Middle Eastern Swiss Chard Soufflé

This soufflé incorporates many classic Middle Eastern ingredients found in Palestinian and Israeli cooking. The flavor reminds me a bit of spanakopita. Since I don’t eat filo dough because of the gluten, I love to do this soufflé for that Mediterranean-type meal.

Ingredients

5 eggs (yolks and whites to be separated)

½ cup mayonnaise

4 tbsp. brown rice flour

1 tsp. baking powder

½ c. finely diced onion

2 large crushed garlic cloves

4 oz. crumbled goat feta cheese

1 large bunch of Swiss chard (about 8-10 leaves)

½ c. chopped parsley

¼ c. chopped cilantro

1 tsp. dill

½ tsp. black pepper

salt to taste

2 lemons

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°. Pull the central stems from the chard and chop it into small pieces. Do this by placing about 3 leaves together, rolling them up, and cutting across in thin strips, then cutting through the strips perpendicular to chop them down smaller. Chop the parsley, cilantro, and onion. Put the chard, parsley, cilantro, and onion into a large vegetable steamer in a large stew pot (it’s OK if some of the veggies fall over into the water below but try to keep as much as possible out of the water to retain minerals). Make a little well in the top of the vegetables and put the crushed garlic in it. Steam the vegetables for 4 minutes.

Separate the yolks and whites. Place the whites into a mixing bowl by themselves to be used shortly. Note that this recipe only works if the eggs are cold because the egg whites will need to be beaten stiff. The yolks go into a mixing bowl to be blended with the other ingredients.

Combine the egg yolks, mayonnaise, flour, baking powder, dill, and pepper in a mixing bowl. Press all liquid out of the vegetables, then add them to the egg yolk mixture. Blend all the ingredients well. Fold in the crumbled feta so that it is evenly distributed.

Shake a little salt into the egg whites as this will help them beat up fluffy. Beat them on high until they are stiff and stand in peaks when you lift the beaters out. Grease a deep eight-inch round casserole dish. Add the egg whites to the mixture of other ingredients and fold them gently together in a sort of sudsy soup.

Bake for 45 minutes at 350°. Check to be sure the soufflé is done by inserting a knife in the middle. It should come out clean with no gooey mixture stuck to it. Bake for longer if the soufflé is not done. You have to serve the soufflé immediately if you want it to be admired for its fluffy appearance because it will drop swiftly, but it will still taste delicious after it drops.

Cut the lemon into wedges and serve on the side. Squeeze a little lemon on your portion of soufflé for a slice of perfection.

Eat well, be well, live deliciously!