A simple dinner of perogies, swiss chard, tomatoes and garlic – The Bohemian Kitchen

Have you ever come home at the end of the work day feeling so utterly exhausted that the last thing you want to do is cook? I know that I do. And usually I deal with it by cooking Kraft Dinner or some other disgusting, unhealthy thing that I know I shouldn’t eat but just can’t help myself from eating. I am often too hungry and tired to care until afterwards about what I just ate.

Today I became tired of that routine and tried something new. Perogies with veggies is a quick little recipe that made my stomach happy and my mouth even happier. The perogies are crispy golden on the outside and soft on the inside. You get some bitterness from the swiss chard and sweetness from the tomatoes with everything tied together by the flavours of fresh garlic, salt and pepper.

There is very little prep work involved, which is what makes it so great.  Simply take some frozen perogies, about 10-12 of them, and warm them in a pot of water on the stove to defrost them while you prep the other ingredients. You’ll need about 3 cloves of garlic minced, 1-2 cups of swiss chard that has been washed, rinsed and roughly chopped, and one large tomato diced. You’ll want to heat up a big frying pan with some canola oil in the meantime.

By the time you’ve finished doing that, your perogies should be mostly thawed and the pan should be hot. Place the perogies in the pan and fry over medium heat until the undersides are crisp and golden, at least 5 minutes per side. Flip them over and repeat on the other side. Once they’re done, remove them from the pan and set aside on a plate.

If there’s not much oil left, add some more to the still hot pan and add the garlic. Cook until golden. Next add the swiss chard and cover with a lid for 1-2 minutes, until the chard has just started to wilt. Remove the lid. Add the diced tomato bits and the perogies and cook about 5 more minutes, until the whole thing has heated through. Season with salt and pepper. This tastes even better with a dash of rice vinegar if you happen to have some.

And that’s all there is to it. The original recipe came from a 5-ingredient vegetarian cookbook that was given to me over the christmas holidays. It called for gnocci but I couldn’t find them at the grocery store this week and used perogies instead since they are both made of potatoes. It also called for canned diced tomatoes but I prefer them fresh. The rice vinegar is something I also decided to add. So you can try it the original way instead if you like.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go watch the newest episode of America’s Next Top Model that I haven’t watched yet. I’m full, and sleepy, and looking to relax before another long day. I know that you know what I mean.

Thanks for stopping by today,

D.