We all go through food phases. We find something that tickles our tastebuds, and we can’t let it go.
In the last year alone I’ve been through the following phases:
- The Swiss Chard Phase
- The Bean Dip Phase
- The Almond Flour Phase
- The Quinoa Phase
- The Smoothie Phase
- The Veggie Burger Phase
- and most recently The Oatmeal Phase
My current phase has me completely in love with the adzuki bean. I had never even heard of adzuki beans until I found Alta’s Masala-Spiced Adzuki Beans and Brown Rice recipe when I hosted Aubree Cherie’s Top Ten Tuesday. I just love learning from the incredible food bloggers out there!
Since then I’ve been substituting adzuki beans for my go-to black beans in recipes. Imagine my delight when I found out that the No Croutons Required Challenge, hosted by Lisa from Lisa’s Kitchen, was to come up with a soup or salad featuring…aduki beans! Ooooh, fun!
I found No Croutons Required last month and entered my Curried Carrot Ginger Soup in the Creamy Soup and Salad Challenge. I was so surprised to learn that my soup actually won the February challenge!
Since I’m currently going through a Skillet Phase in addition to my Adzuki Bean Phase, I’m opting to post this recipe as a more of a stew than a soup. But you can increase the vegetable broth or water to make it as soupy as you’d like.
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Adzuki Bean and Swiss Chard Skillet (or Soup)
by Heather
Ingredients:
- 1 large bunch swiss chard, washed and sliced in 1 inch strips
- 2 cans of adzuki beans
- 1-2 c. sliced mushrooms (I only had 1 c. and wished for more.)
- 1/4 c. fresh basil, lightly packed and then coarsely chopped
- 1/4 cup grated coconut
- 1/4 tsp. ground mustard
- 1 tsp. turmeric
- 1 tsp. cumin
- 1/4 tsp. pepper
- 1 T. olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 c. vegetable broth or water (more if you’re making soup)
- Salt to taste
- Jasmine rice prepared according to package directions
Directions:
1. Start jasmine rice in a rice cooker or on the stove top.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet or wok over medium heat and sauté the minced garlic until it’s lightly browned.
3. Add the mushrooms and saute until tender.
4. Add the adzuki beans and 1 c. of vegetable broth or warm water. Raise the heat, bringing the mixture to a boil, and stir for 3-5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low, add the basil leaves, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes.
5. Combine the grated coconut, ground mustard, turmeric, cumin, and pepper. Then stir in the spicy mixture, add swiss chard, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes more until the beans are soft and the flavors have melded.
6. Serve over jasmine rice. (Or add rice to your soup to achieve desired thickness.)
Serves 4
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Note: This picture shows the stems of the swiss chard in short pieces. While it gave the meal a nice crunch, you may opt to omit the stems altogether. It also doesn’t show the Adzuki Bean and Swiss Chard Skillet over Jasmine rice. Why? I got hungry and ate the rice ahead. Oops.
This recipe is linked to:
- Seasonal Sundays hosted by Brittany of Real Sustenance
- No Croutons Required hosted by Lisa of Lisa’s Kitchen
- SOS Kitchen Challenge hosted by Ricki of Diet, Dessert and Dogs and Kim of Affairs of Living
- Gluten-Free Wednesdays hosted by Linda of The Gluten-Free Homemaker
- Real Food Weekly hosted by Diane of The WHOLE Gang
That is one delicious looking dish CAT! I can’t wait to try it….
Thanks, Paul. Hope you enjoy it!
Ha, I go through fodd phases too! This soup sounds like it is right up my alley!
oops – I meant “food” phases – can’t spell
Thanks, Carol! I am soooo ready for a summer fruit phase right now!
This sounds like a perfect contribution to the SOS Kitchen Challenge this month, too, which features adzuki beans! Check out the general guidelines, and if you think it fits, feel free to link up and then add a linky to the post!
Thanks, Ricki! I just linked up. What a great list of Adzuki Bean recipes so far.
I’ve never heard of Adzuki beans…this looks so good!
Then you definitely need to check out these recipes at the SOS Challenge mentioned by Ricki of Diet, Dessert and Dogs: http://bit.ly/ghyotv You are going to love this bean!
I am totally on a bean-kick these days, too, but I am non-discriminatory.
This looks like a wonderful spin to beans and greens. 
And you last bean salad recipe looks amazing!!!
I guess your Swiss chard phase isn’t over yet LOL
Luckily, because this stew sounds absolutely deli!
A real must-try. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Torwen! I just checked out your submission. You soup is soooo winning. I should just pull out now.
I completely agree with you about the phases. I guess it’s something we all go through in order to really experiment with an ingredient. I haven’t used these beans but love the flavors in this recipe. Do you soak beans or prefer softer texture in canned?
I am so impatient, so guess…
Seriously, I know that it’s better for you to soak dried beans, and I’d love to work on the method over the summer. But every time I try to soak them I end up with a stinky, gooey mess that ends up in the trash can. So I default to very well-rinsed canned beans.
You are too funny. This looks great. Thank you for sharing it on Real Food Weekly.
This looks great, but when do you add the greens? I added them for a few min at the end just so they wouldn’t get too mushy as I despise mushy greens.
Thank you, Kaye! I actually can’t remember what I did, so I updated the recipe and took your advice…add the greens at the end. Thanks for letting me know!