There are lots of recipes for this online, often called “chard stem hummus” because it’s got all the ingredients of hummus, except chard stems instead of chickpeas. But that would literally mean chard stem chickpeas (“hummus be tahini” means chickpeas with tahini in Arabic). The texture reminds me much more of baba ganoush, which I guess means lucky dad?, so maybe calling it chard baba ganoush is less wrong, or just chard stem dip. Anyway some ways of using the whole plant just aren’t worth it IMHO - I’ve tried pickling kale stems and decided I prefer to let those go to the compost - but this one I actually like.
Boil the chard and beet stems til soft - today I was blanching some greens to freeze so I just fished those out and used the same water for the stems. If you use red stems it can look a little dingy but whatever. Let them get nice and soft -10-15 minutes - then purée in food processor til smooth. Add lemon juice, salt, parsley, and garlic to taste, blend again, then add tahini to taste. I probably do about 3 parts cooked stems to 1 part tahini, but that’s how I like it. You do you. Tweak the seasonings and eat chilled or at room temp, drizzled with olive oil, with crackers, pita, veg, in a sandwich…
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