In Dalmatia (the coastal region of Croatia), potato with swish chard is a traditional dish, and among the most commonly served side dishes. In recent times it has been somewhat displaced by french fries, but those looking for a healthy ethnic dish will certainly not overlook it!
Though people often equate swiss chard with spinach, it is actually more closely related to beets. It is a vegetable that thrives in a variety of conditions and climates and has a wide range of uses. Whether you are using it raw in salads, roasting it with other vegetables, putting it in soup, or using at as a shell to stuff, this vegetable offers a range of vitamins, being especially rich in vitamins A, K, C, and E. It also has many minerals in high concentrations such as iron, magnesium, and potassium.
Along with our potato and swiss chard side dish, we also made vegetable skewers. Staying in Dalmatia, such foods are also very popular, and have been adopted from Middle Eastern Shish Kabab. Of course, ours are vegan today, and very nutritious as a result of the range of vegetables we used to make them, such as eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, and tofu. You can also use many other things such as zucchini, sweet potatoes, fennel, or anything else you can think of!
Recipe, preparation, cost
|
Quantity (g or ml) |
Price for 4 person (EUR) |
|
|
Main dish |
||
|
Paprika |
200 |
0,70 |
|
Eggplants |
300 |
0,60 |
|
Tofu |
200 |
0,99 |
|
Tomato |
120 |
0,48 |
|
Olive oil |
30 |
0,15 |
|
Salt |
4 |
0,00 |
|
Side dish |
||
|
Chard |
400 |
0,68 |
|
Potato |
460 |
0,46 |
|
Garlic |
20 |
0,04 |
|
Salt |
4 |
0,00 |
|
Olive oil |
30 |
0,15 |
|
Salat |
||
|
Radicchio |
300 |
0,57 |
|
Pumpkin seed oil |
30 |
0,30 |
|
Sunflower seeds |
40 |
0,36 |
|
Salt |
4 |
0,00 |
|
Apple cider vinegar |
20 |
0,02 |
|
Together |
5,49 |
We began by preparing the items for our skewers. We cut the vegetables and tofu into medium-sized pieces. We then oiled and salted these items before putting them on our wooden skewers. Though we just used olive oil and salt, you could use a range of spices such as chilly or curry! Once we had the skewers made up, we roasted them in the oven. No skewers but still want to make this? You can always roast the vegetables in a large pan without the skewers and eat it that way! Where there is a will, there is a way!
For our side dish, we sliced up our potatoes and boiled them in salted water. Once cooked, we washed the chard and cut it into about 5 cm long pieces and steamed them. Once ready, we added it to our potatoes as well as some crushed garlic and olive oil.
In addition to our main and side dish, we also prepared a salad. We used radicchio to which we added sunflower seeds before seasoning with olive oil and apple cider vinegar.
The price for our lunch for 4 people came to around 5.5€, which means a bit less than 1.5€ per person. As you can see in the tables, the most expensive item was the tofu, though it still was not too bad. Naturally, using many ingredients increases the price. If you have a garden (or a nice friend with one!) you can really cut costs by using your own produce. Even growing herbs in your windows can help cut down on costs and add some life to your space!
Nutritional value
|
With lunch consumed quantity |
% From daily needs |
||
|
Energy |
500,55 |
kcal |
25 |
|
Proteins |
16,836 |
g |
30,1 |
|
Total fats |
32,656 |
g |
74,2 |
|
Carbohydrates |
42,169 |
g |
|
|
Starch |
25,225 |
g |
|
|
Sugar |
6,227 |
g |
|
|
Fibers |
10,23 |
g |
40,9 |
|
Calcium (Ca) |
453,07 |
mg |
45,3 |
|
Iron (Fe) |
5,507 |
mg |
55,1 |
|
Magnesium (Mg) |
180,43 |
mg |
45,1 |
|
Phosphorus (P) |
397,3 |
mg |
56,8 |
|
Potassium (K) |
1666,09 |
mg |
83,3 |
|
Sodium (Na) |
1411,84 |
mg |
256,7 |
|
Zinc (Zn) |
2,792 |
mg |
27,9 |
|
Copper (Cu) |
1,079 |
mg |
119,9 |
|
Manganese (Mn) |
1,813 |
mg |
78,8 |
|
Selenium (Se) |
19,643 |
µg |
39,3 |
|
Vitamin A |
325,1 |
µg |
32,5 |
|
Vitamin E |
13,25 |
mg |
88,3 |
|
Vitamin D |
0 |
µg |
0 |
|
Vitamin C |
157,965 |
mg |
158 |
|
Thiamin (B1) |
0,298 |
mg |
22,9 |
|
Riboflavin (B2) |
0,275 |
mg |
18,3 |
|
Niacin (B3) |
3,843 |
mg |
26,5 |
|
Pantothenic acid (B5) |
1,836 |
mg |
30,6 |
|
Vitamin B6 |
0,84 |
mg |
56 |
|
Folic acid (B9) |
149,75 |
µg |
37,4 |
|
Vitamin B12 |
0 |
µg |
0 |
|
Vitamin K |
1037,965 |
µg |
1482,8 |
With today’s lunch, we consumed 25% of our daily caloric requirements. We also managed to consume 30% of our daily need for protein and twice as much for fats, as well as 40% of our fibre requirements, mostly from the eggplant, tofu, potatoes, and chard. Our meal was also rich in vitamins and minerals, with us consuming 45% of our daily need for calcium, mainly from the chard and tofu, though also from the radicchio and the potatoes. We also managed to consume enough iron, magnesium, and phosphorus, each coming in at above 40% of our daily needs. We also managed to get lots of selenium and zinc, which are important for the proper functioning of the immune system. We also did quite well for vitamins, for example doing quite well for vitamins K and C; vitamin K contributes to the maintenance of bones and clotting of our blood. These mainly came from the chard and radicchio. As a result of the sunflower seeds, pumpkin and olive oils, and chard, we also got 88% of our daily requirement for vitamin E! Folic acid (B9), pantothenic acid (B5), and vitamin A were also each consumed at 30% of our daily need. We only lacked vitamins D and B12, which is typical of unfortified vegan foods (though sunning mushrooms can get you some vitamin D!
If you have questions about today’s lunch (or ideas for future lunches) then feel free to write to us at hungry.pumpkin.blog@gmail.com and we will get back to you!
Have a great weekend!
The Hungry Pumpkin Team
