Herbed Flat Bread and a Swiss Chard Recipe

It has been a few months since I've tried any new recipes.  I've been making my usual rotations of lasagna, risotto, tacos, sandwiches, soups, and pizzas, but this weekend I was missing having something new for dinner.  I have a giant list of recipes bookmarked in my web browser that I haven't tried yet, so the one I picked was Swiss Chard with Beets, Goat Cheese and Raisins from Epicurious.  Wow.  It was so delicious with all the different flavors and textures! 

I halved the recipe and it still made a good 6 servings.  I was able to use swiss chard, beets and beet greens, green onions, limes, and a cayenne pepper from my garden.  I substituted sunflower seeds for the pine nuts - much less expensive and gives it the same small crunch and extra protein.

I paired this dish with the another experiment for the weekend.  I was working on a sourdough taste test with daily bread baking.  I made a second batch of dough last Wednesday after making the baguettes, and I put the kneaded dough in a bowl with a lid and placed it in the refrigerator.  Friday night, I pulled a couple of hunks of dough off and baked two dinner rolls with our meal.  The taste was nice - a little of the sour tang - but still more on the French bread side of things.  Saturday night, I wanted to redeem myself from the first attempt at making a cheesy herbed flat bread.  About 2 hours before dinner, I pulled the dough out and made two rounds out of it to bring it to room temperature.  An hour later, I flattened and pulled the dough into ovals about 1/2" thick and placed them on parchment paper on a baking sheet. 

I let these rise for half an hour while working on the swiss chard dish.  Just before baking, I sprinkled a mixture of chopped fresh herbs - parsley, oregano, thyme, green onion - onto the dough and added a thin layer of freshly grated asiago cheese.  I baked them along side the beets that were already roasting in the oven at 450 degrees for about twenty minutes.  Oh my.  So good!  And without all the mess of making the dough on the same day!

Try this with your favorite basic bread recipe!  Or even a pizza dough recipe.  I'd love to hear about your favorite bread making techniques!