Oh, the lovely Swiss Chard. When I first started joining CSAs, the greens often went to waste. There were only so many I could chop for scrambled eggs. The second year, we split a share and I usually gave them to our share-ers. After cooking them for-ever, my friend decided they hated greens.
Then, I took a “cooking with greens” class. Knowledge is definitely power. I discovered that you can substitute swiss chard for any spinach recipe (just leave out the stems or cook them for an additional time). Also kale and swiss chard can sometimes be substituted, it just takes longer for kale to cook. Oh, and most people don’t use the stems or use them for soup. That right there was a huge revelation! Here I had been chewing the kale stems all along, trying to make myself like greens.
Now that I know what to do with them, they are a regular part of our diet and much less has gone to waste. I still have frozen a few bunches this summer. A bunch of kale and a bunch of swiss chard (plus the occasional beet greens/kohlrabi greens) makes for a LOT of greens!
However, this recipe from Simply in Seasons is one of my favorites!
The Verdict: DH and I LOVE the cheesy goodness. It would also be great with added mushrooms or even tomatoes when they are in season. Either way, it’s a keeper.
Question: If I use kale how do I adjust? Also what is the red in your picture? Did you use red peppers? I want to make some quiche and have kale to use up.
All you’d need to do is make sure the kale is cooked thoroughly. Use the same amount. The red is the Swiss chard stems – which need to be cooked a little bit longer. What I usually do is saute’ them first in the pan until they’re a little soft, then add the greens. Enjoy! It really is quite versatile, don’t worry too much about the amount. You can also throw in any other veggies that you have laying around.
I reworked this recipe a little bit into my new favorite Cheesy Baked Spaghetti with Greens http://tinyurl.com/268ub5e Yum!
oooh, that looks good! Isn’t it fun switching up recipes?
I think this sounds delicious! I like the idea of adding some mushrooms too.
What type of bread do you use?