Confession time... I have NEVER eaten Chard. Ever. I've seen it and always thought the colors where amazing but what in the WORLD do you do with it? I mean it's a big leaf for heavens sake!
I knew joining a CSA would be a good way to get me over the hump with some of the more intimidating veggies and in the first week it already is!
I made a huge salad with greens I would have never bought, tried kohlrabi for the first time and now I am cooking with rainbow chard. Scratch that... WE are cooking with chard. That's right "WE!" Last night's dinner was a collaboration between Little Guy and I. We were home alone for dinner and decided to play. 🙂 
The result was a healthy vegetarian pasta dish that both him and I LOVED! Let me show you how we made it... And I do mean SHOW you.. I went picture happy again. 😉
- 6 oz of cooked whole wheat pasta (we used bionaturae Organic Whole Wheat Chiocciole)
- 2 tsp olive oil (10g)
- 1 small sweet onion chopped
- 3-4 cloves of garlic minced
- ½ lb Rainbow Swiss Chard washed
- 15oz can of diced tomatoes
- 1-2 pinches of salt
- ½ tsp drid basil (plus more to taste) and/or fresh basil leaves
- 1 15oz can of great northern beans drained and rinsed
- Parmesan cheese (optional)
Put on a pot of boiling water and cook the pasta according to the package.
Wash the chard. It's so pretty, isn't it?
Chop it up a bit and seperate the steps from the leaves. We are going to cook them at different times since the stalks will take longer.
Heat the 2 tsp of oil in the pan over medium high heat. And yes that is 2 tsp, can you see it? Coats the pan nicely without drowning everything in oil.
Add the onion and the garlic. I love having a helper!
Add the chard stalks.
The pan may start to get dry as the onion and garlic cook. That's ok. Add the can of diced tomaotes.
I plucked some baby basil leaves from my garden if don't have any, no worries we'll be adding dried in a bit. 🙂 Add a pinch of salt
Add the leaves of the chard and...
...stir until they start to wilt. (I had SUCH a great helper!)
Add the beans.
At this point we tasted it and thought it needed some more basil. We added ½ tsp and another pinch of salt.
Add the cooked and drained pasta and...
... again stir to coat.
It should look like this...
As soon as all ingredients are well mixed, serve! We liked it with a little Parmesan cheese. Honestly, I was shocked at how good it was AND that Little guy ate a whole serving! Don't tell the husband, but dude... we eat MUCH better without him. 😉
| Servings | Amt per Serving | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | about 1.5 cups | |||
| Calories | Fat | Fiber | WWPs | |
| 300 | 3g | 10g | old: 6 | new: 7 |
| Sugar | Sat Fat | Carbs | Protein | |
| 7g | 0g | 58g | 12g | |
I have never tried chard before, but I saw some at the local farmer's market and thought of this recipe. I did add a small can of tomato sauce because it was a little dry, but it turned out very good. I will make this one again!
Another winner! You're smart to have your son help you in the kitchen...kids eat more of what they make themselves (including healthy meals). We're going to share this one on our Facebook page, as well!
--Your friendly Southern California farmers at Cut `n Clean Greens
https://www.facebook.com/Cut.n.Clean.Greens
Oh, and we got our Chard in our CSA box just yesterday and had to try it, and NOT sorry!
Great recipe! Used it last night with some Oyster's we had, and some vegetarian friends were over, so they loved it too! I haven't made, Chard, or Kale but using both a lot lately, thanks so much! I give it 5 Stars!
oops - oh yeah, and I used brown rice pasta instead of whole wheat! 😉
Was searching for a new way to prepare chard - and this is great! I am enjoying it as I type 😉 Added a little more salt (used himalayan pink) and a Pasta Seasoning Blend from Trader Joe's to add a little more flavor. Thanks for the great recipe!
Tried this last night, we probably needed to add more basil or garlic. Husband complained it had no taste, but everyone finished it. We'll try it again sometime with a few tweaks. Thanks for the ideas.
I forgot to say that I loved the pics and I LOVE your kitchen!
Just saw your tweet..That's awesome he wanted it for dinner lol
Looks DEELISH!! I have never tried swiss chard though..but I want to..I have not met a veggie I dont' like! well, cauliflower haha
Thanks for the recipe!
That looks awesome! I'm going to have buy some swiss chard. Thanks for sharing!
This looks like such a great vegetarian dish. Nice work!
I've been reading about your CSA adventures and even though we aren't in one, decided to buy some of the things you have been trying. Last night we had rainbow chard (wilted up with some garlic and red pepper flakes) - reminded me of the greens in chinese food but with a fraction of the fat. It was a great side dish! I've also got 3 little kohlrabis in the fridge that we'll give a try soon. Thanks for challenging us to try something new!
I've used Swiss Chard mostly in soups, but this looks great. Plus, it's a little hot for soup at the moment.
The Little Guy is a great helper - can't wait until my nephew can do the same.
I love Chard and it's so great to see Ryan really helping in the kitchen, totally awesome.
I did a chard dish earlier this year for blogger secret ingredient if interested check it out. It's a side dish swiss chard with currants and pine nuts http://www.waistingduxie.com/2010/05/new-bed-new-recipe-cool-day.html
That looks amazing! I will try chard for sure now! 🙂
I love love love the pictures! It's such a joy to see Ryan in the kitchen with you. And wow, I am impressed with you both eating Swiss chard! I have always thought it was beautiful, but when I cooked it and ate it, it tasted like dirt to me. I'll have to give it another try. Thanks for always being such an inspiration, Roni!