SWISS CHARD PESTO. Thaaaaaaaaat’s it.
Remember when I showed you the leetle Instagram teaser shot this weekend and no one could guess what kind it was? Man, that was like a pesto joy ride for me. And my hair got all windblown.
You’re not convinced on this yet, are you? Neither was Aaron. When I was jumping up and down in the kitchen screaming in his face about how I was going to make a Mexican-style swiss chard pesto, his eyes narrowed and in his best Kristen Wiig voice, he came back with, “a whaaaat?” *
Well, well, well, bunny beans. Guess what dropkicked his MIND? Poor guy didn’t even have a chance.
This pesto is insane. Swiss chard, jalapenos, toasted pepitas, garlic, and green hot sauce. You should breathe and then push your eyes back into your head.
When you eat this, it tastes like you’re biting into a spicy, nutrient-y, deluxe garden. And then when you make it to the seasoned black beans and roasted sweet potatoes, your tongue is going to pass out. Once you resuscitate your tongue and realize you’ve also just eaten creamy avocado with fresh lime and crumbly queso fresco. . . um. . . just go ahead and have a support group and maybe a coroner nearby.
Black Bean and Sweet Potato Tacos with Swiss Chard Pesto:
* Name that SNL skit for extra swiss chard pesto points! I LOVE GUESSING GAMES.
What it took for 2:
for the pesto:
* 1 bunch swiss chard, cut into chunks
* 1 jalapeno, roughly chopped
* 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
* 2 Tbs. green hot sauce
* 1/4 cup toasted pepitas
* 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
* coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
for the tacos:
* 1 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
* 1 sweet potato, cut into a medium dice
* 1 (14.5 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
* 2 tsp cumin, divided
* 2 tsp chili powder, divided
* 1/2 tsp garlic salt
* 8 white corn tortillas
* 1/3rd cup queso fresco, crumbled
* 1 avocado, diced
* lime and cilantro for garnish
* coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
Preheat your oven to 400.
On a rimmed baking sheet toss the diced sweet potato with the oil, 1 tsp chili powder, 1 tsp cumin, a pinch of coarse salt and pepper. Roast for 30 minutes.
In the meantime, toss the swiss chard, jalapeno, garlic, hot sauce and pepitas into a food processor. Season with salt and pepper. Start pulsing. With the motor running, pour the oil into the processor in a thin stream, until you have pesto. Taste. Yes. Yes.
Toss the beans into a small sauce pan and season with the remaining cumin, chili powder and garlic salt. Heat through, 5 minutes.
On a small grill or skillet, toast the tortillas until you get browning or charred marks.
Layer 2 tortillas, then spoon on some beans, followed by sweet potatoes. Dollop with a good 2 Tbs. of swiss chard pesto. Sprinkle on the diced avocado, queso fresco, a good spritz of lime and a few cilantro leaves.
Seriously, YES.
*You’re going to have a lot of pesto leftover. Freeze her up!
These look AMAZING Bev!
wow, this looks serious. seriously GOOD. swiss chard..would’ve never guessed. artichoke was a good try, right? haha..yum!
I love swiss chard. I really want to try these, amazing! I always have a fun laugh reading your posts. I can always imagine it really happening!
alright. i think i need this for dinner tonight. i’ll make margaritas if you come make the meal!
Swiss chard is one of those mystical ingredients that I don’t actually believe really exists. Except now you’ve made it into pesto. My mind is blown.
Just reading through the comments on that instagram post is hysterical. The marijuana and vodka guesses being my favorites. This is genius. I’ve made a ton of different pestos but never swiss chard!
The responses on FB and Twitter were even more hysterical!
Yep, I’d happily eat these for breakfast, lunch and dinner. And, FYI, pot pesto might make you a millionaire.
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!
Beautiful! Love everything about it
Only the coolest wives dropkick their husbands minds
You’re a pesto goddess!!!!!! Now make me this, pesto servant! Goddess title will be awarded at first taste!
Stunning! Who would ever think to make a pesto from swiss chard??? Love it!!!
I am IN LOVE with swiss chard. I don’t know if I could love another vegetable more. Not sure what it is…but the pretty color is definitely a big part of it. It’s GORGEOUS!!!
Love this whole dish. All of it Bev. Amazing.
I’m in love with every single ingredient in this.
Can I come live with you? K, thanks. I’ll be there for dinner.
I’ve never done a Mexican flavored pesto with Swiss Chard (I never would have thought of it), but I do make one with cilantro which is one of my favorite herbs of all time. My mind is officially blown.
