For week three of our “Best of the Market” program I am told by the market managers the bags will feature rainbow chard and leeks along with fruit, flowers, cookies, and other vegetables. I found some chard and leeks at a local organic grocery store so I could try a recipe to print up for the market bags. It turned out to be a colorful side dish with soft but distinctive good flavors.

Rainbow Chard, Leeks, Garlic, and Pine Nuts

Serves four

1 bunch rainbow chard
2 big leeks, white and light green parts thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup pine nuts, toasted in a skillet
2 Tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Preparing chard is fun. As the stems and ribs take longer to cook, you have to cut them away from the big leaves. Simply run a knife along the side of main central rib. Cut the stems and ribs into ¼ inch slices and set aside with the leeks. I had always heard to stack the leaves, roll them up and cut them into 1 inch wide strips. A dilemma posed itself. Do you roll them up lengthwise (starting from the tip of the leaf) or crosswise? I thought rolling them up lengthwise and then cutting the strips would leave long lasagna size leaves and didn’t know whether or not they would cook down to a manageable size. On the other hand, rolling a twelve inch leaf half crosswise was difficult to do and still keep it even (sorry this is so tedious -- it’s a window into my mind). I opted for lengthwise and they cooked just fine. Rinse and drain them.

Using a large skillet with a cover, heat the olive oil, and sauté the leeks, garlic, stems, and ribs until crisp tender. Add the chard leaves. They will fill up the pan. Cook them until they wilt enough to fit into the pan and allow a cover to be used. Cover and simmer them for a few minutes until tender. The water on the leaves should be enough to keep the veggies from drying out. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper. Sprinkle the pine nuts somewhere over the rainbow.

Nutrition Information Per Serving:

Calories: 162
Fat: 13 gm
Saturated fat: 1 gm
Trans fat: 0 gm
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Carbohydrate: 11 gm
Fiber: 3 gm
Sodium: 162 mg
Protein: 3 gm

2 Comments Posted Post a comment below

Melanie Wood said...

I was born and raised on chard; took seeds to Sudan with me before the 80s famine(thank god) and ended up converting much of my garden into tomatoes/onion/chard/basil for our house help and their friends. Kept them very healthy! Cutting the chard: wash the leaves and fold each individual leaf in half lengthwise. Quickly cut the center spine out leaving 2 long thin strips. Pile 8 or 10 of these strips, roll lengthwise and slice! Easy! Yay chard! Note: You are definitely the expert and able to describe how to do it as well. Thanks so much. Dr. M

POSTED: June 19, 2008 02:13 PM

---

Marianne Budin said...

Very nice recipe...makes chard much more interesting....the veggie (I'm not one)
could almost use it as a main dish! Note: I am just learning to have a relationship with chard also. Glad you liked it. Dr. M

POSTED: June 8, 2008 09:38 AM

---

POST YOUR COMMENT

Thank you for your posting. Your comment is very important to us. We will review it to protect your privacy and keep the conversation relevant for everyone. Please check back soon.

NAME: (THIS NAME WILL BE DISPLAYED WITH YOUR POSTING)

COMMENTS:

I HAVE READ THE POSTING POLICY.

Please do not include any medical, personal or confidential information in your comment. Conversation is strongly encouraged; however, Kaiser Permanente reserves the right to moderate comments on this blog as necessary to prevent medical, personal and confidential information from being posted on this site. In addition, Kaiser Permanente will remove all spam, personal attacks, profanity, and off topic commentary.