Recipe of the Week: Swiss Chard
by Kelly Rossiter, Toronto on 07.27.07
Today we are going to try swiss Chard. It is one of those vegetables that can be quite daunting if you have never used it - what do you do with it? So this week's recipe is more of suggestion about preparation rather than a firm recipe.
I find that chard has a more delicate taste than spinach and it holds it's shape and colour better in the cooking. You can find regular swiss chard which has a bright red stem or rainbow chard which has red and orange stems.
If you have young chard, by all means cook the stems as well. If the plant is a bit older and the stems are large they can be a bit woody so you should trim them off. With this recipe you can come home from work and have a simple, delicious dinner on the table in less than half an hour.
1 bunch swiss chard, carefully washed and roughly chopped
2 cloves of garlic - mashed, chopped or minced - this is entirely to your taste
olive oil
1 can beans, drained and rinsed - use navy, black beans or white kidney beans, also your choice
crusty bread
sea salt and pepper to taste
1. Heat oil in pan. Saute garlic until golden. Add chard the saute over medium heat until tender, about 8 minutes.
2. Add beans and heat through.
3. Toast a couple of slices of bread - if you want, rub a clove of garlic over the toast. Pour the chard and beans on the toast and add salt and pepper. Serve immediately.
Of course, you can always soak dry beans over night and then cook them and add to this recipe, but that implies forethought. This is really about getting something nutritious and delicious to the table quickly when you are tired and hungry and are tempted to order take-out. If you can't find chard you can substitute spinach and cook it for less time or kale and cook it for closer to 20 minutes.
Swiss chard is one of the most nutritious things you can eat. Plus, it's super easy to grow in the garden.
Because it's a bi-annual, it won't go to seed like spinach. It will just keep producing green leafies all summer. Great stuff.
Wikipedia says:
"In the US the leaves are valued while European cooks value the stalks to the point of discarding the leaves or feeding them to animals"
and
"The leaves are generally treated in the same way as spinach and the stems like asparagus."
I've only ever used the leaves.
Does anyone know how to prepare the stems/stalks?
The stems of swiss chard even though they are a bit tough, you can make from them an excellent dip, like hummos, same ingrediants same process, just use them instead of the gorbanzo beans.
i prepare the stems the same way as the leaves, however, i throw the stems in the pan first so they have time to cook as the leaves cook faster.
chard, garlic, and beans (I usually use canellini beans) w/ dried red pepper if you like and some vermouth or other liquid go well with pasta.
there's also a nice recipe in Deborah Madison's "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone" for chard or spinach Catalan style (maybe a real Catalonian can comment). Something like:
Remove chard stems and blanch the chard leaves or at least pour some boiling water over them (unless it is very young and tender), then coarsely chop the leaves.
Saute garlic in olive oil until golden and remove garlic (the garlic chips are pretty tasty w/ a little salt; you could probably leave the garlic in).
You can either save the chard stems for something else, though I usually cook them until they are browned in the garlic oil.
Then add a small handful each of pinenuts and golden raisins and some salt and pepper. Cook until the pinenuts get brown and the raisins get plump.
Add the coarsely chopped chard and toss/stir it with the nut/raisin/oil mixture until the chard is nicely done.
Plenty of variables to play with and you can't really go wrong as long as you don't burn the pine nuts.