Veggicurious Cooking in and eating out, vegetarian, in Philadelphia and beyond. Trying to keep it local, fresh, community oriented, and curious.

I can hardly tell you how beautiful my rainbow swiss chard is. Still growing strong in my raised bed, I look at it longingly everyday, but usually feel compelled to eat some of the vegetables from CSA languishing the refrigerator. Not tonight. In the mood for some saag paneer, but without paneer on-hand or spinach, I decided to do a little recipe sleuthing on the internet. Surely others have made similar substitutes before? I discovered that chard, turnip and other dark leafy greens are frequent substitutes for spinach in “saag.” And vegans substitute tofu for paneer all the time. I used a combination of recipes from epicurious and the webblog “Tigers and Strawberries,” which used a more complex spice mixture. While I might not have created the most authentic version of this dish, I was able to use the chard and the last of the hot thai chilies in my garden, along with the tofu in the fridge. AND to make use of the green tomatoes from my CSA in this sweet and spicy chutney from Food in Jars.