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Super-Fresh Sunflower Chard Wraps

Don’t you feel like chard (with its gigantic leaves and bright red veins) belongs in some kind of prehistoric jungle? When I was growing this leafy green in my garden last season, I left it alone for a few weeks and came back to find that the leaves had grown to 2+ feet in size! I half expected to look up and see a brachiosaurus reaching down to take a bite out of one… Anyways. Today we’re using these massive leaves like tortillas to make super-fresh wraps with an amazing garbanzo/sunflower filling.

This filling is one of my favorite things of all time, it’s like the perfect mashup between a vegan tuna salad and hummus. It has a ton of bright flavors and a nice texture that works great as a filling. Wrap it up in some giant chard leaves with some other fresh veggies and it’s the perfect spring/summer lunch.

Chard-Wrap-Sliced

Makes about 4-6 wraps servings

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
  • 1 15 oz can chickpeas
  • 1 large carrot
  • 2 stalks celery
  • 2 tablespoons red onion
  • 1/4 cup fresh parsley
  • 2 tablespoons fresh dill
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • Salt & black pepper, to taste
  • 4-6 large chard leaves
  • 1/3 cup sprouts
  • 1 avocado
  • 1 red bell pepper
  • Sesame seeds, optional

Step One: The Filling

To start, make the amazing sunflower/garbanzo filling by soaking the raw sunflower seeds in water for at least 30 minutes, then draining and adding to a food processor along with the chickpeas. Process these two ingredients until completely smooth. Scrape down the sides if needed and add 1-3 tablespoons of water if it’s too thick to blend smoothly.

Then, add all other ingredients from that first list: a grated carrot, 2 stalks of chopped celery, 2 tablespoons of chopped red onion, parsley, dill, lemon juice, and a bit of salt and pepper. Pulse for just a few seconds to incorporate these ingredients. Finally, give this a taste and feel free to adjust any ingredients as needed.

This filling can be made way ahead of time and stored for up to a week, refrigerated, in a sealed container.

Chard-Wrap-Open

Step Two: The Wraps

Wraps are just like burritos: add the ingredients to the middle, fold in the sides, and wrap into a roll. It couldn’t be easier:

First, I suggest microwaving the chard leaves on a paper towel for 10-30 seconds so that they become softer and more pliable. Raw chard is quite thick and sturdy and you may have a hard time actually rolling the raw leaves.

(Time out – did I really just tell you to put your chard leaves in the MICROWAVE?! Why yes, I did. Conspiracy theories about radiation aside, microwaves are a safe and healthy way to cook – especially vegetables. One study found that microwaving preserved more nutrients than any other cooking method. I wouldn’t use it for everything, but it’s the perfect way to slightly soften these chard leaves without destroying them.)

With that settled, let’s finish these wraps. Simply spoon a generous amount of filling into the center of the leaves and layer with sliced red bell pepper, sprouts, avocado, and maybe some sesame seeds (or really any other veggies you like). In fact, I also cut up the stalk of the chard leaf and threw that in as well; chard is a close relative of beets, so the stalks are very sweet and crunchy.

Finally, fold in the sides, pull one end of the leaf over the top of the filling and roll it up. With any luck, you’ll have a perfect, portable (slightly prehistoric-looking) chard wrap:

Chard-Wrap

Chard-Sunflower-Wrap

20 Comments

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  1. This looks delicious! I am adding chard to my shopping list so I can make these today! Thanks for another awesome recipe, Andrew!

    • Yas! I’m totally with you on the raw onion… but it’s such a small amount that really works here.

  2. This looks awesome, Andrew! I am going to have to try this. I’m always excited to check out your new recipes – they are always so inventive and inspire me to be more creative in developing my own recipes.

    • Someone mentioned that they soften the leaves by holding them over boiling water with tongs to steam them for 10-30 seconds. I haven’t tried this myself but it would likely be the easiest way without nuking them 🙂

  3. These are neat! I never would have thought of blending chickpeas & sunflower seeds together, though I’ve enjoyed them together in a salad – brilliant work! I’m going to put delicious radish sprouts on them! They’re my favorite kind of sprout when I can get them freshly grown! They lose their pep at the grocery store – probably because the FDA requires sprouts to be bleached. Thanks for sharing these wraps, Andrew!

    • Thanks, Abbi! Ah, chickpeas + sunflower seeds are the perfect combo 🙂 I love radish sprouts too but I didn’t know they were bleached :/

  4. Hi,

    This looks so good! I can’t wait to give it a try. I think I may try the superfood radicchio for the wrap for the health benefits, and because I think it would taste great with the filling. Thanks again for sharing!

  5. I loved this filling. It was bright and delicious, just like you said, and not too oniony or strong. I even went out on a limb (for me) and bought chard for the wraps. I liked it! Thanks for a delicious new recipe!

  6. This is the second recipe I tried from your side and it is delishous! Even my not-vegan and into health boyfriend liked it 🙂
    Only thing is that I couldn’t do the wraps as nice at you-but this happens always with wraps, I am completely untalented to fold them 😉

  7. I just made these and they are delicious! My husband loved them too. Because it was cold and rainy the next day, I formed the filling into patties and warmed them in a fry pan like a vegeburger…YUM!!

  8. Microwaves are bad. That one study was sponsored by the industry and is just like the Tomato and carrot study which proves that cooked food gives you more nutrients that raw(the tomato study was in fact cooked whole tomatoes vs Processed tomatoes and Carrots study was actually raw the carrots were pureed and dehydrated below 40 degrees C, But nobody bothers to read the actual study).

    There was only one argument which this “new” study seems to addressing. You cant microwave blood or breast milk(actually all milk only thing is when you are an adult you wont die immediately) and there is no controversy that it alters the protein structures and other thing making it toxic.

    I dont know people are now not bothered in doing research just google search for their confirmation biases. Since its comfortable to use a microwave all you have to do is search “microwave is actually healthier” and you will find an article (that ofcourse a pile of lies) to satisfy your.

    The industry knows that so they just make a fake study that is inconclusive and then the Media and bloggers and skeptics take the liberty of making that inconclusive study conclusive.

    You want to use a microwave go ahead its a choice but dont have to spread lies to be able to exercise your right your prerogative. cant you just say I dont give a fuck I will use the microwave :-P.

  9. An addenum to my previous comment. I can show you plenty of studies “NEW” ones that show a Vegan diet is not healthy or a meat diet or a Paleo diet is even healthier. Studies that show a vegan diet makes no difference to your health the environment and how meat actually helps both.
    Would you stop being a vegan? well I figured 😉

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