Skip to main content

Red Chard, Avocado, and Blood Orange with Mango-Chutney Dressing

Image may contain Plant Food Seasoning and Vegetable
Photo by Annabelle Breakey

This side dish has it all: creamy avocado, tart orange, savory greens, zesty chutney, and crunchy toasted almonds. Serve as a salad or a side dish alongside a piece of grilled fish.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    Serves 4

Ingredients

3 bunches red chard, stems and spines discarded
Kosher or other salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 large ripe avocado, peeled, pitted, and cut into bite-­sized pieces
1 large blood orange, zested and sectioned
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon brown rice or other vinegar
2 tablespoons mango or other store-­bought chutney
1 handful slivered almonds, toasted

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Steam or boil the chard leaves for 3 to 4 minutes, then plunge them into cold water. Gently squeeze as much moisture as possible from the chard. You should end up with a ball a little bigger than a baseball. Chop the chard on a cutting board, salt and pepper liberally, and divide into 4 equal portions. Make a small chard wreath on each of 4 plates and fill the middle with avocado pieces and orange sections, artfully arranged however you like.

    Step 2

    Put the olive oil, vinegar, chutney, and salt and pepper to taste into a jar and shake vigorously. Carefully drizzle everything with the dressing, using a light hand, then scatter the almonds and grated orange zest over them. Give each plate a final flick of salt and pepper.

From The Breakaway Cook © 2007 by Eric Gower. Buy the full book from HarperCollins or from Amazon.
Reprinted with permission from William Morrow Cookbooks.
Read More
Fufu is a dish that has been passed down through many generations and is seen as a symbol of Ghanaian identity and heritage. Making fufu traditionally is a very laborious task; this recipe mimics some of that hard work but with a few home-cook hacks that make for a far easier time.
Native American people made these with cornmeal dumplings, simmering them with wild grapes, which were harvested at their peak sweetness.
This sauce is slightly magical. The texture cloaks pasta much like a traditional meat sauce does, and the flavors are deep and rich, but it’s actually vegan!
There are many things that appeal about a Basque cheesecake—it's crustless (one less job) and is meant to look “rustic” with its wrinkled and jagged sides.
Oyster mushrooms are a strong all-rounder in the kitchen, seeming to straddle both plant and meat worlds in what they look and taste like when cooked. Here they’re coated in a marinade my mother used to use when cooking Chinese food at home—honey, soy, garlic and ginger—and roasted until golden, crisp, and juicy.
Tender, well-glazed, and just spicy enough, these ribs are the ultimate grill-out food. Cook fully in the oven ahead of time and finish them on the grill.
Berbere is a spicy chile blend that has floral and sweet notes from coriander and cardamom, and when it’s paired with a honey glaze, it sets these wings apart from anything else you’ve ever had.
This is what I call a fridge-eater recipe. The key here is getting a nice sear on the sausage and cooking the tomato down until it coats the sausage and vegetables well.