Two Easy Swiss Chard Recipes (2024)


Two Easy Swiss Chard Recipes (1)

I have a friend who calls me Kale Gal because I grow kale in my gardens, pluck leaves for my husband’s smoothies, make kale chips, and find any excuse to incorporate them into meals. I love red boar curly kale raw in salads and sandwiches. I like dinosaur or Tuscan kale as chips or in soups and other savory dishes. Kale chips taste great when made with either coconut oil or olive oil, with a little sea salt.

Two Easy Swiss Chard Recipes (2)

But Kale Gal also raises Swiss chard in red, yellow, and rainbow hues. These have become the overachievers in my garden as of late. The leaves are massive and tender, and the stems can be chopped, sauteed and incorporated into recipes.

Here are a few Swiss Chard recipes that I created to make use of the garden bounty. Let me know if you give it a try and tell me what you think!

Two Easy Swiss Chard Recipes (3)

Stuffed Swiss Chard

1 pound ground turkey
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup uncookedrice
4 Swiss Chard leaves, split in half, stems removed and reserved
1 half head of cabbage, cut into small chunks
2 14.5-oz. cans diced tomatoes
1 15-oz. can tomato sauce
1 sweet onion, diced
Dash of Italian herbs (oregano, basil, parsley, marjoram, fennel seed).
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp minced garlic
4 tbsp Italian herbs (oregano, basil, parsley, marjoram, fennel seed)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup or more of shredded mozzarella

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Preheat oven to 375F degrees. Dump into a big bowl the turkey, ricotta, half of the diced onion, rice, 2 tbsp Italian herbs, salt and pepper, and mix by hand. Set aside.

Sauce:
Saute half the onion and garlic in olive oil, add canned tomatoes and cook off juices, add tomato sauce and remaining 2 tbsp Italian herbs, simmer on low.

Cabbage:
Drizzle some olive oil onto the bottom of a roasting pan. Spread the coarsely chopped raw cabbage into the pan, with big chunks intact. Set aside.

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Set up a broad skillet with about an inch of water to parboil the chard. Have ready an ice bath and a colander.

One at a time, dip each half of chard leaf into the boiling water for about 20-30 seconds to soften. With tongs, take each leaf and dip in the ice bath. Drain in a colander.

Take each parboil chard leaf and spread it out on a cutting board or other work surface bottom side up. Shape the ground meat-rice mix with hands or an ice cream scoop into balls about 2.5 ounces each. This should yield eight balls. Place the mixture onto the leaf and roll gently, tucking the ends in so it looks like a neat little purse. Arrange the purses on top of the chopped cabbage in the roasting pan.

Pour the tomato sauce all over the purses and cabbage in the roasting pan. Top with shredded mozzarella. Cover and bake in oven for an hour.

Alternatively, the cabbage can be placed in aslow cooker, purses on top, sauce poured all over, and left to cook for 4-5 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low. About 45 minutes beforeserving, add mozzarella cheese on top, cover and turn off and let cheese melt.

This will be very juicy. I like to serve it over pasta and crusty bread.

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I made this quiche late one night, refrigerated it, and microwavedslices the next morning for a quick brunch after a 25-mile bike ride.


Easy Swiss Chard and Manchego Quiche

8 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
6-10 Swiss chard leaves, separated from their stems
Swiss chard stems, diced
1/2 diced onion
2 cups shredded Manchego cheese
1/2 stale baguette or other bread, sliced thin
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Paprika

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Two Easy Swiss Chard Recipes (8)
Two Easy Swiss Chard Recipes (9)

Preheat oven to 375F degrees. Drizzle a pie plate with olive oil and place the bread slices on the bottom to serve as a sort of crust.

Sautédiced stems and onions in olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Let them reduce until the liquid dissipates. Spread on top of bread slices in pie plate.

Roll chard leaves into a big cigar and slice thinly. Oil skillet and add chard to sauté. Turn down the heat and let the liquid from the chard dissipate. Spread on top of the sautéed onions and stems.

Sprinkle with 1 1/2 cups Manchego.

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Mix eggs and milk in a big bowl with a rotary beater until smooth and so that no yolks or whites can be discerned. Whip in some air while you’re at it. Give it two or three minutes of beating.

Pour into the pie pan. Sprinkle remaining Manchego on top. Sprinkle paprika all over. Place in oven for 30-40 minutes until golden and bubbly, and the center is set.

