1001 Ways to Cook Swiss Chard

As I’ve mentioned before, our CSA seems to be OD-ing on Swiss Chard this year. I don’ t think a week has gone by where we haven’t gotten some to cook, many weeks at least 10 leaves. Normally, I just do a quick saute of it, or throw it in some soup, but I’ve been unable to cook soup this summer and I grew tried of my version of the quick saute, so I started looking for some alternative methods.

You may remember from a few weeks ago the Swiss Chard Spanakopita, which while delicious, is a bit labor intensive. So on Friday night, I went in search of something simple and found it on Cooking Light. This recipe was so flipping easy and so flipping good, I don’t think I’ll be making Swiss chard any other way for a good long while.

Spicy Swiss Chard with Lemon

Spicy Swiss Chard with Lemon

Although 16 cups seems like a large amount of chard, it will cook down. Three simple ingredients–crushed red pepper, garlic, and fresh lemon juice–round out the flavor.

2 teaspoons olive oil
16 cups trimmed Swiss chard (about 2 pounds)
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon salt

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add chard; saute 1 minute or until slightly wilted. Stir in pepper and garlic. Cover and cook 4 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Uncover and cook 3 minutes or until liquid evaporates. Stir in juice and salt.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1/2 cup)
CALORIES 43 (38% from fat); FAT 1.8g (sat 0.3g,mono 1.2g,poly 0.2g); IRON 2.6mg; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 74mg; CARBOHYDRATE 6g; SODIUM 345mg; PROTEIN 2.6g; FIBER 2.3g

Cooking Light, DECEMBER 2002