Recipe: Greens, Beans, and Butternut Squash Stew

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This week on the Market Report Laura Avery interviews Amelia Saltsman, author of the Santa Monica Farmers Market Cookbook, about her Greens, Beans and Butternut Squash Stew. Amelia uses produce from Windrose Farm to create this entire dish. She describes it as the perfect Fall one pot meal. You can serve it over quinoa or brown rice.

Amelia also shares a tip with us for prepping braising greens. She says, “to easily separate greens from their stems, hold a leaf stem-end up in one hand. With your other hand, grasp both sides of the leaf and pull down sharply.” Voila!

Amelia will be demonstrating this dish and two others at next Wednesday’s kick off event for this year’s Good Food Festival. Suzanne Goin will be emceeing the event and you can find a full roster and line up of the day’s events here.

Keep reading for the full recipe…

Greens, Beans, and Butternut Squash Stew

Makes 6 to 8 servings

4 dried smoked tomatoes
1 chipotle chile (NOT the canned kind in adobo sauce)
1 to 2 bunches Swiss chard (enough to yield 8 cups chopped greens), or other quick-cooking green, such as Tuscan kale
1 medium onion, chopped
4 large cloves garlic, minced, about 2 tablespoons
2 pounds winter squash, such as butternut
3 cups cooked beans, such as cranberry or peruano, and their cooking liquid (see below)
1/2 cup vegetable stock or water
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, avocado, or grapeseed oil
Kosher or sea salt
1 large lime
A nice big handful of cilantro
Cooked quinoa or brown rice to serve, optional

Soak the tomatoes and chile in ½ cup hot water for 10 minutes. Use a kitchen scissors to snip the tomatoes in small pieces and to split the chipotle lengthwise leaving the stem end attached. Return them to the soaking liquid.

Meanwhile, wash the Swiss chard and strip the stems from the leaves. Chop the stems crosswise into small pieces. Cut the leaves crosswise into ½-inch wide ribbons. (If you are using kale, discard stems; they are too tough.) Peel the butternut squash and cut into 1- to 2-inch pieces.

Heat the olive oil in a wide pot over medium heat. Stir in the chopped onion and chard stems. Add a generous pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute.

Add the squash cubes and about a ½ teaspoon salt to the pot, top with the chard leaves, and cover the pot. Cook until chard is wilted and squash is bright orange, 7 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in the beans and ½ cup of their cooking liquid. Add the tomatoes and chipotle and their soaking liquid. Add ½ cup water or vegetable stock and the remaining salt. Cover pot and reduce heat to low. Simmer the stew until squash is tender and flavors are blended, 15 to 20 minutes. The dish may be made to this point a day ahead and reheated. Spoon into bowls (over quinoa or brown rice if using), and top each with coarsely chopped cilantro and a squeeze of lime.

Quick Tip: To easily separate greens from their stems, hold a leaf stem-end up in one hand. With your other hand, grasp both sides of the leaf and pull down sharply.

© 2012, Amelia Saltsman.

How to cook dried beans: If you have the current season’s dried beans, there is no need to presoak them. Otherwise, soak beans in a bowl of cool water to cover for at least 6 hours or up to overnight. Drain, place in a pot with water, using 4 cups water for each cup of beans. Bring to a gentle boil, reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer gently until the beans are tender but still hold their shape, 45 to 60 minutes. Add salt to taste, turn off the heat, cover the pot, and let the beans cool in the liquid. Refrigerate the beans in their liquid, then drain before using and reserve the liquid for enriching soups and stews. Dried beans will triple in volume when cooked.
From The Santa Monica Farmers’ Market Cookbook: Seasonal Foods, Simple Recipes, and Stories from the Market and Farm by Amelia Saltsman (Blenheim Press, 2007).