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Two Easy Swiss Chard Recipes (12)

Take out of the oven and let rest for 10-15 minutes before slicing. Serves 6.

Two Easy Swiss Chard Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What are 3 ways you can eat Swiss chard? ›

Chard can be steamed or sauteed, and it's great in soups, stews, casseroles, frittatas and quiches. Young leaves can be eaten raw in salads.

How do you cook chard so it is not bitter? ›

Use older chard, which tends to be markedly less bitter than the young chard you're using; Avoid bringing out the bitterness, by cooking at lower heat; Mute any remaining bitterness with salt, which is pretty common for leafy greens.

Is it better to eat chard raw or cooked? ›

You can eat these greens both raw or cooked. However, cooking chards improves not only the nutrient availability, but also the taste. Swiss chard is susceptible to foodborne pathogens, like other leafy greens, so be careful about washing this veggie thoroughly before preparing it.

When should you not eat Swiss chard? ›

Kidney stone:

Swiss chard contains oxalates that may increase urinary oxalate excretion and predispose some individuals to calcium oxalate stones. As a result, anyone with kidney stones should avoid Swiss chard because oxalates may increase symptoms in certain people.

Is Swiss chard better than spinach? ›

Spinach have significantly more Vitamins A than chard. Spinach is an excellent source of Vitamin A, Vitamin E, Vitamin K, Vitamin C, Riboflavin, Vitamin B6, Potassium, Magnesium, Calcium, Iron. Spinach is a great source of Thiamin, Niacin, Zinc, Phosphorus.

Do you eat the stems of Swiss chard? ›

Both the leaves and stems of chard taste delicious in recipes. Recipes using raw Swiss chard tend to call for the leaves only.

What kills the bitterness of greens? ›

Use salt.

Salt is a friend to bitter greens, whether you plan to eat them raw or cooked. Mellow the bitter flavor with a sprinkle of salt on endive or radicchio, or include anchovies or cured meat (like bacon, pancetta, or proscuitto) along with mustard, beet, or collard greens.

Why does my Swiss chard taste bitter? ›

Chard will usually bolt in any extreme temperature conditions like freezing and in extremely dry hot weather.” Doyle noted that the plant might continue to produce the typical chard leaves, and that the smoother leaves are still flavorful but more bitter than others.

How do you cook Swiss chard with Martha Stewart? ›

Slice leaves about 1 inch thick. In a Dutch oven over medium heat, warm olive oil. Cook garlic until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in stalks; cook, stirring, until slightly soft, 5 to 6 minutes.

Do you cut or pull Swiss chard? ›

Harvest chard from the outside in, leaving the chard heart in the middle intact. Then new leaves will grow again and again right into the autumn. If you only want to harvest the chard once, simply cut off the entire chard plant just above the ground. You can harvest leafy spinach beet in the same way as Swiss chard.

What is the healthiest way to eat Swiss chard? ›

Boil Swiss chard for a healthier side dish.

Bring a pot of water to boil on the stove, and add several generous pinches of salt. Add the chopped stems from 3-4 leaves, and cook for 2-4 minutes until they're mostly tender. Place the leaves in the pot, and cover for 1-2 minutes. The leaves should be wilted.

Is Swiss chard a laxative? ›

Dark leafy greens like kale, collards, Swiss chard, and spinach contain magnesium, a mineral that helps soften stools, making them easier to pass.

Is chard anti-inflammatory? ›

chard is also has an abundance of antioxidants as well as phytonutrient antioxidants. Why are these phytonutrient antioxidants so special? These antioxidants have been shown to have great anti-inflammatory properties. These phytonutrients can be found in the plant's leaves, and colorful stems.

Can you eat chard like lettuce? ›

You can enjoy chard raw like spinach, kale and lettuce. As with spinach and kale, chard is earthy, but its bitterness is less intense than kale's.

How do you harvest and eat Swiss chard? ›

Begin harvesting when the plant reaches 9 inches tall, though the tender baby leaves can be used in fresh salads. Once a leaf is cut, a new one grows in its place. Harvesting can be done be cutting off the individual leaves or cutting the entire plant at its base, about an inch above soil.

Do you eat all of chard? ›

The leaves and stalks should be cooked separately, or the stems cooked a few minutes longer than the leaves, as they are firmer. Wash then cut the stalks from the leaves and leave whole or chop, as required. On some older leaves, you may need to cut out the ribs too. Leaves can be left whole or chopped, as required.

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