How to cook chard: recipes and 6 tricks to enjoy them on the plate

Swiss chard is a highly underrated vegetable., surely because we cook them poorly, we find them bland, too soft in texture, with little flavor, or we associate them with bland dishes. It’s time to tap into its full potential. If we know how to make Swiss chard, it can be as delicious and versatile as turnip tops, kale, spinach, or pak choy.

Understanding a little, we can handle and cook them in a thousand ways, especially now that they are in season and we can find them fresh in any grocery store.

How to cook Swiss chard

Swiss chard can be very interesting because of its color. Apart from the white and green ones of a lifetime too there are purple or pink stems, and in yellow-orange tones. With such striking colors they no longer look like the same vegetable, but the truth is that they are.

Take advantage of the fact that they look different and cheerful and buy them when you see them. The red or pink color is due to the fact that they contain a good amount of betalains, antioxidants that also give that color, for example, to beets. Betalains are soluble in water (they can stain your broths) and change color depending on the temperature and pH of the medium, which means that we They can give a lot of play to make very colorful dishes such as rice and risottos, salads, etc.

When you buy chard, whatever color it is, choose the freshest, brightest and smoothest, no blackened leaves, and store in the fridge until you are ready to use them (they will last 3-6 days, depending on how long it has been since they were picked). If they get a little wilted, you can recover them by cutting the end of the stem, which will be dry, and putting them in water, like a bouquet of flowers. In a few hours they regain their firmness.

Swiss chard can be frozen but it is advisable to first separate the leaves from the stems and then blanch them for 1 minute (2 for the stems). It is inevitable that, afterwards, they will be much softer, but it will be as in the case of frozen spinach. It is a good way to quickly use the chard when you need it for stews, soups, curries, etc.

To prepare the fresh chard we have to wash them well under the tap to remove all the remains of earth that they may have, both on the leaves and on the leaves. One of the things that is usually done is remove the strands, which consists of making a cut in the stem, almost parallel with the table, and pulling. Some hard threads will come out. These threads are the threads that can later become a ball when eating chard.

Of course, most of the chard that is sold now is tender enough to not have these hard strands, but you can do it, optionally, when the stalks are very large or you notice them a bit woody.

6 recipes with tasty and fun chard

Here are several suggestions for making Swiss chard and getting the most out of this healthy vegetable.

1. Raw in salad

Swiss chard can be eaten raw, just like spinach.. Once clean, we can cut the leaves into strips or pieces and add them to our fresh salads, mixing them with the rest of the ingredients. Any dressing goes well, although they greatly benefit from flavors like sesame and olive oil.

2. Swiss chard in rolls or wraps

When you have chard with very large and tender leaves, take advantage of them to make rolls or wraps. Instead of using tortillas or roll dough, use a large leaf (remove the stem) and roll it up with the filling of your choice, for example salad, julienned fresh vegetables, sautéed legumes, etc. Try making dolmades using chard leaves instead of vine leaves.

3.Blanched chard with a good dressing

If we want to take advantage of all the flavor and texture of the chard and serve them separately or whole, we can chop them and scald them in boiling water. The leaves require 2 minutes, the stems 3-4 minutes. Then, drain them well and dress them with a little salt.

It is not the best way to use them in general because Swiss chard does very well in the company of other ingredients, but it is the tastiest way to cook and serve it on its own. Instead of vinegar and oil, put oil, lemon and a little gomasio (ground sesame with salt), debittered brewer’s yeast or tahini.

4. Stewed chard or stews

It looks great in spoon dishes, especially in stews and stews. What you have to keep in mind is that the cooking time for the chard is short, so do not add them at the beginning of cooking, but almost at the end. That way they don’t fall apart and remain whole, and with a very good texture.

5. Sautéed Swiss chard

The leaves have a very different texture to the leaves and need a little more cooking time, so it is convenient to separate them when cutting. You can use only the leaves for one dish and only the leaves for another. For example They look great in stir-fry finely chopped like the rest of the ingredients.

6.Wok sautéed chard

Sautéing Swiss chard is also a good way to cook it. do them just like you would do some spinach or a pak choi, cutting them into medium pieces and sautéing them with the rest of the ingredients in a frying pan or wok. They go great with any combination of ingredients.