Creamy Swiss Chard Recipes

CREAMY SWISS CHARD

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil and prepare a large bowl of ice water. While the water comes to a boil, cut out the stems/center ribs from the Swiss chard. Cut the stems into about 2-inch lengths and chop or tear the leaves into 2-inch pieces. Add enough salt to the water so it tastes salty. Add the leaves to the boiling water for 30 seconds, drain, and transfer the leaves to the ice water. Drain again. Transfer the leaves from the colander to a clean kitchen towel, squeezing out as much water as you can in the process. Roll up and squeeze in the kitchen towel to remove any remaining water.
• Peel and thinly slice the shallots.
• In a large saucepan over medium heat melt the butter. Add shallots, chopped chard stems, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring often, until the stems are tender, about 5 minutes. Pour in the cream, bring to a boil, reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer, and cook, stirring often, until the mixtures thickens, about 5 minutes. Stir in the leaves and cook, stirring, until they're warmed through and coated with the sauce. Add pepper to taste, as well as any additional salt you may like.
• Serve warm. Know that this dish keeps well loosely covered in a warm (220°F or so) oven for an hour or so if needed.

CREAMED SWISS CHARD

Steps:

• Wash chard and dab dry. Separate stems from the leaves.
• Cut stems into ½" slices. Chop leaves into large 1" pieces.
• Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
• Add stems and cook 3-4 minutes or until tender-crisp.
• Stir in heavy cream, seasoned salt & pepper and simmer until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes.
• Add leaves and cook until wilted, 2-3 minutes more. Season with salt & pepper to taste.

CREAMED SWISS CHARD

Steps:

• In a large pot, bring water to a boil over medium-high. Gradually add chard and cook until it is just wilted, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a colander to drain, pressing out as much liquid as possible.
• In pot, melt butter. Whisking constantly, add flour and cook 1 minute. Whisking constantly, slowly add milk. Cook, whisking along bottom of pot, until mixture comes to a boil and thickens, 2 to 3 minutes. Add chard and stir until coated. Stir in nutmeg and season with salt and pepper.

CREAMY SWISS CHARD WITH COCONUT

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, ginger, and chile and cook until tender and fragrant, 6 to 8 minutes. Add chard leaves, coconut milk, and water. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until chard is tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Season with salt.

CREAMY SWISS CHARD PASTA WITH LEEKS, TARRAGON AND LEMON ZEST

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Prepare the chard: Tear the leaves off the stems, separating the leaves and stems. Thinly slice the stems, then coarsely tear the leaves into bite-size pieces. Set both aside in separate bowls.
• Prepare the leeks: Trim off the bottom and the dark green portion at the top, halve the remaining white and pale green portion lengthwise, then thinly slice them crosswise. Wash and drain the sliced leeks. Set aside.
• Prepare the bread crumbs: In a large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium. Add the panko, season lightly with salt and generously with pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden and toasted, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in nutritional yeast, then transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
• Wipe out the skillet. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons butter and melt over medium-high. Add the leeks, chard stems, garlic and thyme, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until leeks start to wilt and soften, about 5 minutes. Add the torn chard, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring, until just wilted, 2 minutes.
• Add the stock and heavy cream, and boil over high until thickened, about 10 minutes.
• Once the mixture is simmering, add the pasta to the pot of boiling water and cook until al dente. Drain pasta.
• Transfer chard mixture to the empty pasta pot. Stir in the cooked pasta, then sprinkle with the Parmesan, stirring vigorously to melt it into the sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Divide among shallow bowls or plates. Sprinkle generously with the prepared bread crumbs, top with tarragon and grate fresh lemon zest on top. Serve immediately.

CREAMED SWISS CHARD WITH LEMONY BREADCRUMBS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F. Toss breadcrumbs, oil, and lemon zest on a rimmed baking sheet; season with salt. Toast, tossing once, until golden brown, 8-10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, cook chard leaves in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender, about 1 minute. Drain; transfer to a bowl of ice water to cool. Drain and squeeze well in a clean kitchen towel to remove excess moisture.
• Heat butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots and chard ribs and stems, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring often, until tender, 5-8 minutes. Add cream; bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, stirring often, until thickened, about 4 minutes. Add chard leaves and cook, stirring, until warmed through and coated with cream sauce; season with salt and pepper.
• Top Swiss chard with breadcrumbs just before serving.

