Swiss Chard Roll Ups

By vdub

Ingredients

• For the sauce:
• 2 cups quinoa
• 3 3/4 cups veggie broth (or water)
• 1/4 cup yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 8 Swiss chard leaves
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce
• 2 large handfuls cashews
• 1/4 cup water
• 1-2 Tablespoons Bragg's Liquid Aminos
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon miso
• 1 teaspoon agave nectar
• 1/2 teaspoon tahini
• Sea salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 cup grated non-dairy cheese (optional)

Details

Preparation time 10mins
Cooking time 50mins
Adapted from vegancoach.com

Preparation

Step 1

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Place a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add 2 cups unrinsed quinoa and stir often until the quinoa is toasted. (There's no need to rinse your quinoa, as you normally would, because the heat of the dry pan will remove the natural bitter coating of the quinoa.)

3. Add veggie broth (or water), onion and garlic, cover, and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer quinoa, covered, for 10-12 minutes, or until quinoa is al dente (softened, but with a bite) and the quinoa filaments are visible. If you need to, add more veggie broth until thoroughly cooked. If your quinoa is cooked to perfection and extra liquid remains, simply pour off. Remove from heat.

4. Using a spatula, divide quinoa into sections equal to the number of Swiss chard leaves you have -- there's nothing worse than getting to the last leaf and having nothing to fill it with.

5. While your quinoa cooks, wash your chard leaves and cut off the stem at the bottom of each leaf. Make your sauce by adding all sauce ingredients to a blender and mix until smooth and creamy. Adjust flavors to delight your tastebuds.

ASSEMBLE:

6. Create a work space with a rectangular glass baking dish, one large plate, and your pile of Swiss chard leaves.

7. Spread tomato sauce over the bottom of the dish. Using a large spoon, scoop out a section of quinoa filling and carefully place in a Swiss chard leaf. Starting with the end closest to you, begin to roll the leaf from end to end. (Yes, the red vein should remain -- it adds a lovely crunch to the dish.) Transfer to baking dish. (Some filling may fall out during the transfer; just stuff it back in.) Repeat for each leaf.

8. Pour the sauce over your rollups. (If the sauce has thickened up, feel free to add a little water to the blender and mix well before pouring.)

9. Top with grated non-dairy cheese, if you'd like. I had some Teese on hand, which is a yummy vegan cheese that contains no casein, melts nicely, and is actually quite delicious.

10. Place dish in oven, and cook uncovered until sauce is bubbly, cheese has melted and filling is hot, approximately 20 minutes.