Rainbow chard borani

Photo: Simon Lambert
Photo: Simon Lambert
Borani is a Persian dish usually made with spinach. However, I was given some strikingly vibrant rainbow chard which I thought would work beautifully in this yoghurt sauce. Borani works great as a cooling and refreshing sauce drizzled over charred meat or vegetables. It is also great alongside pita breads and crunchy vegetable sticks. It’s very versatile and very simple to make.

Makes 1 cup

Prep time 10 min

Cooking time 8 min

Skill easy

250g rainbow chard (or silverbeet)

200g unsweetened, natural yoghurt

3 clove garlic, crushed

50 ml extra virgin olive oil

1 ½ Tbsp lemon juice

1 Tbsp fresh dill, finely chopped

Salt and cracked pepper to taste

Optional — crispy chickpeas

Method

Remove the stalks from the chard and finely dice.

Slice the leaves finely.

Place the stalks into a medium-sized saucepan with Œ cup water, cover with lid and cook over moderate heat for 3 minutes.

Add the chopped leaves, cover with the lid and cook for further 5 minutes.

Drain and spread over a clean cloth to cool.

Once cool, squeeze out as much liquid as possible.

Roughly chop. Set aside.

Add the yoghurt to a bowl, add the crushed garlic, 25ml olive oil, lemon juice, and mix to combine.

Add the chard and dill stir through.

Serve on a plate and drizzle over remaining oil.

Optional — scatter with crispy chickpeas.