Chard: this wallflower can shine

Even with a vivid rainbow of stems and leaves as big as ancient Egyptian fans, chard gets overlooked in favor of its heartier green cousins: kale and collards. That's a frying shame. Those fooled by its plain Jane appearance won't get the nutritional wallop that propels chard right to the top of any must-eat list. Those enormous leaves are packed with Vitamins K, A and C, full of manganese, potassium, iron, calcium, Vitamin E and dietary fiber. It seems particularly effective in preventing digestive tract and lung cancers. It helps keep calcium in the bones, regulates muscle tone, strengthens eyes, and preliminary animal research also suggests chard may protect the kidneys of diabetics. How can you pass this up?

Well, so you don't, here are a few simple, tasty ways to prepare those big green leaves:

SPANISH STYLE CHARD WITH PINE NUTS AND RAISINS 
for 4

3 tbsp dark raisins                     3 garlic cloves, minced

1 lb chard, stems off                  2 tbsp minced onion

3 tbsp fruity olive oil                   3 tbsp pine nuts

Soak raisins in warm water (add a dash of rosewater if you dare). Put chard into boiling salted water 5 minutes. Drain well.  Return to the pot with just enough water to cover, a pinch of salt and 1 tbsp olive oil. Bring to a boil on medium heat, lower heat and cook 10 minutes. Drain and coarsely chop the chard.

Drain raisins. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet. Sauté garlic and onion until soft. Add chard, drained raisins and pine nuts. Season with salt and black pepper to your taste. Sauté 5 minutes. (You can make this ahead because it will be tastier when reheated.)

Gratin of Hearty Greens
Enough extra-virgin olive or butter to generously cover the bottom of a large pan
3 medium onions, halved and sliced thin
3 bunches of hearty greens such as kale, chard or collards (try one each or two kale and one chard if collards aren’t available)
4 cloves of garlic, smashed, peeled, and minced
Sea salt
1 pint heavy cream
4 ounces grated cheese, such as Parmigiano-Reggiano or Gruyère
Plenty of freshly ground black pepper

Place a large heavy-bottom pot over low-medium heat, add the onions, and let them sauté, stirring occasionally, until they are very soft.
Meanwhile, prep the greens. Remove the stems that run down the center by holding the leaf in one left hand and slicing down each side of the stem with a knife. By the time you're done, you'll have two piles: one of stems and one of leaves. I apply a whole-beast ethos to vegetables, and consider greens stems to be highly flavorful. So bunch the stems in a pile and slice them finely, crosswise. Set aside. Now chop the greens and set them aside, too. The point of separating them is to give the stems a head start cooking, as they take a little longer.
Preheat the oven to 350º.
Now the onions should be soft. Add the chopped garlic and stir for a minute or so, until it has released its fragrance. Add the chopped stems and a pinch of salt, stir to mix them with the onions and garlic, and cover the pot. Let them cook for about five minutes, stirring occasionally. Now add the greens and another pinch of salt, using tongs to carefully mix in with the sautéed veggies in the pan. Add about a half cup of water (or stock) to the pan, and turn heat to high until the water begins to boil. When it does, turn heat down a little bit, and let the greens simmer, covered, stirring occasionally until they're nearly tender but still a little al dente. At that point, remove the lid and let them cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid in the pan has evaporated.
Turn off the heat, taste, and add a little salt if necessary. Arrange the cooked greens in a casserole dish large enough to comfortably fit them all. Pour the cream over. Sprinkle the cheese all over the top. Give it a vigorous lashing of black pepper. Bake until the top is well-browned (30-45  minutes). Serve hot. This dish can be made a day or two in advance and reheated in a 350 F oven just before serving. Better yet, cook the greens until they're tender and then store them in the fridge until the big day, when you bake them off with cream, cheese, etc.
Vegan variation: Replace the cream with coconut milk and replace the cheese with bread crumbs (or slivered almonds) .

