Everybody's favorite: strawberries and then there's chard

Okay, it's that time of year again, very berry time.

And here's how I've celebrated for decades before others thought of this: cookie dough pie crust slathered with mascarpone (which acts as a paste holding the berries in place) and topped with strawberries, blueberries and homemade whipped cream flavored with rosewater and nutmeg.

Basic cookie dough is a 4 oz stick of unsalted butter, 2 c unbleached white flour, 2 tbsp turbinado or light brown sugar, 1/8 tsp salt, pinch of ground cinnamon all combined in a food processor and processed into coarse meal.  Add one extra large egg and 1 tbsp milk and process into pieces of dough. You don't need a full ball.  Butter a cookie sheet and then playing pattycake you press the dough into a large rectangle and bring up the sides about 1/4" max. Slather this with a thin but even layer of mascarpone (Italian cream cheese). 
     Sort a quart of strawberries by size and make stripes with the same size, leaving an empty square on the top left. Warm 1/4c strawberry jam to loosen it and using a pastry brush brush it over the strawberries so they shine. Spread whipped cream in equal size stripes between the rows. Arrange 1 c blueberries in a single layer in that empty corner and top with small daps of whipped cream representing the stars.

Strawberries can be frozen so you can enjoy them midwinter. Hull them, wash and very carefully dry them. You don't need to lay them out on a baking sheet first. Carefully put them in freezer bags without crushing them in and put those bags in the freezer without crushing them. I often use the snack size baggie for 6 big berries. 

Strawberry jam, everybody's favorite, is not hard to make. It's just annoying because strawberries are the fruit that takes longest to congeal without commercial pectin. You can speed the process with a bit of orange zest.  The June 30, 2015 post offers complete instructions with photos.



And now to interesting recipes that celebrate chard, the fan like leaf that's green or reddish and green or rainbow. It's very nutritious and lends itself to many different preparations. Some of these I've posted before because they're keepers to pull out every time you see gorgeous bunches of chard at the market. 

Southern Italian Chard Torte

This easy crustless pie is in my cookbook Veggiyana, the Dharma of Cooking, because it's nutritious, delicious, gluten-free and unusual. You can eat it warm or room temperature which means you can pack it up for a picnic or boat ride or camping trip. Serve it with gazpacho, cheeses and crusty bread for a summer lunch. Serve it with grilled meats for dinner. Its place at the table is infinite. 
 serves 6

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

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 jumbo egg (or two small eggs)

1 cup grated Pecorino, Parmigiano or Asiago or Pecorino cheese

¼ cup unbleached flour

2 tbsp balsamic or Jerez vinegar

1/8 tsp 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, 2-3 minutes.  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 at 400º 10 minutes 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 springform ring. 

To serve, cut into wedges and garnish with pitted black olives.
Palestinian Black-eyed Peas with Chard

not my photo

Some of us grew up hearing "Swiss chard" so it was a surprise to learn chard is a staple of Palestinian cooking. This is a very traditional, nutritious, vegan stew that goes with anything you want it to, especially grilled lamb. To stay vegan serve it with maftoul or bulgur.

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 unwaxed lemon

½ lb bunch Swiss or rainbow chard

For the herb smash

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 until you have 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.

Turkish Boreks with Chard

This is an elegant way to put a lot of seemingly disposable greens  in a pretty package you can eat for breakfast, lunch or dinner. A borek is a stuffed fillo/phyllo triangle: this particular one contains greens with feta, herbs and a dash of olive oil. You can actually use any mixture of greens with the chard but keep in mind that kale will require a bit of pre-cooking to soften it. 

If you make these ahead, you can reheat/recrisp them with a short sauté in olive oil. They can be served at room temp or hot.


