Turkey and Rice Stuffed Chard Leaves

Are you intimidated by leafy greens? Do you avoid them in the produce section of your grocery store because you don't know what to do with them? I used to be that way until I signed up for the farm vegetable delivery. Since I started getting a lot of the leafy greens, like chard, collard greens, beet greens and kale, I started experimenting with different recipes and developed a few staples. Some of my favorites include sauteed greens, green soups, stews, frittatas and salads.

Don't forget that besides diversifying your menu these leafy greens are packed with all the valuable nutrients, vitamins and minerals. They include fiber, folic acid, vitamin C, potassium, magnesium, beta-carotene and many others nutrients that do miracles in fighting cancer and heart diseases, improve vision and make your skin look younger and healthier.

Last Thursday I got a beautiful bunch of red chard and decided to make stuffed leaves. Here is my latest recipe. 

TURKEY AND RICE STUFFED CHARD LEAVES RECIPE

Ingredients:
- 1 cup of pre-cooked basmati rice
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 8 big red chard leaves
- 1/2 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
- 6 tbsp tomato paste or sliced roasted tomatoes or any other similar sauce (I had roasted eggplant tomato sauce)

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Put a big pot of water to boil. 
3. In the meantime, saute onions until golden brown. Add red thick parts of the chard stems, chopped into small pieces, to the onions and saute for another 2 minutes. Add ground turkey and cook for about 5 minutes. Mix in 3 tbsp of tomato paste (or other sauce) and reduce heat to low. Simmer for another 5 minutes until meat is fully cooked. Add cooked rice, mix well and turn off the heat.
4. Once water boils, add chard leaves to the boiling water just for 2 minutes. Then take the leaves out and cool under cold running water.
5. Stuff each chard leaf with meat and rice mixture and roll it up neatly.
6. Place all stuffed leaves on a tray. Mix remaining 3 tbsp of tomato sauce with 3 tbsp of water and pour the mixture over the leaves.
7. Bake for 20 min. Enjoy!