I am astonished to report that I am still harvesting vegetables from my garden here at the end of the first third of December. This morning I cut lettuce and Swiss chard and pulled yellow carrots in anticipation of a wintry mix mess headed our way tonight. I went out there planning to pull up everything edible, but decided to leave the leeks and part of the remaining carrots for now. Temperatures are supposed to rise back up toward forty later in the week, so I think I’ll risk keeping them in the ground.
Surely Swiss chard is the most beautiful and one of the mildest-flavored of all the greens. Whenever I eat it, I just feel good — healthy and virtuous and strong. The patch I sowed in one of my raised beds last April is still producing, making chard one of the biggest-dividend-for-effort stars of the garden. When harvesting, cut either the outer leaves and allow the inner ones to remain, or do the opposite and cut the inner leaves and allow the outer ones to stay on the plant as “feeder” leaves. New leaves will grow to give you a long harvest period. Since chard withstands both frost and heat very well, it lasts all through the growing season.
Here is one of the best things I have done with Swiss chard in 2009. I just ate two bowls of it for lunch — lucky me.
Now get up and go cook something good.
Swiss Chard with White Beans and Tomatoes
adapted, but via Food and Wine via Joe Bastianich
serves 3-4
Ingredients
2 pounds or so Swiss chard: larger stems removed and sliced into ½” pieces, leaves sliced into 1” pieces
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
14 ½ oz. can diced tomatoes with juices
1 16-ounce can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
generous teaspoon of Kosher salt
To finish:
red wine vinegar
drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
grated Parmesan
Procedure
1. Half-fill a large pot with water. Bring to a boil and dump in the Swiss chard stems. Add the leaves when you have them sliced. Cover, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook for 8 minutes. Drain the chard in a colander — no need to squeeze out excess water. Just let it drain while you work on the other steps.
2. Add the ¼ c. olive oil to the pot and turn the heat to medium. Add the garlic and crushed red pepper and cook for 1 minute.
3. Add the tomatoes, turn the heat to medium-high, and when the mixture comes to a boil add the beans. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring often.
4. Reduce heat to a simmer and add the chard. Cook for 5 minutes. Season with salt to taste.
5. To individual servings, add a splash of vinegar, a drizzle of olive oil, and some grated Parmesan to finish.
Follow
