The mild weather so far this fall means that a lot of cold-hardy plants like Swiss chard or rainbow chard, are thriving in your vegetable garden if you were fortunate enough to plant it in the late summer. It’s one of my favorite vegetables for its flavor, texture, and the way it adds bright color to your table when the season transitions from summer to fall.
But if you didn’t plant chard, you can find it at the grocery store. They’ll practically jump out at you with their bright color as you walk through the produce section — especially rainbow chard.
Most people are reluctant to purchase and try chard because they don’t know what to do with the stems.
You can use the leaves of chard as you would spinach or kale — raw in a salad, or sautéed quickly in a pan with some olive oil, garlic, seasoning, and a little balsamic vinegar. You can also add them to soups. When cooked, the leaves have a slightly bitter taste, similar to kale.
Cook the colorful stems as you would asparagus, by blanching them in boiling water or white wine for a few minutes and then putting them immediately in an ice bath. The stems have a slightly sweet and mild flavor that reminds me of beets.
After blanching, I like to slice them and toss them in champagne vinegar, and salt and pepper, and refrigerate for an hour or so before serving.
If I’ve piqued your curiosity, here are a couple of recipes for you to try using Swiss chard or rainbow chard.
Wilted chard
Serves 2
Ingredients
4 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2 strips bacon, thinly sliced
1 bunch of Swiss chard, rinsed, leaves separated from stems and both coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Heat oil in large skillet over high heat. Add bacon and sauté until bacon starts to crisp. Add garlic and sauté until golden. Lower heat to medium and add chopped chard stems, stirring occasionally, and cook for a few minutes until the stems start to turn translucent, add the chopped leaves, frequently tossing until the leaves start to wilt. Turn off heat and add balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper to taste. Toss and serve.
Rainbow chard poached in white wine
Serves 2
Ingredients
1 bunch of rainbow chard, leaves removed, bottoms trimmed, and sliced in half widthwise
2 or 3 small rainbow carrots, tops removed, rinsed and scrubbed and sliced in half lengthwise
Half a bottle of dry white wine
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
3 tablespoons of olive oil
4 tablespoons of champagne or white wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Over high heat, bring white wine to a boil in a pan wide enough to accommodate the carrots and chard stems. Place carrots and chard stems in the pan and cook for 4 or five minutes until you can pierce the stem easily with a fork. Drain and shock the carrots and chard in a bowl filled with ice water. Drain and set aside in the bowl.
In a small pan, heat the olive oil over high heat and sauté the garlic until it turns golden. Turn off the flame and add champagne vinegar and stir. Pour over chard and carrots, add salt and pepper to taste and toss, cover, and refrigerate for an hour for chard to absorb the flavors. Toss again before serving.