Swiss Chard Torte

  Serves 6-8

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil 
1½ lbs Swiss chard (you can mix red and green, for you need two bunches) 
¼ tsp salt 
1/8 tsp freshly ground or cracked black pepper 
1/8-1/4 tsp (to your taste) red pepper flakes 
1 jumbo egg (or two small eggs) 
1 cup grated Pecorino, Parmigiano or Asiago cheese 
¼ cup unbleached flour 
2 tbsp balsamic or Jerez vinegar 
pinch nutmeg

Preheat oven to 400º. Oil an 8” spring form pan or quiche dish. Wash the chard and trim away all the thick stems, even up the back of the leaves. Chop the leaves into small ½” pieces.

Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Add the chard, reduce heat to medium, and sauté, stirring until the chard has wilted. Add salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Remove from heat.

In a medium bowl, whisk the egg. Blend in the cheese and flour. Stir in vinegar and nutmeg. Combine the cheese mixture with the greens, carefully blending so everything is evenly distributed. Spoon everything into the oiled pan or dish, spreading it evenly, leveling the top.

Bake 10 minutes at 400º until it is firm. (You might want to put a cookie sheet underneath to catch leaks.) Remove from the oven and cool two minutes before undoing the spring form ring. To serve, cut into wedges and garnish with black olives.

Chard and Sorrel Bakeserves 6-8

1/3 c olive oil
1½ tsp caraway seeds
2 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
2+ lbs plum tomatoes, skinned and roughly chopped
1¼ lb chard, washed, leaves and stems separated, leaves roughly chopped, stalks finely sliced
Salt
4.5 oz (roughly ½ c) sorrel, roughly shredded**
1 ½ tbsp mint leaves, roughly chopped
1 ½ tbsp. dill, roughly chopped
8 spring onions, cut into ½” pieces
8 0z feta, roughly crumbled into ¾” pieces
¼ c pitted kalamata olives, roughly chopped
2 eggs, lightly whisked
1 c Greek yogurt
2 ½ tbsp parmesan, finely grated
5 ¼ oz coarse polenta (fine polenta will do, if you can’t find coarse)

**if you don’t have sorrel use 1 tbsp lemon zest

Heat the oven to 400º. Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a large sauté pan for which you have a lid, then fry the caraway and garlic over a medium-high flame for a minute, stirring most of the time. Add tomatoes, chard and ½ tsp salt. Cover and cook 15 minutes, stirring every now and then, until the chard has wilted and the tomatoes have broken down. Remove from heat and stir in the sorrel, mint, dill, spring onions, feta and olives.

Put the eggs, yogurt, parmesan, remaining oil, polenta, ¾ c water and ½ tsp salt in a large bowl and mix to a thick batter. Pour half the batter into an 8 x 12” ovenproof baking dish, so it completely covers the base, then spoon the greens evenly over the top. Pour over the remaining batter – it won’t completely cover the greens, but that’s OK. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until risen and dark golden-brown on top, leave to stand for 10 minutes, and serve hot.

Palestinian black-eyed peas with chard

Serves 4

For the beans

1 leek

1 tbsp olive oil

2 garlic cloves

¼ tsp chilli powder or chopped dried chilli

2 cans black-eyed peas

1 cube vegetable soup powder

pinch of ground nutmeg

½ lemon

½ lb bunch chard

For the herb smash

1 lg bunch fresh cilantro

2 green chilies

2 garlic  cloves

¼ c shelled walnuts

1 tbsp honey or maple syrup

2 tbsp good quality olive oil

juice of 1/2 lemon

Fill and boil a kettle and get all your ingredients together. Put a large saucepan on the stove.

Wash and finely slice the leek. Add to the saucepan with a tablespoon of olive oil and cook for a couple of minutes until soft and sweet. Finely slice the garlic and add with the chili powder or dried chili and cook 2-3 minutes, until the garlic begins to brown. Add black-eyed peas with their liquid, the cube or powdered soup and 1 c boiling water from the kettle. Bring to a simmer. Add nutmeg, squeeze in the juice of half the lemon, add the squeezed lemon half to the pan and simmer for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, strip the leaves from the chard stalks. Finely slice the stalks and add them to the pan, then finely shred the leaves and put to one side.

Put all the ingredients for the herb smash into a food processor and blitz to make a smooth grassy paste. Season well with salt and pepper.

Once the peas are soft and the liquid has reduced to a thick soup-like consistency, stir in the chard leaves, season well with salt and pepper and cook for 2-3 minutes. Scoop into deep bowls and spoon over the herb smash.