If you move quickly this can be on your table in less than 8 minutes from start to finish. I was looking at the contents of this week’s Kitchen Herbs Farm “CSA” style vegetable drop-off and noticed two medium sized bunches of chard that looked so fresh I could have eaten them raw… Instead of sticking them in the fridge, I decided to add them to my lunch which was already ready to be brought to the table. We quickly stripped the greens from the stem (you can cook stem separately as it takes more time), washed them, put them in a salad spinner to dry and chopped them up roughly. Meanwhile, get a large pan on high heat and add some olive oil and some chopped guanciale (cured pig’s jowl, which we just happened to have in the fridge) but pancetta, majestic ham, prosciutto, etc. would all work fine. Add a sliced onion and saute for a minute or two. I added a pinch of red pepper flakes then the chard and toss with your tongs. Keep the heat on HIGH.
After just a minute or so, and the leaves are wilted, transfer them to a serving dish and bring it to the table. Voila! So fast, so healthy, so incredibly delicious. I like things with a bitter edge so this dish was perfect for me. In fact, I found several notes of sweetness in it which I attribute to the stunningly fresh greens. This dish, with half a cup of rice is a perfect lunch time treat. Now for the rest of that vegetable/salad delivery… :)
P.S. Compare my reactions to this chard above and that of this wonderfully colored chard a couple of years ago, where the leaves were probably a few days old, and a bit too earthy…
10 Responses
first post! to comment on the very delicious greens. yum yum, just makes me want to drool and eat my lunch as early as this hour. that is if my boss permits me to. the pix just looks very delicious!
When my Lola was passing away, I took a year off from school to stay with her nurse to take care of her with my primary responsibility being cooking for her. She had become less enamored of American food, although her weekly food deliveries would be filled with items like Swiss chard or pancetta. Swiss chard stew, then, became a means to connect with Lola, taking the ingredients you had, and interpreting them through what she had taught me, starting with gisa gorgeously caramelized in the fat rendered from cured pork. Then came the white beans and a generous sprinkle of patis, a nod to anchovies from Italy. Add a couple browned pork necks and some broth and you had a fantasting stew that Lola would eat several times a month on a bridge between the land of her birth and the land of her passing. Quite a wonderful memory evoked by your terrific recipe.
i’m going to market for some chard and try this quick and easy east meets west preparation.
that’s a moving write-up about your lola, jungmann.
JungMann, that’s awesome!
Add a splash of wine vinegar and you have a hot salad!
Looks so fresh and healthy, I’ll definitely try this. Thanks.
Funny..Just finish cooking adobong Kangkong using cured pork,not upper crust,i have been craving for it.Now i can cook the chard with pancetta this weekend.
so easy! i can already taste this. thank you so much, MM!
it was great i already tasted it! and its my favorite:))
I love cooking simple dishes like this. Am looking forward to summer when “rainbow” chard will be available this fresh! Braised chard with fried eggs—yum!