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.
I’ve managed to get a decent crop of red chard this year but haven’t cooked much with it. Can you substitute the chard stalks in recipies that call for rhubarb? I’m mainly debating to do strawberry/rhubarb pie but don’t wanna attempt it if it ain’t possible.
Any ideas anyone?
Whoa — BOTH recipes sound great. The chard’s just gorgeous now. There’s even a few pretty volunteers coming up in my flower garden from last year when it was planted for looks not eating!
That sounds good – I’m definately going to try it! We have also be innundated with chard – I’ve been making this yummy Chard Tart:
Crust:
1 3/4 c all purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/3 c cold milk
1/2 c olive oil
Heat oven to 425F. Mix ingredients. Dough will be sticky and crumbly – press into tart pan (removable bottom) with wax paper or plastic wrap. Bake crust for 10 – 15 mins until just turning brown at edges.
Meanwhile mix up filling.
Ingredients:
~15 chard leaves (depending on how much chard you like)
1 small onion chopped
2 cloves garlic diced
1 tbsp olive oil
salt, ground pepper, basil, cayenne – all to taste
1/3 c heavy cream
4 eggs lightly beaten
1 cup grated parmesean (or other) cheese
Heat olive oil in large skillet. Add onion and cook until tender, 10 mins. Add garlic and cook 2 mins. Add chard and cook until tender 5-10 mins. Add salt, pepper, cayenne, and basil to taste.
In another bowl mix eggs, cream, and grated cheese. Add chard mixture. Mix well.
Spoon or slowly pour into baked crust filling evenly. Lower oven to 375F. Bake for 25-30 mins. Let cool as long as you can stand to wait.
It’s very good!