Warm Beet and Chard Salad

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 6 medium beets (any kind)
• ½ red onion, sliced
• 3 cloves of garlic and/or some garlic scapes if you still have some
• 1 bunch of swiss chard
• 1 cup cooked garbanzo beans
• 1.5 tablespoons of quality olive oil
• goat cheese

Instructions

1. Roast the beets: Wrap beets in foil two and two together, place on a baking sheet in the middle of the oven and roast at 375 degrees for about one hour. Take the beets out of the oven to cool in the foil for a while. (Keeping them in the foil will help loosen the skin.) When cold enough to handle, remove the skin and slice beets in big pieces. Keep aside in a bowl.
2. Sauté the onion and garlic on medium heat for about five minutes. Add roughly chopped chard, stems removed, and cook until the chard is done (5-10 minutes). Add the garbanzo beans and beets and heat for a few minutes.
3. Add in the goat cheese and serve.
4. Salt and pepper as needed

from the Roots Down Community Farm newsletter

Swiss Chard Tagine

2 lb. swiss chard
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
3 T. oil
1 t. paprika
1 med. onion, finely chopped
1/8 c. long grain rice
4 T. chopped fresh cilantro
4 T. water
salt and pepper

Separate the leaf part from the thick ribs of the chard. Shred the leaves coarsely and slice the stalks into 1/2 inch strips.

Warm the oil in a heavy flameproof casserole, add the chard stalks and the garlic, cover and cook gently for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the paprika, stirring for 30-60 seconds, then the onion, chard leaves, rice, cilantro, water and seasoning.

Cover with a very tight-fitting id and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes until the rice is tender; if necessary add more water.

The lid must fit really well so no steam can escape! (seal with foil to be sure)

Recipe from: North African Cooking, by Hilaire Walden

Chard with Beet Vinegar

2 large beets, peeled and cooked
1 cup rice vinegar
3 Tbs. sugar
½ tsp. lemon juice
dash white pepper
1 large bunch fresh chard or beet greens, chopped
butter to taste
Garnish: sour cream or fresh plain yogurt

In a blender, puree the beets together with the rice vinegar, sugar, lemon juice and white pepper.  Pour into a non-aluminum saucepan and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer, covered, 5 minutes.  Cool.  Steam the chard until tender, drain.  Toss chard with butter and pepper to taste.  Arrange the cooked chard on a serving platter.  Spoon over some of the beet vinegar to taste and garnish with a generous dollop of sour cream or yogurt.

(From Recipes from a Kitchen Garden by Shepherd and Raboff)

Gravenstein Apple & Beet Salad with Curry Vinaigrette

This recipe makes a lot; halve the ingredients for 2-3 servings. Remove ribs from chard and chop into small pieces to substitute for spinach. Any kind of apple works fine. This is a delicious dish, first made for the farm crew by CSA member Ponda - thank you!

6 lbs             beets
4                  Gravenstein apples, peeled & sliced
1 qt.             spinach

                    Curry Vinaigrette (recipe follows)

Cook, peel, and slice the beets.  Toss dressing with beets and apples.  Add spinach just before serving.

Curry Vinaigrette
2 Tbsp           curry powder
1 cup            apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup           sugar
1 Tbsp           black pepper
1/4 cup           canola or olive oil
Whisk ingredients together.  Set aside. 

from Chris Maritzen of Whole Foods Market
Serves 4-6 

 

Risotto with Greens

No greens will be wasted! If you are not sure how to use your greens, make this for dinner! Double the recipe! 

1 small onion, finely chopped
2 T. olive oil
1 c. risotto, uncooked
1/2-3/4 lb. fresh greens, trimmed and torn (Radish greens, kale, chard, mustards, turnip greens, beet greens, etc.)
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 (14-1/2 oz.) cans chicken or vegetable broth
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 c. grated Parmesan cheese, optional

Saute onion in olive oil in a small stock pan. Add risotto and saute until golden. Add greens and garlic; saute until greens are wilted. Stir in broth slowly (one can at a time). Cook, covered, on low heat until most of the liquid is absorbed, stirring occasionally. Add black pepper, stirring well. Add cheese, if desired, and blend well before serving.

Baked Swiss Chard Stems with Olive Oil and Parmesan

(Makes 2 side dish servings, can be doubled. Recipe slightly adapted from Vegetables Every Day by Jack Bishop.)

1 bunch chard stems
1/4 tsp. salt
olive oil for spraying pan and chard
1/4 cup coarsely grated parmesan cheese
coarse ground black pepper to taste

Trim any discolored ends from chard stems, then cut stems on an angle into pieces about 3 inches long. If some stems are very thick, you may wish to cut them lengthwise so all pieces are approximately the same thickness.

Preheat oven to 400 F (or 375 F with convection.) Bring a pot of water to a boil, add salt and chard stems and boil about 6 minutes. Let chard drain well.

