Swiss Chard Out My Ears

Many of you know that I belong to a CSA, which means every week from June through November, I get a box off localy, organically grown goodies. Each week you don’t know what you get until you arrive, but after you’ve been doing this a while, you get a feel for what will come and when.

Lately though, it seems we’re getting Swiss chard out the wazoo. I mean really – how many times can you eat sauteed Swiss chard? And while I like it in my lentil soup, I hate that when I freeze my soup, the chard gets kind of a nasty green as opposed to the vibrant green it has if I cook it just right.

So last week I went searching for a new Swiss Chard recipe and found:

Swiss Chard Spanakopita Casserole
Cooking spray
2 1/4 cups minced white onion
3/4 cup minced green onions
3 garlic cloves, minced
9 cups chopped trimmed Swiss chard (about 1 1/2 pounds)
6 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
3 tablespoons minced fresh mint
1 cup (4 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 large egg whites
10 (18 x 14-inch) sheets frozen phyllo dough, thawed

Preheat oven to 350°.

Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add white onion; sauté 7 minutes or until golden. Add green onions and garlic, and sauté 1 minute. Stir in chard; cook 2 minutes or until chard wilts. Stir in parsley and mint, and cook 1 minute. Place in a large bowl; cool slightly. Stir in cheeses, salt, pepper, and egg whites.

Place 1 phyllo sheet on a large cutting board (cover remaining phyllo to prevent drying), and coat with cooking spray. Top with 1 phyllo sheet, and coat with cooking spray. Repeat procedure with 3 additional sheets.

Cut phyllo stack into a 14-inch square. Place square in center of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray, allowing phyllo to extend up long sides of dish. Cut 14 x 4-inch piece into 2 (7 x 4-inch) rectangles. Fold each rectangle in half lengthwise. Place a rectangle against each short side of dish. Spread the chard mixture evenly over phyllo.

Place 1 phyllo sheet on a large cutting board (cover remaining phyllo to prevent drying), and coat with cooking spray. Top with 1 phyllo sheet, and coat with cooking spray. Repeat procedure with remaining phyllo sheets. Place 18 x 14-inch phyllo stack over chard mixture. Fold phyllo edges into center. Coat with cooking spray. Score phyllo by making 2 lengthwise cuts and 3 crosswise cuts to form 12 rectangles. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until golden.

Note: Cut the phyllo stacks so they fit in and up the long side of the baking dish. Arrange folded section against short edges of dish to encase filling.
Yield: 12 servings

CALORIES 121 (35% from fat); FAT 4.7g (sat 2.8g,mono 1.4g,poly 0.3g); IRON 1.3mg; CHOLESTEROL 14mg; CALCIUM 134mg; CARBOHYDRATE 13.6g; SODIUM 449mg; PROTEIN 6.1g; FIBER 1.6g
Cooking Light, DECEMBER 2003

Now Phylo is one of those ingredients that scare me – it’s brittle, it sticks together, you know the drill but this wasn’t bad. Because you’re making it into a casserole, you can easily hide your mistakes (sort of like lasagna). The instructions weren’t so clear, and I meant to take more pictures (will do next time), but here’s one from my camera phone of the casserole before I placed the top layer on.

Basically, you’re cutting up the bottom layer of phyllo into three pieces so you have enough to line the edges of the casserole dish, all the way around. Then you cover it with the top layer, tucking the edges in towards the center.

Again, sorry for the lack of pictures, but I made this after riding 100K that morning, and while we were expecting company that night but trust me, it looked and tasted delicious. Oh, and can you believe I actually didn’t have enough Swiss Chard, so supplemented with a little baby spinach too.

Definitely a make again and for you WW fans out there, it has 3 points per decent-size serving.