Stunning Swiss Chard

         

As I mentioned yesterday, Chef Pinkerton decided we should use the swiss chard from our share for dinner last night...and once he sets his mind to something there's no changing it!  

Before we get into the nitty-gritty, lets just take a moment to
acknowledge how fricken awesome looking swiss chard is!  It almost feels a shame to cook it instead of putting it in a glass vase to show off their incredible stem colors.

Last year my swiss chard was left to spoil in the vegetable crisper so that just simply could not happen again!  I was excited to use it this time around and since I had taken the day off of work I had ample time to cook (and eat) at a reasonable hour. 

Side Note: I think it probably takes me twice the amount of time noted on the recipe instructions to make pretty much anything...probably because I insist on washing the dirty dishes as I go along instead of waiting until I'm done (I can't help it...dirty dishes make me crazy), don't have great knife skills and am too afraid to multi-task, lest something go awry.  I don't mind that it takes me awhile to get things done, but it sometimes means dinner doesn't get served until 8 or 9pm!

So aaaaanyway, off to Google I went - excited about all the possibilities that may lie ahead - and there they were - about a million recipes for sauteing swiss chard.  "No way!" I thought, "there is NO WAY I am going to just make a side dish with all of the time I have to cook today!" (I know at some point during the season things are going to get busy and I am going to get lazy and having an easy out like a sauteed side or a kale-based smoothie will be a godsend, so I am holding off on those outs until I really NEED them.)

I decided to switch gears and search my next favorite recipe spot - Pinterest - and low and behold I found a bunch of possible recipes that were pretty delicious looking.  I pulled up four of them and went through the task of analysing the ingredients and process.  I tossed out one that required me to purchase way too many ingredients (budget conscious!) and another because I didn't have the proper tools.  I asked my boyfriend to decide which of the finalists sounded better to him and that lead me to a fantastic recipe for Sweet Potato and Swiss Chard Tart (basically a quiche...people want to sound so fancy).

Preparing the swiss chard took FOREVER!  I had to cut the stems out, which was easy (but sad..so pretty), but I also had to cut out the ribs, which are plentiful.  A colleague of mine told me this morning that I could have just ripped them out, but I am admittedly a little anal retentive so I actually used a pairing knife to slice them out. THEN the leaves that were left had to be cut into ribbons.  Once that was done the rest of the prep was pretty easy going.

The recipe assumed I knew my way around a kitchen a little bit more than I do, but it was a chance to use my own best judgement and let my instincts guide me...and it was slightly terrifying.  I've always enjoyed the rigidity of baking because the recipes are meant to be executed precisely and without error...follow the directions and you should be golden.  The flexibility in cooking has always been a little bit scary to me - for example being told to "season to taste" makes me feel slightly apoplectic.  In the end, though, everything turned out great.  Ain't that just like life?

I took the easy route and purchased a frozen pie crust instead of making my own.  I would have liked to make the whole thing from scratch, but I don't own a proper pie pan or pie weights.  These go on the mythical "kitchen goods to purchase" list.  If you choose to take the same shortcut I did, be warned that the recipe is enough to fill 2 pies.  This was fine by me because the frozen pie crusts at my grocery store came in packages of two anyway.

Note: The recipe calls for a half cup of grated cheese, but never actually tells you when to add it!  More improvisation!  Heart palpitations!  I added shredded sharp white cheddar to the egg mixture before pouring it into the veggie filled pie crusts.

THE RESULTS!

The "tarts" were absolutely lovely.  They were perfect for dinner on a crisp, sunny day and would make for a great brunch too.  Next time around, I would be a little more liberal with seasoning the veggies with the salt and pepper and could probably use another leaf or two of the swiss chard, but overall this was a great treat and I have no complaints.