Sesame Cashew Chicken Stuffed Swiss Chard

Asian inspired and a little spicy, the fresh basil, mint and cashews help provide an imaginative twist. Think lettuce wraps meets stuffed grape leaves. Delish!

Makes 2 – 3 Servings

Ingredients:

2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
6 large Swiss chard leaves, washed
¼ large yellow or red bell pepper diced small
1 T olive oil
¼ C finely chopped salted cashews
¼ C white sweet onion diced small
1 medium carrot diced very small
1 medium celery stalk diced small
5 leaves fresh basil julienned
5 fresh mint leaves julienned
2/3 C chicken stock, divided
½ t sesame oil
1 ½ T soy sauce
1/3 C mayonnaise
1 – 2 t Sriracha sauce and some for garnish
Sesame seed for garnish
Cooked white rice

Direction:

• Sauté and brown the chicken until cooked almost through, remove, and dice into small pieces, set aside. Chop the cashews, pepper, carrot, onion, celery and herbs, set aside. Bring a large pot of water to boil, then take off heat. Immerse the rinsed Swiss chard all in the water, cover with a lid. Let sit in water for about 2 minutes to soften. Remove, place each leaf between paper towels and set aside.
• In a large sauté pan, heat 1 T olive oil and add the carrot, pepper, celery, and onion. Sauté until onion is transparent, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the stock, and the soy sauce, lower heat and let reduce and let the vegetables continue to cook on medium heat until the carrots are soft but not too soft. You want a little bit of structure to the veggies. Now add the diced chicken, 1/3 C stock, the herbs, the cashews, the mayonnaise, the sesame oil, and the 1-2 T Sriracha, and salt and pepper if needed. (Taste it first. The stock can be very salty and you may not need it.) Stir and incorporate until it is hot. Remove and put in a bowl.
• On a dry cutting board, lay out the first Swiss chard leaf. Put about 1/3+ C of the chicken stuffing in the center of the leaf. Wrap burrito style, being gentle not to tear. (This is why you only wilt the chard. If you cook it too much it will simply fall apart when you’re doing this! Plus, I find that cutting out the hard stem in a V pattern, up about 3 inches so you still have enough leaf to wrap, helps a lot.) Wrap the remaining leaves with the chicken mixture. I got 6 of them out of this recipe.
• Now, wipe out the pan the chicken mixture was in. Add the other 1/3 C stock, and nestle the stuffed leaves on top of the stock, into the pan. Cover and heat on low, simmering, for about 4 -5 minutes. This continues to cook and soften the chard, and reheats all the ingredients.
• Serve over rice, with a dash of Sriracha, and a sprinkling of sesame seeds.