SWISS CHARD QUICHEY THINGY

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)

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.

'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

-       1 bunch of Swiss chard roughly chopped & very well washed

-       4 eggs (duck if possible)

-       Olive oil, a glug

-       A small handful of pitted olives

-       1 tablespoon of chickpea flour (optional)

-       1 onion sliced

-       1 garlic clove, finely chopped

-       A pinch of nutmeg

-       1 teaspoon of ground cumin

-       A sprinkle of cheese, grated or crumbed

-       Cream, a generous dash (125ml)

-       A pinch of salt and grind of black pepper

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.

Wash well, very well                                                                             Ian Ian

Swiss chard for free                                                                                    UGH

The mountain of green starts to wilt                                              Ian Ian

Now for the eggy mix, then into the oven                                       Ian Ian

My goat cheese one, complete with fully a foraged salad                    UHG