed mushrooms, they were the simplest. Just mushroom caps stuffed with parmesan cheese, sprinkled with salt and pepper, drizzled with a little olive oil and baked in a 400 degree oven for about 15 minutes. I topped them with a little parsley which tasted great. I don’t think I can make one of these meals without stuffed mushrooms, Eric loves them so much.
The final savory dish was a spinach artichoke dip, great with carrots, chips, crackers or with a scoop wrapped in a lettuce/spinach leaf. Eric didn’t like this as much as what he’s used to getting in a restaurant, I left out the gobs of cream cheese and sour cream that are normally included and cut way back on the mayonnaise. I thought it was great, and he still ate it all so I don’t think he hated it 😉
For dessert, I had a pot of rhubarb and strawberries simmering on the stove while I was making dinner. It made a delicious jam, so I made a couple of shortcakes (from bisquik) and topped them with jam and whipped cream. It was so incredibly good! I’m planning to make more jam tomorrow and will post the recipe for you Friday. I’m having a ton of fun with my CSA, if you have a CSA and want more recipes for it, click the CSA badge above.
Creamy Swiss Chard and Goat Cheese Soup
serves 2
Ingredients
2 cups chopped swiss chard
3 cloves garlic minced
2 TBS finely chopped red onion
2 TBS olive oil
1 cup stock (vegetable, mushroom, chicken, etc)
1 TBS goat cheese
1 TBS milk
salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
In a large saucepan, saute swiss chard, garlic and onion in the olive oil on medium heat for 3-5 minutes or until soft. Stir often to keep garlic from burning. Add broth and turn heat down to a simmer. Let simmer for 30 minutes. Puree with an immersion blender (careful not to splash!).
Mix goat cheese and milk, add 1 tsp of mixture to the soup and mix well. Taste and add salt/pepper as needed. Pour into bowls and drizzle with goat cheese mixture.
Approximate Cost/serving: Amazing, this soup only cost 37 cents a serving!
Vegetarian/Gluten Free: Use vegetable stock to keep it vegetarian, totally gluten free
Delicious soup and I love the addition of goat cheese!
Everything looks beautiful! I am always happy for new vegetarian recipes. I try to cook vegetarian meals a few times a week, as well, but I get stuck on what to make. I’ll give this a try!
Same here. I try to eat vegetarian 2-3 times a week too, if not more. That’s a delicious soup.
I might have to try this the next time we get chard … we’ve had a LOT from our CSA this year!
Those are the easiest stuffed mushrooms I’ve ever seen, and yet they look and sound so tasty. Guess what I’m going to be trying tomorrow.
This looks so beautiful. I love swiss chard anyway, but what a great way to enjoy it!
Ooooh – I need to try this! One question from a chard newbie though – do you include the stalks when you’re sauteing?
Great question Claire, I did include the stalks. They are a little tougher but once they’re cooked and pureed it’s not noticeable at all. I’m a chard newbie too! I had to nibble at the stalks to decide if I wanted to include them 🙂
Hey love the stuffed mushrooms – they are v. cute! Wonder if my kids will eat them – for some reason they don’t like mushrooms or tomatoes. BUT THEY LOOOOVE CHEESE!
Oh wow woman! I’m coming to your house for dinner!
Just made the soup- it is delicious! Thank you for the recipe 🙂
I made this expecting I would be the ONLY one in the family to eat it, and my 19 month old GOBBLED it up and asked for seconds! So creative and absolutely yummy! I used sour cream instead of the milk to mix with the goat cheese. MMmmm
I’m so happy to hear that Heidi! I love stories of kids happily gobbling vegetables, way to go!
this is a super delicious and easy soup. yummmm! thanks for the recipe!
You’re welcome!
This soup is delicious! I added half a diced jalapeño and some umami paste but I love it!
Oooh love those additions! Made me think I should try adding some Miso paste one day. Thanks Erica!
All of that Vegetarian food looks yummy. I adore stuffed mushrooms, my favourite is with spinach, cream cheese and chives. Mmm. I can’t cook with Parmesan though, because Parmesan in the UK is never Vegetarian as a rule, it has to be prepared in a certain part of Italy and has to contain calf rennet. Quite depressing when a restaurant creates a really imaginative veggie dish and smothers it with Parmesan. 🙁
I really need to thank you today though! I came online for one idea on how to combine beetroot and carrots and have come away with 9 recipes that I have to cook soon! Half way through browsing I had to run to the shop to buy the ingredients for your amazing Bruschetta. That’s a starter for tomorrow night sorted! : )
That’s a bummer about parmesan! So glad you’ve found a bunch of recipes to try. I think you’ll fall in love with the bruschetta. Let me know what you think!
Ok this soup sounds totally up our alley and as soon as our pot of kale soup is finished I will be making this! I have to ask…what does CSA stand for?
Love love love the Swiss chard soup! Thanks for the awesome recipe!