I. Want. Now. That is all.
oh wow I love this one! GOing on Pinterest
You are a brilliant cook. I want to come take a vacation at your house. Please have a vat of that pesto for me to swim in.
Another amazing Bev Cooks recipe that I must try soon! I love pesto, I eat it just with a spoon. I need your cookbook in my kitchen, pronto!
I still haven’t found a chard recipe I love but turning it to pesto is pretty much genius!
Oh my goodness, these look divine. I love pesto, I love tacos-definitely making asap!
This sounds absolutely lovely! Can’t wait to try!
Finally, the answer revealed! This looks divine.
Gawd, you are rocking my world with that pesto! And it’s VEGAN! Want.
You’ve outdone yourself. LOVE this one!
I love everything about these tacos, but I am especially in love with that pesto – what a revelation!!
Just saw this on FG when I was checking a submission. Congrats! And of course, I want. Sweet taters and chard and no meat and beans and avo…OMG YES!
NICE idea for pesto. yum.
Mmmm… love this!! I made black bean and sweet potato tacos a while back and they’ve since been one of my all time fave! Now I need to try it with this awesome, super power pesto.
Sneaky devil! I’m gonna do it with turnip greens. Hope it’s not gross. Hope they don’t catch on to how “nutrient-y” it is. LOL
Can’t wait to try this! What type of green hot sauce did you use? A tomatillo salsa?
I just used a mild green taco sauce! The brand was La Victoria I think. I was going to use green Tobasco…try that!
I NEED THIS! No really, I need this now! Sounds spectacular!
those are great tacos! what a lovely combination of flavors and textures, it’s nice to see something different rather than meat tacos or fish tacos. I’m not vegetarian but I would love to eat these tacos
You amaze me. Every single time – you amaze me.
Oh my! These look incredible. Swiss Chard is yet another ingredient that totally intimidates me. I have never used it, and I’m afraid that once I buy it I will have this heap in the fridge that never gets eaten. That being said – the tacos look awesome! My husband and I would gobble these up. . . it’s just the kiddos I’m not sure about. . . I sense a bribe coming up!
Oh my! That pesto looks and sounds absolutely wonderful. And to pair with sweet potatoes? Now that is a meal I’d happily eat any day of the week.
Sweet potatoes have been a nemesis of mine ever since my mother made me eat boiled ones with dinner every night for a month. I have avoided them in my own cooking ever since, but I have never tried roasting them in the oven. We made your recipe for dinner tonight and oh was it amazing. It made me love sweet potatoes again. The chard pesto was amazing too, but that didn’t surprise me at all.
This looks so amazing. I re-pinned this on Pinterest and it got a bizillion repins. Well, maybe more like 45. But still. People want to eat this. It’s on my dinner list.
woah woah woah woahhhhh there. that’s like heaven on a tortilla.
Now this is my kinda recipe. I love the combination of sweet potatoes and black beans. Throwing in the swiss chard? That’s over the top good!
Hi! I found this post because someone pinned it on pinterest! Those tacos look amazing! Do you use the pesto for other things too or just for tacos? I can’t wait to try this recipe. Oh, and I love the Target lady reference from SNL.
I just wanted to let you know that I tried the recipe last night for dinner with my roommates. And we absolutely loved it! Using swiss chard last night was definitely a first for me, but I enjoyed it!
Just had this for dinner and it was delish! Thanks for posting.
This was delicious!!! My pesto is not nearly as smooth as yours, but still tasty. Next time I will add more jalapeno to get more heat. But I just loved it, thanks much
I made these for dinner last night for my husband and we LOVED them!!! Thanks for the recipe. These will become a regular in our house!
OMG – Just had this dish for dinner tonight with a Brooklyn Local 1 beer. Eye-popping good. Hit every taste bud – sweet, bitter, tangy, salty and savory. Better than main dishes at four star restaurants in Boston and New York. Not kidding!
These are seriously amazing. I belong to a CSA and had some chard and kale left over from the week, so I used both in the pesto. Also, I didn’t have pepitas, so I used toasted pine nut. Also, I left off the cheese, because I’m vegan. These are so so good. And I’m so glad I have some pesto left over. These are so quick to make, I can whip these up whenever I want to because I usually have black beans and sweet potatoes! Thanks for a great recipe!
This looks great! Did you destem your chard or use it all in the pesto?
I think I did actually! De-stem them that is. Yeah, do that!
Awesome, thanks for letting me know. I figured as much but sometimes I use the stems for stirfries and the like.
Can’t wait to try this!! 
Made this last night, no swiss chard about so I used wild rocket, also add roasted bell peppers and some mushroom, it was great-thanks heaps and you are funny as!