PASTA WITH SWISS CHARD

Steps:

• Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Once the water is boiling, stir in the spaghetti, and return to a boil. Cook the pasta uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the pasta has cooked through, but is still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Drain well in a colander set in the sink.
• Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in the garlic, and cook for 1 minute to soften. Add the Swiss chard. Cook and stir until the stems of the chard are tender. You can use some of the hot pasta water to help steam the chard in the covered pan.
• Stir the hot spaghetti into the chard mixture along with the capers. Season to taste with salt and black pepper, and drizzle with lemon juice if desired. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese to serve.

CREAMED CHARD

Steps:

• Separate the stems and leaves of 2 bunches rainbow chard; coarsely chop. Cook the stems, 1 sliced garlic clove and a pinch of salt in olive oil, covered but stirring occasionally, 6 minutes; transfer to a bowl. Cook the leaves, stirring, 5 minutes. Add 1/2 cup cream; simmer 3 minutes. Stir in the stems, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

CREAMED SWISS CHARD WITH MUSHROOM AND FETA

Steps:

• Rinse the fresh chard leaves very well, trim the stalk ends, and separate the leaves from the stems/stalks on each side. Chop the stalks into pieces of about 1cm to 2cm. Roughly chop the leaves.
• In a saucepan heat the oil, masala and onion to medium. Stir and cook for a few minutes.
• Add chopped chard stems, butter, mushrooms, garlic, nutmeg, salt and white pepper. Continue sauteeing and stirring on medium heat until the chard stems and mushrooms are soft.
• Add the water and chard leaves, give a good stir and put the lid on for a few minutes to steam the leaves until competely wilted.
• Pulse using a stick blender in the saucepan, slowly adding cream, until the creamed chard is the consistency you require. This is where your skill and personal preference come in! I prefer my chard to retain some chunky texture of mushroom and chard stems in a creamy green base.
• Finally stir in the feta cubes and allow them to slightly melt in the warm vegetables.

CREAMY GRITS WITH MUSHROOMS AND CHARD

Steps:

• Make the grits: Cook the grits with water according to the package instructions in a large, heavy-bottomed pot, stirring occasionally and adding more water if needed to ensure no grits stick to the pot. The cook time can range from 30 minutes to 2 hours, depending on the age and quality of the grits. When the grits are tender, remove from the hot burner and pour in the oat cream, oil and salt, stir well, and cover. (If you cooked the grits with salt, then start with 1 teaspoon and add more to taste.) Set aside.
• Meanwhile, make the sauce: Heat a cast-iron skillet over medium. Once heated, add the onion quarter, jalapeño and garlic cloves. Char and slightly cook the vegetables, turning occasionally. The garlic will likely be done first, after 4 or 6 minutes. Place each item in a bowl when charred and cover with a lid.
• When the charred vegetables are cool to the touch, remove the outer skin of the onion, the jalapeño stem and the garlic peels. If you are very sensitive to spice, slice the jalapeño in half lengthwise and remove one half's seeds and white veins to make it much milder.
• In a blender or mini food processor, blend the onion, jalapeño and garlic with the lemon juice, olive oil and cilantro until smooth. Add more olive oil if needed to blend, 1 tablespoon at a time. Clean the mushrooms with a damp towel and break apart or cut at the stem into 2-inch pieces. Place the mushrooms in a bowl and pour the jalapeño sauce on top; let sit for at least 15 minutes.
• Make the chard: Place the chard shiny side down on a cutting board and slice the stems and ribs away from the green leaves. Stack the leaves in a pile and cut crosswise into thin strips. Transfer to a bowl, toss with 2 tablespoons oil, and season with salt and pepper.
• Cut the chard stems into 2-inch-long matchsticks. In a medium saucepan, combine 1 cup water with the jalapeño, vinegar, garlic, onion and sugar, and bring to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat, add the chard stems and let sit, uncovered, for at least 10 minutes.
• Heat a medium cast-iron skillet over medium, add the chard leaves and cook, using tongs to move them around quickly in order to keep their bright green color, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
• In the same skillet, add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan. Set over medium-high heat. Shake excess sauce off the mushrooms back into the bowl; too much sauce will cause them to steam instead of sear. Add the mushrooms to the hot oil, and cook until tender and caramelized, 2 to 5 minutes per side.
• To serve, spoon the grits onto a large platter and top with the chard, mushrooms and pickled stems.

CREAMY SWISS CHARD PASTA

Steps:

• Wash swiss chard, cut into small pieces.
• Heat oil in large 2 quart saucepan over medium high heat, 1 to 2 minutes.
• Add swiss chard, garlic and onion; cooking 1 to 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Add tomatoes, sour cream, milk, parmesan cheese, cooked fettuccine, salt and pepper to taste; stir well.
• Serve warm.