CSA: what would you do?

Our CSA box this morning included a huge bunch of rainbow chard. Got any ideas for me? I’ve exhausted my chard repertoire ( which is admittedly quite small.)

21 Responses to "CSA: what would you do?"

Renee@BeyondRiceandTofu says:

August 19, 2012 at 1:40 pm

This is one of our favorite chard recipes. In fact we just had it last night! http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/black-eyed-peas-with-swiss-chard-10000001031683/
Stephanie says:

August 19, 2012 at 2:27 pm

Put it in a green smoothie.
Emaegf says:

August 19, 2012 at 3:51 pm

Use the leaves sauted with a little garlic, salt and pepper. Any where you would use spinach.
Chop the stalks add sugar, cinnmon and bake or cook on the stove top and make a jam. Use it like rhubarb. Or just cut saute like the leaves. Serve as a side dish.
Linda Haley says:

August 19, 2012 at 6:04 pm

Kale (or Chard) and Bacon

4 pieces bacon, chopped
1 med. onion, chopped

Fry til bacon is crisp and onion well cooked. Sprinkle in 4 or 5 shakes of red pepper flakes. Strip the kale (or chard) off the stalk and add to bacon. Cover and cook til kale/chard has wilted considerably. Add 1/3 cup cidar vinegar and scrape up all the bits off bottom of the pan. Continue cooking a few minutes until vinegar has disapated.

Eat the whole pan by yourself.
This is so good!!
Elizabeth W (@ewsea) says:

August 19, 2012 at 6:37 pm

Chard and onion omelet (trouchia)! Deborah Madison has a lovely recipe in Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. The essentials are to saute onion first, add chard, add eggs, and lastly gruyere. You can run it under the broiler if it gets too thick to cook fully from the bottom.
Annie says:

August 19, 2012 at 8:57 pm

My go-to chard recipe; I made it up when we had 3 rows of chard ripe all at once in the back yard:
1 red onion (can use any onion)
garlic if you have it
rainbow chard (or kale, collards, spinach, beet greens)
balsamic vinegar
goat cheese (or feta)

Chop onion and chard stems; saute in olive oil until soft and caramelizing. Meanwhile, tear chard into reasonable-sized pieces and crumble up feta or goat cheese. When onion mix is soft, add some garlic, toss in the chard leaves, and stir just until leaves are wilted. Then drizzle with balsamic vinegar and sprinkle goat cheese/feta on top. Cover, turn off heat, and get out plates and silverware. Come back and all will be a yummy tasty mess!
scranda1 says:

August 20, 2012 at 12:15 am

We like to use it in a stir fry.
Tammy says:

August 20, 2012 at 9:44 am

We had a stuffed meatloaf that called for spinach, but used chard in its place. I had chopped the chard up for easier storage, but you can leave it in whole or half leaves. Make up your meatloaf mixture, put half in the bottom of the pan, layer the greens in next, then the rest of the meatloaf on top. It actually works really well in a crockpot, not a huge one though.

Adding it to smoothies. You could freeze it in a bag with other smoothie fruits, have it all in one place, then just drop it in a blender with some milk/yogurt and you have your smoothie.
Terry says:

August 20, 2012 at 9:47 am

Quinoa Cakes with Tomato, Swiss Chard and Olives
Just copy and paste into your search browser. Several websites have this recipe and it is really good!
Anne says:

August 20, 2012 at 9:51 am

Braised Swiss Chard (from Giada De Laurentis’ Family Dinners)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 large red onions, sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 large bunches of Swiss Chard, stems trimmed, leaves coarsely chopped
4 tomatoes, coarsely chopped
2/3 cup low sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup soy sauce
3/4 teaspoon crushed dried red pepper flakes
Salt & Pepper to taste
Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and saute until tender, approximately 8 minutes.
Add 1/3 of the chard and saute until it begins to wilt. Continue adding chard until it begins to wilt before adding more.
Add the tomatoes, soy sauce, broth and red pepper flakes.
Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Simmer, stirring often, until the chard is very tender, about 12 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper, transfer to a bowl and serve.
petcratesdirectblog says:

