Kid Rating: 2ish liked it (didn't try it on the 5 y.o.)
Do Again? Yes, but slightly modified
Chard leaves are mild (not too bitter) and can be used raw in salads (usually younger leaves) or cooked.
Recipe based from allrecipes.com, click HERE
Ingredients
1 lg yellow onion, chopped (I used a red onion)
2 T olive oil (I used 1 T butter, 1 T olive oil)
1 tsp brown sugar
1 bunch red Swiss chard, rinsed and chopped
{I had about 12 leaves, which didn't seem enough for the chard:onion ratio. It cooks down; I would double the leaves. Also, I used the same chopping technique as with collard greens. You can see that HERE (scroll to the pictures).}
1/4 cup Kalamata olives, rinsed and sliced
2 T capers, rinsed
1/2 tsp coarse sea salt (I used kosher)
Dash of pepper
Squeeze of lemon (don't use a whole lemon like allrecipe suggests)
allrecipes.com suggests using a cast-iron skillet. I used a regular pan (hard-anodized nonstick).
-Cook onions slowly in oil over med-hi heat (not too hot) until they begin to brown.
-Stir in sugar and continue cooking for a few minutes.
-When onions are brown and tender, stir in chard and olives. Cook until chard is slightly wilted (covered).
-Stir in capers and salt and continue cooking until chard is completely wilted (up to 3 minutes, depending how wilted they were before).
-Season with pepper and squeeze lemon juice over top.
 |
| I should have doubled the amount of leaves. |
 |
| The stems are blechy raw but a little better when cooked. I'll leave them out next time. |
 |
| Love the onions! I may do a medley of different onions next time for fun. |
 |
| I put in the chopped red stems before the leaves to give them a head start in cooking. I'll just leave them out next time. |
 |
| See how it's mostly onions? More chard next time. |
5 y.o. - didn't give to him to try, let me get the recipe right first
10 y.o. - She "loved it!" and asked for more. HOWEVER, she only liked the greens and not the onions, olives, nor capers. (Maybe if I minced them or blended them into a sauce one of these times...).
11 y.o. - "I didn't really like it, but if I had to eat it, I'd eat it."
Hubby - "No."
Me - I really liked it except for the red stems when raw. They were kind of okay when cooked, but I'll just leave them out for now until I get the recipe right. The olives and capers were great, but I seem to be the only one who enjoys them. The chard had a softer texture than the collards. I'm surprised I was okay with that, but I'll try to cook them less next time.
One last note: the chard was not as fresh as they could have been. You can see from the photo they are slightly wilted (leaves should be spread out more). They were beautiful at the market, but I couldn't get to cooking them right away (a week+). I bet it would make a big difference to have fresher leaves.
