Did I tell you that the number one benefit of joining a CSA for me has been an increase in leafy green consumption. I gotta be honest, I rarely bought anything but a bag of baby spinach before joining the farm and even then I would just use it for traditional salad or cold like lettuce. I didn’t grow up a "greens" eater so it just doesn’t come natural to me.
Well when you have leafy greens filling every corner of your fridge you need to find ways to use them and this is what I came up with yesterday.
Honestly, it was AWESOME!! I really can’t believe I liked it. It’s so unlike anything I typically eat. I’m not sure if i cooked the greens the way I was "suppose to" so I look to all you green veterans out there for advice and feedback. Here’s what I did…
- 1 tsp olive oil (5g)
- Bunch of Rainbow Chard (mine weighed out to just over 200g)
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- 4-5 small turnips cut into small chunks
- 1/8 cup of almonds (15g)
- 1/8 cup dried cherries halved (20g)
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 2 tbsp of water
Look how beautiful the chard is. It’s just so pretty.
Anyway, separate the leaves from the stems of the chard. Just gap the step and pull.
Chop the stems into small pieces and loosely chop the leaves.
Cut the turnips. I had these aging ones from last weeks share. (note: I already ate the greens but I’m thinking you could make this salad using the turnip greens instead of the chard.)
Heat the oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chard stems, garlic and turnips. Sauté until the stems are soft and the turnips browning.
Add the almond, cherries and vinegar. Stir and cook for about a minute.
Turn the heat down to medium and add a tablespoon of water if the skillet it getting too dry.
Add the chard to the skillet. Sprinkle with a tbsp of water and cover.
cook for 1 minute. uncover. Toss and turn onto a plate.
I ate a bit and then topped with parm cheese just to see. I like it with and without. Not sure it needed it.
By the way.. this salad is SUPER nutritious according to NutritionData.com…
This food is low in Saturated Fat, and very low in Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol), Magnesium, Potassium and Copper, and a very good source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K and Manganese.
ok, what do you think?
| Servings | Amt per Serving | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | entire salad | ||
| Calories | Fat | Fiber | WWPs |
| 315 | 13g | 10g | 7 (6.6) |
| Sugar | Sat Fat | Carbs | Protein |
| 27g | 1g | 47g | 10g |
Sounds tasty! And, if you liked it, then it was a fine way to cook the chard :-)
true.. true.. that’s all that matters. Usually the message I’m trying to spread. :)
That looks delicious! I once accidentally bought Swiss Chard at the farmers market from someone advertising it as rhubarb. Fortunately, my mother-in-law identified it before I tried to make a strawberry-chard pie.
Yum. I’m surprised it has so much protein. I’m definitely coming back to this after we start getting our CSA share. Can’t wait.
All the protein is from the almonds, right?
Looks delicious! What a great way to use all the leafy greens from the CSA.
Just bought my first bunch of Chard the other day at the farmer’s market. um YUM. I can’t help but wonder why i spent so long eating lettuce when there’s so many tasty types of leafy greens out there! (I’ve also been known to use the stems of beet greens for mindless snacking)
You did very well on deciding how to cook this chard! In fact, we would say this is downright inspired! We’re sharing this on our Facebook page, so others may catch your Swiss chard inspiration.
–Your friendly Southern California farmers at Cut `n Clean Greens
link to facebook.com