I had my youngest with me the day I bought seeds at the nursery and we came home with “Rainbow Swiss Chard.” It’s quite pretty to look at, in the garden and on the plate. The stems range from red to yellow to orange.
I grew Swiss chard because it’s easy to grow and good for you. But we’re a little tired of my plain cooked chard with lemon juice, which is pretty much all I’ve done. The other night I scoured some cookbooks and didn’t see many ideas other than this gratin, which came out quite good. It was a bit “soupy” so I either didn’t have enough chard in it or might need to just drain a bit of the sauce off the stems next time.
Chard Gratin
Ingredients
- 3 pounds Swiss chard
- 3 Tbs flour
- 3 cups water
- 2 Tbs lemon juice
- salt to taste
- 2 Tbs butter
- 3 Tbs cream
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup grated cheese
Instructions
- First, wash well if it’s homegrown chard. There can be a lot of dirt clinging to the leaves.
- Cut the stalks off the leaves and set the leaves aside. Cut the stalks into 1/2″ pieces.
- Whisk the flour into the water and bring to a boil. Add the stems, lemon juice, and a bit of salt. Cook for 20-30 minutes, until tender.
- Bring a large pot of water to boil for the leaves. My leaves were quite large so I cut them in half before dropping them in the water. Cook them about 10-15 minutes, drain, and chop, then toss with butter and salt to taste.
- Place stems and leaves into a shallow baking dish along with the cream. Mix the bread crumbs and cheese together, then sprinkle across the top. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes.
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