Swiss chard stew with chickpeas By Hélène Jawhara—Piñer

This recipe is reprinted with permission from Hélène Jawhara Piñer “Sephardi: Cooking the History.”

In an Inquisition trial record from July 13, 1590, we learn that Catalina Albarez, a conversa, prepared a dish with meat (from which she had carefully removed the fat), Swiss chard, and chickpeas. The recipe below, acelgas con garbanzos in Spanish, is the first one that my grandmother Ana Guillen Palma taught me.

Serves 4
Time: 30 minutes

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

1½ cup (200g) cooked chickpeas
1 bunch Swiss chard
⅛ cup (25g) olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
½ pound (220 g) beef steak (optional)
3 very thinly sliced onions
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 handful chopped cilantro

Wash the Swiss chard. Separate the stems and leaves and peel the white stems with the vegetable peeler. Cut sections the width of a finger. Take the leaves and remove the larger white veins. Cook the leaves in salted boiling water for 10 minutes. Take them out of the water and squeeze them in a drainer so the water comes out. Cook the white stems in the same way, then set them aside.

Put the olive oil, onions, garlic, salt, and pepper into a frying pan. If using meat, add it to the pan now, cut into slices. Add the cooked chickpeas and cook for 5 minutes on a medium heat.

Add the Swiss chard leaves and the stems. Cover the frying pan and cook at low heat for 5 more minutes.

Sprinkle with the chopped cilantro and serve.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount