When I prepared the food plan and decided on having those Ham-and-Cheese-Stuffed Chicken Breasts, I wanted to go with the magazine's suggested accompaniment of sauteed Swiss chard and mushrooms. Problem was, I didn't know jack about Swiss chard. I proceeded to do what any wanna-be-good-cook-who-doesn't-have-a-creative-bone-in-her-body would do: I Googled.
After coming across a ton of recipes calling for all sorts of mumbo-jumbo to jazz up the greens, I remembered a site I'd visit on occasion for the good photos and neat background written by a gal named Elise. Without hesitation, Simply Recipes* was searched for Swiss chard. What do you know? Elise has Swiss chard on her site and it looked quick and simple. Bonus was that I already had everything necessary to make this stuff, so all I had to get was the chard. And so I did that.
Swiss Chard accompanying Italian-Ham-and-Cheese-Stuffed Chicken Breast and Herbed New Potatoes
Swiss Chard
1 large bunch of fresh Swiss chard
1 small clove garlic, sliced
1 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp water
Pinch of dried crushed red pepper
Rinse out the Swiss chard leaves thoroughly. (Don't be shy -- they leaves are quite dense and hardy. Your thumb won't poke a hole in a leaf by accident like it would with butter lettuce). Remove the toughest third of the stalk (that insanely over-saturated white part in the first image above), discard or save for the worms. Roughly chop the leaves into inch-wide strips.
1 large bunch of fresh Swiss chard
1 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp water
Pinch of dried crushed red pepper
Rinse out the Swiss chard leaves thoroughly. (Don't be shy -- they leaves are quite dense and hardy. Your thumb won't poke a hole in a leaf by accident like it would with butter lettuce). Remove the toughest third of the stalk (that insanely over-saturated white part in the first image above), discard or save for the worms. Roughly chop the leaves into inch-wide strips.
Heat a saucepan on a medium heat setting, add olive oil, a few small slices of garlic and the crushed red pepper.
Sauté for about a minute. Add the chopped Swiss chard leaves. Cover.
Check after about 5 minutes. If it looks dry, add a couple tablespoons of water. Flip the leaves over in the pan, so that what was on the bottom, is now on the top. Cover again.
Check for doneness after another 5 minutes (remove a piece and taste it). Add salt to taste, and a small amount of butter. Remove the Swiss chard to a serving dish.
Well, something went wrong. Bits of my chard were blackened and, well, burnt. The sections that weren't burnt were OK, but did have hints of charcoal flavor. I'm not sure, but I think my skipping the addition of water at the part where the recipe says to add water if the chard looks dry and I assumed it looked OK and so didn't add the water might have had something to do with it. Jinkies! Nevertheless, I am now a member of the "I've had Swiss chard" crowd and will maintain my membership, anxious for my card to arrive in the mail.
I don't think Rodney bothered having a taste, but he was very discreet about it so as not to hurt my feelings. He's good like that. Rodney did take the oppotunity while we were eating to tell me he had Swiss chard in his youth and was not at all surprised by my results.
Cost:
- swiss chard: $1.69
As for time, it took about 30 minutes including chard cleaning and trimming time.
*Is it just me? Check out About Simply Recipes. Scroll down to the image of the couple, Elise's parents. Now, is it just me, or does this image, along with Elise's name and the hominess of the recipes make you think of Family Ties? I bet we've been together for a million years, and I'll be we'll be together for a million more...sha-na-na-naaa!
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