Moving on.
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| photo by eflon |
I've always been a kale fanatic, but my heart has expanded to include chard. Isn't it amazing how that works? You don't have to discard an old love to embrace a new one, and in the end you're richer than ever. Figuratively. Not financially.
Although.
Here in Seattle, organic chard is around (or exactly) $2 per bunch at the farmers markets right now. Take that, all you people who claim farmers markets are unaffordable for poor people. (No, not you, you know who I mean). If I can afford organic, farmers market chard, anyone can. (Well, okay, almost anyone. Some people are truly, utterly destitute and I hurt for them.)
Plus, think of the health benefits. When you don't have health insurance you have to stuff the most nutritionally dense and healthiest foods that you can into your body to stay healthy. An apple a day, and all that. One cup of cooked chard contains 214% of your RDA of Vitamin A, 53% of your Vitamin C, 22% of your Iron and 10% of your Calcium. I love you, chard.
I made some truly amazing greens the other night, completely by accident, that sealed my love of chard. A friend came over for dinner last week and brought a bunch of rainbow chard. Now, I've eaten rainbow chard, but I've never cooked it. I figured, how hard could it be?
I sauteed an onion and the chopped up chard stems in some olive oil, added the chard (sliced in ribbons), threw in a few large handfuls of baby spinach, sprinkled on a little sesame oil, hit it with a bit of sea salt, splashed in a little soy sauce, poured in some rice vinegar, added as much sugar as vinegar, stirred it all up and let it cook for awhile. Somehow, with my usual slapdash, hit or miss cooking style, I came up with a hit. That friend called the next day and asked how I cooked those greens because she couldn't stop thinking about them. Isn't she wonderful?
My only sorrow is that I don't have any pictures of the cooked greens. I had to hold a bittersweet, tearful funeral for my digital camera. May she rest in peace. *Sob*
A blogger without a camera? That's like an empty skillet. Then again, at the moment it's a choice between eating organic chard and buying a new camera. Oh, for the love of chard... that's a no-brainer. Farmers market here I come...
is it weird that I have made up a mess of those greens 3 times since then!?
ReplyDeleteI chop, saute in olive oil and toss in balsamic w/ salt & pepper - an old friend taught me that quick simple recipe years ago and I have been impressing my dinner guests since!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I picked up chard starts at the WS farmer's market this spring. They are really easy to grow in containers so I always have fresh chard on hand, though it isn't as large as the stuff from the markets.
Also, I have an extra digital camera sitting in a drawer...All yours in return for a cup of coffee sometime soon?
ReplyDeleteNo. Not weird. :)
ReplyDeleteAlyson - I'd not only buy you a cup of coffee but I'd make you dinner for that!! :)
ReplyDeleteHmm, I need to grow my own...
It's a deal! It's not a super fancy camera but it's gently used and needs a better home than my technology "junk" drawer. I'll start bugging you to meet-up once my schedule opens up at the end of the month.
ReplyDeleteNow that you have a p-patch you should definitely grow your own chard! It's really easy.
I would have to agree with you. As a foody and a lover of chard and kale, if I had to choose I would have to keep buying the yummy yummy foods.
ReplyDeleteExactly Robin. Exactly. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a luckily timed post for me--I have a bunch of chard in the fridge that I want to cook tonight, but I wasn't sure how I was going to do it. (I made shoyu chicken the other night and meant to put the chard in there, my usual method, but I ended up throwing in a bunch of carrot and beet greens instead so I still have the chard left.)
ReplyDelete