Swiss or rainbow chard cooked over low heat develops gorgeously deep flavour. Add cream and blast it under a grill with a coating of Parmesan for an unusually delicious side dish.
Chard, spinach, beetroot
What do you think of when you hear ‘greens’ or ‘leafy greens’? I bet it’s kale, my pet hate in the vegetable world. It might be nutritious but no one is going to convince me it tastes nice, however you prepare it.
On the other hand, its dark green leafy vegetable relatives are as health-beneficial in your diet while also being tasty. I don’t know, but to me it’s a no brainer: why would you eat kale if you have spinach or chard?
Or, indeed, beetroot leaves. That’s one massive food waste example that I always lament: beetroot leaves are just as edible, tasty and nutritious as spinach or chard, yet they are always unceremoniously chucked at the market stalls, and supermarkets aren’t even aware of their existence.
The recipe below, like most recipes for spinach and chard, can be followed using beetroot leaves.
We want chard!
Beetroot leaves are an underdog but I’m really not certain why chard isn’t quite as popular as spinach.
In fact, what most people are unaware of, a common variety of spinach widely grown in home gardens, so called ‘perpetual spinach’, is actually a variety of chard.
That particular variety is just so close in taste and texture to spinach, it is indiscernible from it. It truly is a generous crop, growing back profusely the moment you pick a row clean, to the point that I usually curse it by the end of the season: oh no! Spinach needs picking again!
And the varieties of chard that look like chard, not spinach, are as delicious. The only thing that perhaps puts people off chard are the stems: rather tough, with most recipes instructing to strip leaves from the stems and cook the two separately. That’s hassle.
Hassle-free chard
But not in this instance! My creamed chard recipe is hassle-free: you just need to wash the leaves (and thoroughly, if you’ve grown it in your garden, as snails adore chard), then shred them, leaves together with stems.
With sliced shallots and finely chopped garlic sweated in butter, it will cook over low heat for almost an hour – to acquire wonderful flavour and velvety texture.
Cook your vegetables quickly?
You’ll think that a long cooking process will obliterate all the nutrients in poor chard, so the dish will not provide any health benefits? Not exactly.
True, vitamin C will perish, but as this method doesn’t involve boiling, and you’ll be eating the sauce that chard cooks in, other vitamins and nutrients won’t be discarded with cooking water.
Also, studies show that cooking vegetables makes the nutrients more accessible to absorb by human body, by breaking down tough fibres. And, in spinach and chard especially, more beta carotene is taken in when we eat cooked vs. raw leaves.
So we can happily prepare this fantastically tasty dish, safe in the knowledge it will be good for us as well.
How to prepare the tastiest chard
Once the shallots and garlic soften in the saucepan, you can start adding shredded chard in batches, as it won’t all fit in in one go, no matter how large the pan. But it wilts quickly, especially if you help it along by twisting it around the pan with tongs.
Once it’s all in and wilty-shrunk, sprinkle flour all over the leaves and stir it to be cooked off. A combination of milk and double cream can now be slowly poured in, but this is a simple cooking method – none of the constant stirring that is required in bechamel making.
When the liquid comes to a steady bubble, it’s time to turn the heat right down and simmer it for just under an hour, until the chard is wonderfully tender and the sauce nice and thick.
The final seasoning involves grated nutmeg, salt and black pepper to taste and a spoonful of crème fraiche for a hint of a tang.
The final blast
And that is now ready to serve, unless you want to make it extra-delicious, which of course you do.
Spoon the chard to an oven-to-table dish, sprinkle with Parmesan rather generously and give it a blast under hot grill. Which also means the dish can be prepared well in advance, then warmed up and blasted in the grill. Which is a good idea if you want to make it one of the holiday dinner sides, Thanksgiving or Christmas. Which you absolutely should!
More chard and spinach recipes
Rainbow chard sautéed with a hint of Asian flavours is incredibly tasty – and as nutritionally beneficial as any more common greens like spinach or kale.
How to cook spinach? Simply, with lots of butter and thinly sliced garlic. Buttered spinach is a perfect side dish, healthy and ready in minutes.
Oven baked spinach and mozzarella balls, coated in breadcrumbs. Healthy baked spinach and cheese balls go well with a steak as a side dish but also delicious as an appetizer.
More festive side recipes
Green bean casserole is so good when homemade and cooked from scratch! Creamy mushroom sauce is easy to make, while blanching then drying fresh green beans stops them from being soggy.
Dos and don'ts of making the best roast potatoes you have ever eaten. The ultimate golden, crispy roasties that make you forget about the roast beef.
Festive red cabbage stir fried with apples, raisins and spices, super quick to cook. Red cabbage can be cooked super quick and easy, and not only for Christmas.