Chard Take 3

On this blog, we have posted specifically about chard twice. Plus, there have been a bunch of chard-centric recipes. Like many others, I have only really embraced chard in the past two years. But, now that I am comfortable with it (and grown tons in my garden), I find that it is something I am constantly drawn too. Not only is it extremely tasty, it is packed with Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and Iron.

Swiss Chard (also referred to as silverbeet, perpetual spinach, spinach beet, crab beet, bright lights, seakale beet, and mangold) is something that you commonly see at the farmer's market or popping up in your CSA share. It is really wonderful to grow - it is a "cut and come again" green, meaning that as long as you keep harvesting, it will keep growing new leaves. Anyway, back to the meat of this post - what to do with it.

There are many, many, many wonderful recipes on the interwebs, for some great ones go to foodblogsearch.com (see right). The simplest way and best way to get the most chard flavor is to saute it with garlic and olive oil. The stem is edible too, so don't throw it away! Some people like to start the stem pieces first so they cook down more, but I like the texture variety of throwing the whole thing in together.

How to Cook Chard - In Pictures

Chard from our garden

Wash, and slice down the middle of the leave, and then across into ~1" strips. Dice the stem.

2 cloves of garlic, diced, plus about a tablespoon of olive oil. Randi gave me this great tip - If you put the garlic in with the cold olive oil, and heat up together, it infuses the oil with the garlic flavor. When the garlic starts to brown, and you can smell it, add the other ingredients.

Chard in pan (I should have used my bigger one). Salt and pepper and stir.

After about 5 minutes.  I like to eat it like this, but you can cook it down more if you prefer.