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| Simple and yummy Ian Ian |
If you wear forager goggles, you’ll be amazed how many
edible goodies are about. Right next to one of the busiest recreational walkways
in Cape Town are big patches of delicious Swiss chard (what we South Africans
commonly call spinach)
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| Get your forager goggles on and be amazed UGH |
Often during a lazy stroll along the Sea Point promenade, I
will spontaneously pick a bunch for part of the evening’s dinner. When my
friend Ian Ian arrived with some duck eggs, we made it our purpose to collect a
modest basket full for a ‘quichey’ (without pastry) dish.
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| 'I told you it was spinach' said the local UHG |
I tried a similar dish a few days before, which was rather
pleasing. I used some of my foraged olives and a grating of goats milk cheese. This
time, because Ian Ian doesn’t have a fabulous relationship with goats milk
cheese, we used feta instead.
The two of us must have looked rather cute, prancing around
and taking photos of each other with our little basket, but it is Sea Point and
anything goes.
What you need
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1 bunch of Swiss chard roughly chopped &
very well washed
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4 eggs (duck if possible)
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Olive oil, a glug
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A small handful of pitted olives
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1 tablespoon of chickpea flour (optional)
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1 onion sliced
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1 garlic clove, finely chopped
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A pinch of nutmeg
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1 teaspoon of ground cumin
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A sprinkle of cheese, grated or crumbed
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Cream, a generous dash (125ml)
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A pinch of salt and grind of black pepper
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| Different color duck eggs Ian Ian |
What to do
Turn oven on to 180°C.
Cover the base of a medium sized pan with olive oil and soften the onions, add
garlic and cumin, cook and occasionally stir until the garlic too has softened
and the cumin is incorporated into the mix. Heap the chard into the pan; don’t
panic if you create a small mountain of green in your pan. When it has neatly
collapsed into the pan, turn off the heat, add the olives and give the whole
lot a mix. Now, in a cup make a paste with the chickpea flour and some of the cream.
In a separate bowl whisk the eggs, add the chickpea paste, the rest of the
cream, the nutmeg and season with salt and pepper (not too much salt, remember
you’ve got olives and feta). Pour your egg mix over the chard mix and sprinkle
enough cheese to lightly cover the top. Pop into the oven and bake until the
egg has set and the cheese has browned. In the perfect world the centre should
wobble slightly if you jiggle the pan. Chomp hot or cold.
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| Wash well, very well Ian Ian |
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| Swiss chard for free UGH |
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| The mountain of green starts to wilt Ian Ian |
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| Now for the eggy mix, then into the oven Ian Ian |
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| My goat cheese one, complete with fully a foraged salad UHG |
