Quote of the Day

7.28.2008

calling for Swiss Chard recipes


Wouldn't you know it. The little withered seedlings that I bought for 25cents have all recovered and are taking over my garden. What would you do with an endless supply of Swiss Chard? I need ideas.

~Suzanne

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Here are a couple that my family like:

Potato and Chard Casserole
1 lb. chard (or other greens - I used kale the first time. Second time I used some kale, spinach, arugula, and mustard greens)
4 medium potatoes
2-3 tbsp. olive oil
6 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 C milk
2 or more cloves of garlic, crushed, minced, or finely chopped
salt to taste
1 tsp. each thyme and marjoram
1/2 or more chopped onion
3/4 C grated Parmesan cheese

Wash and dry chard (or greens), and chop into thin strips, 1/4 inch wide or thinner. Wash potatoes and cut into 1/8-inch slices (this should make 6-7 cups). Set aside 1 1/4 cups of potatoes. Add the olive oil to the greens and mix well. In a separate bowl, mix eggs, milk, garlic salt, herbs, onion, and 1/2 cup of the Parmesan cheese. Add egg mixture to greens and mix well. Add the big portion of potatoes (NOT the 1 1/4 cups you set aside) to the greens and mix well. Pour into a greased, 9x13 baking dish. Place remaining potato slices on top. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees F until potatoes in center are done (about 50 minutes). Uncover and sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top. Continue baking until cheese is golden, about 10 minutes.

Wilted Swiss Chard with Garlic
2 pounds Swiss chard, cleaned and coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Fresh lemon juice, optional

Wash the greens in several changes of cold water. Fill the sink with cool water and swish the greens through the water one hand full at a time.
Remove the stems and chop into one-inch pieces. Set aside.
Stack the leaves and roll them into a scroll. Using a sharp knife cut across each scroll until all the greens are prepared.
Mince the garlic and set aside.
Heat a skillet or heavy Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add olive oil and chopped stems. Sauté 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté an additional 15 seconds.
Add the wet chard one hand full at a time. Stir after each addition. After all the greens have been added, immediately cover with a tight-fitting lid. Allow the greens to cook or wilt about 5 minutes. They should be wilted and still bright green in color.
Remove the lid and continue cooking over high heat until all the liquid has evaporated, about 2 to 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately with a squeeze of lemon juice, if desired. Serves 4.

Anonymous said...

I have a good recipe for a swiss chard in a soup, but isn't that for Fall?
Try this one: Gezellig Girl gives a nice recipe on this food blog-
http://gezellig-girl.com/2008/07...ished/#more- 324

Anonymous said...

Am I too late to give you a chard idea? I love the stuff, and I use/modify a great recipe out of Mollie Katzen's "Still Life With Menu." Please let me know if you'd like the exact recipe, as I'd be glad to email it to you (I tend to cook by 'sort-of'), but here are the generals:

Saute one diced onion in olive oil until translucent. Add a goodly amount of cleaned, roughly chopped chard, and saute until chard is tender. Just before chard is done, add crumbled feta cheese (I like to add a whole 8 oz. block!). You want the cheese to partially melt, but not completely. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately over some sort of "sturdy pasta," as Molly Katzen calls it -- like rigatoni or rotini. Top with parmesan if desired.

BTW, I am a blog lurker of yours, and enjoy your writing very much -- especially as we apparently read many of the same books, and do many of the same things (like teach college writing!). Thanks for enriching my life! kristin

Suzanne said...

Thank you Kristin for your lovely words! and for de-lurking.

The recipe sounds wonderful, and no, never too late. I have chard growing from the stubs of previous harvests plus all the new resurrected seedlings.

Any book recommendations?

Anonymous said...

Oh, dear, Now You've Done It, Meredith. You asked for book recommendations. I can hear my bookshelves cheering lustily in the background, and my husband wondering, "Does she know what she asked?"

I am currently reading "Guns, Germs, and Steel" by Jared Diamond (exceedingly interesting, about the differences in technology and civilization development around the globe). I am also forever and always re-reading Dorothy L. Sayers' Lord Peter mysteries, the Sherlock Holmes series, and Ngaio Marsh's Inspector Alleyn.

AND at the moment I am finishing "'Shakespeare' by Another Name," by Mark Anderson (which I did not find particularly convincing) and working my way through Lewis' "Mere Christianity," which constantly makes me wonder how I could possibly have been a Christian my entire life and never have considered the incredibly simple and impossibly complex and brilliant aspect of belief he just mentioned!

Sorry. Are you still awake? I have finished burbling ... no, really! kristin

Suzanne said...

Kristin, Thank you so much for your recommendations. I really liked Guns, Germs, and Steel and Mere Christianity. I haven't heard of Inspector Alleyn, nor have I reread the Lord Peter books for awhile, so thanks for the tips there.

Got any more?

Anonymous said...

Here's a followup for you to track how your new server thingamajig is tracking new comments to old blog entries.
I wondered if you had looked at the gezellig girl blog, for her Swiss chard recipe?

Suzanne said...

Thanks Shauna - so far I am really liking the new server. Yes I did check out that recipe -- LOVE her header photo. I haven't tried it yet as it calls for white sandwich bread, though I will probably end up making an adaption of it. It looks yummy.

I notice the link died on the transfer. Here it is again if anyone wants it: http://gezellig-girl.com/2008/07/15/an-old-foe-va...

Suzanne said...

Thank you so much Melissa. My folks are coming for dinner tomorrow night; I'll smuggle some chard into my dad. :)