Monday's challenge was finding a way to cook red Swiss Chard. My husband, who watches a lot of Food Network TV, including Chopped, is beginning to be intrigued by foods we have never eaten but have seen on competition cooking shows a lot. He started asking about getting Swiss Chard a few weeks back, and when we went to a farmer's market over the weekend, we picked up a small bunch of red chard.
So, I researched in the morning. I found 4 possible recipes and sent them along to my husband. He picked the one I will be presenting here, which I found on AllRecipes.com from a poster named "DannyBoy."
I was nervous about the chard... it's like a spinach type vegetable in taste and generally, I do not like spinach in most forms (sauteed, creamed, raw) - I like it in dip and in omelettes and things like that. But I hoped for the best.
The recipe is relatively easy and took about 15 minutes once the chard was chopped and shredded.
In addition to the chard, I wanted to use up some ingredients in the kitchen that were getting old, so I took the rest of our quinoa and instead of cooking it up with water, I used a french onion soup that we've had in the cabinet for a while. I also used a can of peas and carrots and mixed it into the quinoa.
I felt we needed another element to our seemingly vegetarian dinner, so my husband and I quickly peeled and cut 2 russet potatoes and mixed them with olive oil, salt, pepper and seasoning and popped them in the oven for 25 minutes at 450 degrees F. Roasted potatoes!
Dinner turned out well. I was surprised that I liked my french onion quinoa. The potatoes came out great, but, the chard...well, I didn't like it. And it wasn't the recipe...it was the chard! My husband really enjoyed it. I guess I am just not a spinach-family loving person. I can say it wasn't disgusting. I was able to eat it, but I did not enjoy it. People who DO like Swiss chard and spinach WILL really like this recipe. But, my poor husband is bummed that we probably won't be buying this again, unless someone gives me an interesting recipe to try!
So here are the recipes used for dinner on Monday night...
French Onion Quinoa
Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa (I used red)
1 can French Onion soup
3/4 cup water
1 can mixed peas and carrots
Directions:
Pour soup and water into pot and boil.
Once boiling, add the quinoa and reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and let cook for about 15-20 minutes until the liquid is absorbed and the little white pieces of the quinoa are showing.
Stir and serve. Top with a little freshly shredded Parmesan cheese if desired.
Sauteed Swiss Chard with Parmesan
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 small red onion, diced
bunch Swiss chard, stems and center ribs cut out and chopped together, leaves coarsely chopped separately
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, or to taste
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
salt to taste (optional)
Directions:
Melt butter and olive oil together in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
Stir in the garlic and onion, and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant.
Add the chard stems and the white wine.
Simmer until the stems begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chard leaves, and cook until wilted.
Finally, stir in lemon juice and Parmesan cheese; season to taste with salt if needed.
Oven Roasted Potatoes
Ingredients:
Russet potatoes (however many you need for your crowd)
olive oil
salt
black pepper
a seasoning like paprika or your favorite seasoning
Directions:
Peel potatoes and cut into wedges.
Coat lightly in olive oil, salt, pepper and your seasoning of choice.
Arrange flat on baking pan and bake at 450 degrees F for about 20, 25 minutes. Turn over half way to avoid sticking and burning!
