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SWISS CHARD
Swiss chard is one of those vegetables that no garden should be without. You plant it early in the spring and it
keeps produce until the fall frosts. We grow traditional green chard that has white stalks as well as some funky colored chard with red, pink,
yellow, and even orange stalks. We also sometimes add baby chard to the salad mix when we thin it in the spring.
Swiss chard is one of those vegetables that kids seem to have nightmares about. It is often steamed and served as a side with a little butter, salt and pepper or maybe a touch of lemon juice. Don't get me wrong, I like it this way and there is really no better way to use up a large quantity of chard and appreciate it's unique flavor. But my kids would sooner die than eat the amorphous pile of wilted green goo. So one think I'd like to point out to those of you with children is that cooked swiss chard (and other greens too) can be added to anything and everything, in moderate amounts. We put it in our tomato sauce, our stir fries, we use it as a topping on pizza, we put it in casseroles, soups and refried rice (see bok choi page for a refried rice recipe). We've found that this is the easiest way to get some of these healthy greens into the diet of our children. FAVORITE RECIPES: Mashed potato casserole 5-6 large potatoes 1/2 cup sour cream or plain yogurt 1 1/2 tsp salt freshly gound pepper 1 tsp sugar 3-4 tbsp butter 2 tablespoons chives or scallions (can use minced onion or even dried onion flakes in a pinch) 1-2 cups cooked chard, well drained (or other greens--kale, spinach, mizuna, arugula, beet or turnip greens, etc.) (optional) 1 tsp dill seed (optional) 1/2 cup fresh herbs (we usually use parsley, but have also tried dill, sage and celery leaves) 1/2 to 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese Wash potatoes and chop into large chunks (we leave the peels on). Boil them until tender and drain. Chop the the chard (or other greens) and steam it just enough to wilt and turn tender (kale may need a little longer to get tender). Pour drained potatoes and greens into a casserole dish and mash with a potato masher. Add all the other ingredients except the cheese and mash again--making sure it gets thoroughly mixed along the edges. You can add a little milk, or the water from steaming the greens if the mashed potatoes seem a little dry. The dill seed is optional but really adds a unique flavor to the dish. Smooth the potatoes in the casserole dish and top with the shredded cheese. Bake about 20 minutes until the cheese is bubbly on top. |