Curried Potato Leek Chard Bundles

My husband is the researcher, the person who will shop for exactly the right container, or google until he finds out all about a new ingredient.  He likes to be informed about things. Luckily he shares what he learns with me. He was looking at  information on the web about the two doctors who figure the most prominently in the movie, "Forks Over Knives" and ran across a series of YouTube videos of former President Clinton speaking about working with one of them. He said the diet  "saved his life."  There was an article about a celebrity chef who took on the challenge of cooking vegan for the President, a celebrity chef who was not an expert in vegetarian cooking.  So, creatively the way chefs do, he said he just decided he would figure out how to make interesting foods within the parameters, and mentioned that he made curried potato leek chard bundles. 

That's what he said, "curried potato leek chard bundles."  When I heard that, I started imagining how delicious that would be.  I can imagine all manner of variations. My husband's comment after eating them leftover for lunch was that they bore a similarity to knishes, in all the right ways.  We had this for dinner with tarragon garlicked Le Puy lentils and a salad. Two bundles were plenty for each of us, so we had great leftovers.

Here's what happened:

Curried Chard Bundles
3 long whites of leeks
6 small Yukon gold potatoes (you could use sweet potato!)
8 white mushrooms 
2 parsnips

8 beautiful chard leaves 
about 4 tsp homemade curry spices 
(cumin, coriander, ginger, turmeric, cardamom, oregano, salt)
1/3 c almond milk. 

1.  Chop the leeks & mushrooms and "sauté" in 1/2 c water with 1/2 the spices. Save out 1/2 cup (for the topping), put the rest in a large bowl. 
2. Boil the rough chopped potatoes & parsnips. When soft, mash these with nearly all the rest of the spices, saving 1/2 tsp of spices out. 
3. Gently steam (covered) the pile of washed leaves in a broad pan with a little water, stems cut off at the base of the leaf.  You will want to lift and shuffle these leaves so that they cook evenly, the bottom ones don't get mushy, and the top ones get cooked. But most importantly, do not overlook chard! It needs to have some spunk left so you can wrap with it. 
4. Mix potato & leek mixtures. Add some almond milk (or any other milk you like) if its too thick. 
5. Put the rest of the almond milk (may add more) with remaining curry spices into the leeks you set aside, then purée this for sauce on top. 

6. ASSEMBLY: Take each leaf, rib side down, plop 4" of potato mixture along the spine. Fold top of leaf in, one side, bottom stem, last side. Roll it & serve rib side up with a blob of "sauce." 
7. Can be made ahead & reheated. 

curried potato leek chard bundles Nutrition Facts Serving Size: 1 Serving (460g) (2 chard bundles) Amount Per Serving % Daily Value* Calories 253 13% Total Fat 2g 2% Saturated Fat 0g 1% Trans Fat Cholesterol 0% Sodium 236mg 10% Total Carbohydrate 57g 19% Dietary Fiber 9g 34% Sugars 7g 0% Protein 8g 16% Vitamin A 22% • Vitamin C 102% Calcium 16% • Iron 25% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs. courtesy of cronometer.com based on my input