"What's chard?"

Last night I made a new and delicious meal! I also got to introduce a new green leafy to Sir Cakewalk.

On Sunday evening, I sat down with my papa spud's orderpage and my recipe books to come up with meals for the week that would utilize my order and my new kitchen toys. I will continue to recap the success or failure of these meals the day after I make them.

Monday night I made Butternut Squash Soup with Cilantro Pesto and Homemade Croutons. Yum! But that meal didn't include any of my spud's items since they don't come until Tuesday.

Last night I made Swiss Chard served over Crook's Corner Grits. Soooooo good!

As we were eating (scratch that...inhaling) our food, Sir Cakewalk said: "This is great! What is it and why is it red?"

I told him it was chard and briefly explained what chard was....apparently he didn't read November's Vegetable of the Month post. For others who don't remember or weren't reading then, chard is a green leafy. You can eat the leaves and the brightly colored stalk (Swiss chard has a red stalk while Rainbow Chard has multiple colors).


Who knows what green leafies are and why we should eat them? Anyone? Bueller?

Green leafies include any dark green leafy vegetable. Didn't see that one coming, did ya? They include greens (another shocker, I know), kale, spinach, broccoli, chard, etc.

Green leafies are an incredibly concentrated source of nutrients. They provide Vitamins A, K, C and many B vitamins. They also contain iron, calcium, and some phytonutrients.

I try to eat green leafies at least a few times a week, if not more. If you could eat them everyday, it would do wonders for your health. If you currently don't eat any, I challenge you to eat 2 servings this week. If you know you don't like one green leafy, try another. Try to prepare them differently. Check out the recipes I included in the previous post. Or try this one:

Chard over Crook's Corner Grits

You will need:

• Plain grits. I used Crook's Corner grits that are not instant. But instant could work too.
  
• Bouillon. My favorite cooking ingredient. Tired of seeing it in the list yet? Too bad! It gives nearly any dish a depth of flavor you can't get with other plain liquids.
• Water.
• One bunch of Chard.
• 1 T butter. I use real butter made locally. I really wouldn't recommend margarine. I guess I should explain my hatred of margarine in a post sometime. But for now, I will say that it is only 1 T for a whole meal and it provides richness and creaminess.
• 1/2 - 1 T lemon or lime juice.
• Feta cheese. You will use this as a topping. I used about 1 T on each dish. I LOVE Trader Joe's real goat's milk feta.
  
• S&P

To prepare the gritty goodness:

1. Read the instructions on your grits, as they will vary if you are using instant or not. I made enough to produce 4 cups of cooked grits (enough for 2 people and leftovers.) For me, I used 1 cup of uncooked grits.
   
2. Bring appropriate amount of water with appropriate amount of buillon cube to a boil. (I used 4 cups of water and 1 large cube.)
   
3. Slowly stir in grits. Be careful if you are using instant, as they will cook immediately and may start to bubble and spit hot liquid magma at you.
   
4. Reduce heat to low/simmer.
   
5. If using instant, continue cooking as directed on the label...it should not take very long. If using regular, allow to simmer for ~20 minutes with occasional stirring.
6. When grits are creamy and most of the water has been absorbed, stir in 1/2 T of butter and season with S&P.
   
7. Cover and remove from heat until serving time, but stir frequently to avoid clumping. If they do clump before the rest of the meal is ready, simply add a little water or a touch of milk and heat on low while stirring until they are creamy again.
   

To prepare the chard:

1. Roughly chop the entire bunch. I do this by holding the bunch in one hand the knife in my right hand. I start by chopping about a half inch off the bottom of the stalks and then continuing my way up the stalk and through the greens. Then, place everything in a pasta strainer/drainer. While doing so, use your hands to pull apart/tear any large pieces of greens.
   
2. Rinse the chard well.
   
3. Shake out some of the water, but leave most on the leaves.
4. Place the chard, still wet, in a stock pot.
   
5. Cover and heat to medium.
   
6. Stir occasionally until the greens are tender and cooked down. This took me about 10 minutes. I probably overcooked mine...they were very cooked down...but they still tasted great in the end, so don't fret if yours turn out the same.
7. Once cooked, drain the chard in the pasta strainer to remove any extra liquid. Then put back in the pot.
8. Put the pot back on the burner, but turn off the heat.
   
9. Stir in the other 1/2 T of butter until melted and mixed through.
   
10. Stir in about 1/2 T of lemon or lime juice. If you like the taste, add more. I probably used about 1 whole T in mine.
11. At this point, your chard is done. However, just for kicks, I added one last secret ingredient. Upon recommendation, I ordered Big Daddy's Marinade with my spud's order and was so anxious to try it, I drizzled a little into my greens.
    

Note: I started my grits first, since mine were not instant. Then while they were doing their 20 minute simmer, I chopped and cooked the chard. It was all ready at almost exactly the same time. However, even if this doesn't work out, the items will still be good if you cover them and allow to sit on the stove at a very low heat or even without heat on warm burners.

To assemble and enjoy:

1. Ladle about 1 cup of grits onto a plate or bowl.
   
2. Using a slotted spoon, spoon some chard into the center of the gritty pile. The slotted spoon will allow some of the liquid to drain off, but leave some to add flavor to the dish.
3. Sprinkle with feta cheese.
4. Inhale/eat!
   

Makes me hungry just 'splainin it! Good thing I have leftovers for lunch! ;)