August 20, 2012 at 10:46 am

I like making a Rachel Ray Teriyaki Sloppy Joe that includes Chard in it. Great way to hide a veggie.
Elisa says:

August 20, 2012 at 10:53 am

Rainbow chard is FABULOUS. Separate the stem from the leaf (you can eat both; the stem just takes longer to cook, but it’s actually the sweetest part!) and sautee it in some garlic and olive oil with a little sprinkle of salt and pepper. Add the leaf after a few minutes of cooking and cook until soft. It’s YUPER yum. It also plays well with summer squash, goat cheese, and onion. And I’d imagine Linda’s bacon recipe is incredible. Just don’t throw out the stem – a lot of people do, but it’s SOOO good.
Donna T says:

August 20, 2012 at 11:02 am

I just made my first swiss chard recipe also. Here is the one I made that my son and husband both liked. I did add some white wine and used sliced sweet Italian chicken sausage. Also, don’t throw away the stems as I did – give them extra time to soften. Cut the chard in small pieces for this recipe.

Pasta with Kielbasa and Swiss Chard
Gourmet | June 2006
3½ forks – yield: Makes 4 servings – active time: 25 min – total time: 30 min
The classic combination of sausage and greens takes on a pasta companion in this warming dish that peaks with red-pepper flakes and Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Ingredients
• 3/4 pound Swiss chard (preferably red; from 1 bunch)
• 1/2 pound kielbasa, quartered lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick pieces
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon dried hot red-pepper flakes
• 3/4 pound penne
• 1 pound finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (1/2 cup) plus additional for serving
Preparation
Cut out center ribs and stems from chard, then thoroughly wash, along with leaves, in several changes of cold water. Cut ribs and stems crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick pieces and coarsely chop leaves.
Cook kielbasa in oil in a 5-quart heavy pot over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a bowl. Cook chard ribs and stems with salt in fat remaining in pot over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add chard leaves, water, and red-pepper flakes and simmer, partially covered, until chard stems are tender, about 5 minutes. Remove lid and stir in kielbasa.
Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente, then reserve 1/2 cup pasta-cooking water and drain pasta in a colander. Add pasta to chard mixture with cheese and salt to taste and toss until combined well. Thin with some of reserved pasta water if necessary.
NOTE: Add wine, spicy sausage, onion and/or tomatoes.
Stephanie says:

August 20, 2012 at 11:30 am

Chard is my favorite green to add to fruit smoothies. It grinds well and adds just a drop of tanginess. 1-2 leaves (stem’s fine too) into the blender with the rest.

You can sub chard in anything you’d use spinach or turnip greens in. It makes a great quiche or omelet filling. I use any kind of greens, including chard, for eggs florentine.

I also use chard (or turnip or beet greens) in my version of 101 Cookbooks’ turnip greens tart. Warning: I don’t measure. Rough-chop the greens (I find I use at least one bunch–almost triple what she calls for), mix in plain yogurt, a couple of eggs, dijon mustard, 1-2 garlic cloves. Put in whatever savory pie crust you want to use.
Rachel Claessens says:

August 20, 2012 at 1:48 pm

Stuffed Chard Packets (from Crescent Drangonwagon’s Passionate Vegetarian)
While a little labor intensive, these are truly mouth watering. I usually substitute quinoa for the bulghur. Be careful as they are indeed addictive 🙂

1 tbsp oil
cooking spray
1 large onion, chopped medium fine
2 carrots, diced
12 to 16 blanched rainbow or green chard leaves, stems cut out and diced (save the diced stems)
4 to 6 cloves of garlic, chopped medium fine
1 lemon
3 tomatoes, 1 peeled, seeded and diced, the other 2 cut into eighths
2 1/2 c. cooked bulghur (I substitute quinoa here which is even better IMO)
2/3 c. minced Italian parsley
1/3 c. minced spearmint (optional but delicious if you have it)
1/3 c. raisins or currants
2/3 c. crumbled feta cheese
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Heat 1 tsp of the oil in a large, deep nonstick skillet, or one that has been sprayed with cooking spray, over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until it starts to get limp, 4 minutes. Add the carrots and chard stems. Raise the heat slightly and saute for about 3 minutes. Lower the heat to very low and add the garlic. Saute for an additional minute. Scrape the mixture into a large bowl.

