Inspired by #veganuary here is an amazing Swiss chard and chickpea stew called Nivig. This is an Armenian recipe that I learnt relatively recently and fell in love with its tangy and lemony flavors. It is so delicious that it will become your go-to-recipe whether you’re in the mood for a nice vegan dish, or not . During lent most Christian communities in the Levant give up meat and dairy and eat a plant and vegetable based diet with some fish for the 40+ days leading up to Easter Sunday. It is so easy to be vegan in our part of the world since most of our traditional vegetarian dishes hardly ever use dairy and so are vegan by default. Many of our recipes that are meat based have a vegan version so it is really easy to enjoy a vegan lifestyle if one chooses. All of our vegan dishes are delicious, full of flavor and color and I can honestly easily live on them.
Go ahead and try this recipe whether you are doing vegan January or not. You will thank me for it
- 500g Swiss Chard washed and cut in thin strips
- 1 medium sized diced onion
- 3/4 cup of chopped coriander
- 3/4 cup cooked chickpeas
- 1 tsp of mashed garlic
- 1/2 tsp Aleppo pepper
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 tsp pepper paste
- 2tsp tomato paste
- 2tbsp lemon juice
In a large pot fry the garlic in some olive oil for about a minute and then add the onions and fry until translucent.
Add the Swiss chard and fry until they are all wilted and the water is almost all gone.
Add coriander and fry for a couple of minutes. Then add the chickpeas lemon juice and the rest of the ingredients. Cover and reduce heat and let simmer for 10 minutes. Garnish with pomegranate seeds and serve at room temperature.