Makes 8

1¼ lb chard, spinach, dandelion greens, beet greens,

 Tuscan or curly kale


5-6 oz feta (or manouri), crumbled

3 tbsp toasted sesame seeds, plus extra for sprinkling

¼ c fresh dill, finely chopped

1 tbsp fresh mint leaves, finely chopped

1/4 c olive oil or melted butter, plus an extra drizzle

Salt and freshly ground black pepper


8 sheets phyllo/fillo pastry

2 tbsp tahini

1 tbsp honey

1 tsp pomegranate molasses

Remove long stems from the greens. Put the greens in a colander, and pour just-boiled water over them, so they wilt a little. (For kale, remove the stems, wash, put them in a lidded pan on a high heat and steam, covered, for two minutes, then drain.) Once cool, squeeze out as much liquid as possible, then finely chop. You can use a food processor. Add the cheese, sesame seeds, dill, mint and a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix well.

Heat a baking sheet in the oven set to 400º. Lay out a sheet of fillo on a work surface, keeping the remaining sheets covered with a damp towel. Brush all over with olive oil or melted butter and fold in half lengthwise to create a long strip. Spoon about 3 tbsp of the greens mix into the bottom left-hand corner of the strip, leaving a border. Take the right-hand corner and fold it up over the  filling to seal it into a triangle shape. Continue folding the pastry over the filling until you reach the top of the pastry strip. Seal the edges and lightly brush with more oil or butter. Set aside and work quickly to make the rest.

Transfer the parcels to the hot baking sheet, sprinkle with sesame seeds and bake for 20 minutes, until golden.

While they bake, whisk together the tahini, honey and pomegranate molasses. If it is very thick, add 1 tsp water or rose water.  

When the golden crisp boreks come out of the oven, lightly brush them with the honey mix and sprinkle on a few more toasted sesame seeds.

Chard Chickpea Dolmas

The Eastern Europeans stuff cabbage leaves, the Greeks and Turks grape leaves. This vegetarian special of stuffed chard leaves comes from Lebanon/Syria/Palestine where it's known as Mishi Waraq Sili.  It needs more fuss and focus than the Turkish boreks but the end dish rewards with color, taste and nourishment. Perfect for summer eating. 

Serves: 6

2 bunches fresh chard (no torn leaves)

2 c coarse bulgur

1 medium onion, chopped

½ c chopped tomatoes (not juice if you can help it)*

1 1/4 cups canned chickpeas

¼ c chopped fresh mint leaves

3 tbsp olive oil

zest of one lemon

4 cloves garlic, mashed

¼ c lemon juice

salt and black pepper to taste

1 large onion, sliced

To make the stuffing:

Soak the bulgur well covered in water 30 minutes. Drain carefully in a sieve to get it as dry as possible. Put in a med bowl and add the onion, tomato, chickpeas beans, half the chopped mint, lemon zest, olive oil, pepper and salt. Blend.

Prepare the chard by cutting off the stem at bottom edge of the leaf. (Save those stems.) Bring lightly salted water to a boil. Dip chard leaves for a second and remove immediately so they don’t tear. Drain and cool. Place each on a flat surface, spoon a heaping tablespoon the stuffing at the stem end, and lightly spread it a little bit up the stem. Fold in the sides of the leaves over the stuffing, then from the stem end roll the leaf like a jellyroll or cigar. 

Cover the bottom of heavy cooking pot with those chard stems and top them with slices of a large onion. Arrange the stuffed chard rolls tightly over the onion slice. Repeat if you need to make layers. Place a pot lot of flat china plate over the rolls to hold them down and put some sort of weight on top for good measure. Pour enough water into the pot to cover the top of the plate. Bring the water to boil. Reduce heat to low and cook 25 minutes.

While that’s happening, in a food processor or chopper or mortar, mix the mashed garlic with lemon juice, little salt and remaining mint leaves into a sauce.

With potholders, remove the weight and the plate. Using a spatula, carefully remove the chard rolls, place on a large serving platter. Pour the garlic sauce over the cooked rolls. Cover and allow to sit 15 minutes before serving.