Grate the lemon rind, and add 1 tsp to the vegetable mixture. Juice the lemon through a strainer into the vegetable mixture and stir blend.

Meanwhile bring a large pot of water to a vigorous boil.

Add the diced tomato, quinoa or bulghur, parsley, spearmint, raisins, and feta to the vegetable saute mixture. Toss together to blend. Taste and season with salt and lots of pepper.

Spray a 10-by-15-inch nonreactive glass or enamel baking dish with cooking spray.

Drop the destemmed chard leaves into the pot of boiling water. As soon as the leaves brighten in color and soften, less than a minute, drain quickly and rinse.

To stuff the chard leaves:
Slightly overlap the bottom of each leaf along the space where you removed the rib. This gives you a sort of long, oval-shaped leave. Mound 1/4 to 1/3 cup of the vegetable mixture into a lozenge shape on top of the overlap part. Fold the long side of the leaves in and over the filling, then roll up to make a fairly neat packet. Place the stuffed packets, seam side down, in the prepared baking dish. Tuck a tomato wedge between each chard packet and its neighbor. Drizzle the remaining oil over the top.

Note: I usually make a massive batch of these since they are slightly time consuming and I freeze them. I did this the last time I made them. Much to my delight, they froze really well in little airtight containers and still tasted wonderful as a snack when thawed.
scotchgrrl says:

August 20, 2012 at 1:54 pm

Ricotta and Chard Pie!! Make a single pie crust, prebake that. Make a ricotta filling with 8 oz ricotta, 2 eggs, salt, pepper and any herbs you like. Fill the cooled pie shell with that. Bake at 400F for 25 minutes. Saute chard with garlic, onion, oil, salt, pepper, parsley. Top the pie with that and bake for 15 more minutes. Let cool to room temp or eat a little warmer than that. I like it straight from the fridge the next morning for breakfast.
Kate @ Gluten Free Gobsmacked says:

August 21, 2012 at 8:08 pm

OMGosh – so many great ideas and only one bunch of chard! I had planned to olive oil-salt-pepper it. (My only bummer thought is the loss of that fabulous color when it is cooked!) – but you guys – WOW. I’m rather torn (and now hopeful there is some chard in future CSA boxes…). I think i will try Donna’s chard recipe tomorrow (as I have all the ingredients on hand for that one). But the others are definitely on my to-do list!
Mary says:

August 22, 2012 at 10:00 am

And for another: sautee chopped stems with garlic, pile on roughly chopped leaves and steam until as done as you like it, toss with feta. Meanwhile poach some eggs, make toast. Pile chard on toast, top with poached egg.
1. Kate @ Gluten Free Gobsmacked says:
  
  August 22, 2012 at 5:31 pm
  
  Ohh..this sounds delish too!
rhubygirl says:

September 5, 2012 at 9:17 am

@Rachel Claessens
how long to bake? i don’t see any website for the passionate vegetarian on the web…

thanks! 🙂
Rose says:

September 26, 2012 at 8:53 pm

Another option with dark leafy greens is to turn them into snacks! A really easy way to convince kids they are YUMMY! Wash and dry them, spray lightly with olive oil, add some seasonings if desired, maybe even a little fresh lemon juice or a little hot sauce, toss the greens, rub the leaves to get the oil and seasonings, and then stick in a dehydrator if you have one, or in your oven at the lowest temp until they dry out and become crunchy.

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