Spray a non-stick baking dish with olive oil. Place chard in the pan and mist lightly with olive oil, then sprinkle with cheese. (If doubling the recipe, make two layers, misting each layer with oil and sprinkling with cheese.) Bake about 20 minutes, or until chard is softened and cheese is slightly browned on the edges. Season with fresh ground black pepper if desired and serve hot.

found on the Kayln's Kitchen blog

Salad with Beets, Walnuts, Goat Cheese, and Balsamic Reduction

The sweetness of the beets contrasts with the tart tanginess of the goat cheese. A beautiful and delicious dish! (from the excellent eggsonsunday food blog)

Ingredients (for 2 main-course salads)

For the salad:
2 medium-large (2 1/2 in. diameter) cooked beets, cubed or cut into wedges
1 bunch greens, torn into bite-sized pieces (I use a small bunch of kale, but you could use any kind of salad greens you like; just use enough for two servings)
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 of a 4-oz. log of goat cheese, crumbled (roughly 4 tbsp)

For the dressing:
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp honey
pinch each of salt and pepper

For the balsamic reduction:
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

Directions

To cook the beets:
Two options - baking or roasting.

To bake the beets, cut off the greens (if they’re attached) and leave about an inch of stem above the beet. Place the whole beets, skin still on, in an 8×8 baking pan. Fill with water just so it covers the whole bottom of the pan, then cover the pan tightly with foil. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the beets are tender when pierced with a fork (you kind of just have to check; it will take more or less time depending on the size of your beets.) Once the beets come out of the oven, let them sit with the foil still covering the pan for about 15 minutes. Then, remove the foil and peel the beets – the skins should be so loose that you can just slip them easily off. Be prepared for your hands to get really, really bright pink – it washes off afterwards! Cut up the peeled beets into 1/2 inch cubes.

Or, to roast the beets, cut off the greens and peel the skins off the beets with a vegetable peeler. No need to peel young beets. Cut the raw peeled(or unpeeled) beets into 1/2 inch chunks, toss with a little olive oil, salt and pepper, and place them on a baking sheet. Roast for about 20-30 minutes, until the beet chunks are tender.

To assemble the salad:
First, get the balsamic reduction going. Place 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Boil until the vinegar has reduced to a syrupy consistency, about 5 minutes (should yield about 1 tbsp.) Turn off heat and set aside until your salads are ready.

In the bottom of a large bowl, make the dressing by whisk together 2 tbsp olive oil, 2 tsp balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp honey, and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Add washed (and spun dry) greens of your choice directly to the bowl (on top of the vinaigrette). Using a large spoon, toss the greens with the vinaigrette. Divide the dressed greens among two plates.

Now, top your greens with the beets, crumbled goat cheese, and walnuts.

Finally, drizzle your balsamic reduction over the tops of the salads.

Chard Tart

This recipe which looks like a great company dish. It could probably be made with kale or collards, but you would have to cook them longer. Asian greens would work too!

Kathy Carter shares her Chard Tart Recipe from her 1970’s version New Joy of Cooking

Pastry:
2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2c water
1/2c extra-virgin olive oil

Combine flour and salt in a medium bowl. Stir together water and oil until blended, add to the flour stirring until all flour absorbed. Knead mixture briefly. Dough will be very moist and difficult to roll, so press it into an 11-inch tart pan with a removable rim. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or until needed.

Filling:

1 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, finely diced
1 pound chard leaves (or mix of chard, spinach, escarole or other early greens), stems removed, leaves well washed and chopped (I will add some of stems, finely diced)
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil or 1 ½ tsp dried, finely crumbled (have also subbed pesto)¼
tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
3 large eggs
1/3 c. heavy cream or half-and-half
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Cook onion in olive oil over medium low heat until well softened (15 minutes). Add chard and cook until tender (8-10 minutes). Season with basil, salt, and pepper. At this point I have often refrigerated the mixture for later use.
When ready to bake, position rack in lower third of the oven. Preheat to 375°F. Take crust from refrigerate and push up sides against rim to form edge (has usually softened and stretch out while sitting). Combine the eggs, cream, and cheese in a bowl. Add the chard mixture, then scrape mixture into the prepared tart shell.
Bake until the crust is golden and filling is firm, 40-45 minutes. Let cool to room temperature before serving.



Walnut Miso Noodle Recipe

You'll likely have a bit of dressing leftover. If I'm going to go to the trouble of making a special dressing, I like to have a little extra to use for the following day or two. You can toss broccoli with it. I've been doing a simple asparagus, chive, and lettuce salad with it as well.

4 ounces whole wheat spaghetti or linguini (or soba)
1 small bunch of asparagus, sliced thinly (1/4-inch thick)

1/2 cup walnuts, toasted
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 medium clove garlic, peeled
2 tablespoons mellow white miso paste
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
2 big pinches salt (or to taste)
1/4 cup+ warm water

Topping ideas: sliced green onions, chopped chard stems and leaves that have been cooked for a minute or two in a skillet with a bit of olive oil and salt (see photo), chopped fresh chives, toasted walnuts

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt generously and cook the pasta per package instructions, being careful to not overcook. About 10 seconds before you are going to drain the noodles, add the asparagus to the pot. Now drain and toss with about 1/2 the walnut-miso dressing - you can make the dressing as you're waiting for the pasta water to come to a boil. To make the dressing, use a food processor, blender or hand blender to puree the walnuts, olive oil, garlic, miso paste, vinegar, and honey. Add the warm water a bit at a time until the dressing is the consistency of a heavy cream. Taste and add salt if you think it needs it.

Add as much or as little dressing as you like to the noodles and toss well. Arrange in two bowls or on a platter - I finished off this version topped with sliced green onions, a bit of sauteed slivered rainbow chard leaves & chopped stems, a few toasted walnuts, and some chives.