Recipes
Pasta with Red Chard and Garlic Chips
An easy option for a lazy night in the kitchen. Good and garlicky. Subsitute any cooking greens for the chard (spinach, kale, pac choi, whatever you have left in the fridge). Great use for this week's spinac or chard!
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
6 cloves garlic, cloves peeled and thinly sliced lengthwise though I am sure crosswise would work as well
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup dried currants (optional)
1 bunch red chard and/or spinach, stems and center ribs finely chopped and leaves coarsely chopped separately
1/4 cup water
1/2 pound spaghetti
1/4 cup Kalamata olives, cut into slivers
3 ounces feta, crumbled (1 1/2 cups)
Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat until it shimmers, then cook garlic, stirring, until golden, about 3 minutes. Transfer garlic with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain. Cook onion in oil remaining in skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, 3 to 5 minutes.
Stir chard stems into onion mixture with water and 3/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Cook, covered, over medium-high heat until almost tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in chard leaves and cook, covered, until stems and leaves are tender, about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook spaghetti in a pasta pot of boiling salted water (2 tablespoons salt for 5 quarts water) until al dente. Reserve 1 cup pasta-cooking water and drain spaghetti.
Toss spaghetti with chard, olives, and 1/2 cup cooking water, adding more cooking water if necessary. Season with salt and pepper. Serve sprinkled with feta and garlic chips.
Celeriac Remoulade (Celery Root Salad)
This salad is a refreshing cool coleslaw-like salad. A food processor makes the job of grating the celeriac much faster.
* see tips for preparing celeriac in Storage and Use in the first part of this newsletter
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp chopped parsley
1 lb celery root - quartered, peeled, and coarsely grated just before mixing
1/2 tart apple, peeled, cored, julienned
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Combine the mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice and parsley in a medium-sized bowl. Fold in the celery root and apple and season with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, at least 1 hour.
Sauteed Swiss Chard
I like this recipe because it uses the entire chard- stems and all!
1 bunch Swiss chard, stems and leaves separated, stems chopped and leaves sliced into 1-inch thick strips
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Fill a medium saucepan with water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Fill a large bowl with ice water. Add the chard stems to the boiling water and blanch for 2 to 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the stems to the ice bath and let cool completely. Drain the stems and set aside.
Melt the butter in a medium skillet. Add the chard leaves, stirring to coat. Cover and cook until wilted, stirring occasionally. Add the chard stems, brown sugar, vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.
Grown-up Grilled Cheese
This recipe is adapted from the Vermont Farm Table Cookbook by Tracey Medeiros. Switch up your panini ingredients with whatever you have on hand- pesto, spreads, cheeses, or fresh veggies. Dare I say add a hot pepper to kick it up a notch further?
1 1/2 tsp unsalted butter, softened
2 slices Flax Bread
3 thin slices sweet onion
Lettuce
1-2 thin slices prosciutto
Freshly ground black pepper
1 slice (3 ounces) Landaff cheese or any other mild raw cow's milk cheese
Coarse grain or Dijon mustard
Preheat a grill pan over medium-high heat or preheat a panini press. Spread one side of each slice of bread with butter and place buttered side down on a cutting board. Layer one side of the bread with the onion, lettuce, and prosciutto. Season with pepper to taste. Top with the cheese and the second slice of bread.
Place the sandwich on the grill pan or panini press. If using a pan, weigh down with a heavy skillet and cook until golden brown and the cheese has melted, 3 to 4 minutes per side. If using a panini press, grill according to the directions. Cut the sandwich in half and serve with mustard on the side.
Potato and Chive Soup
If you like spice, this soup would be amazing with hot peppers thrown in! Celeriac would also be a great addition; add peeled and chopped cubes to boil with the potatoes.
1 onion, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
5 cups chicken or veggie broth
2 1/2 pounds potatoes, peeled, sliced (about 7 cups)
3 large garlic cloves, peeled
2/3 cup half and half
1/2 cup minced fresh chives
Sour cream
Preheat a large pot over medium-high heat. Add oil and saute the onions until soft. Add broth, potatoes and garlic cloves into pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium; cover and simmer until potatoes are very tender, about 25 minutes.
Working in batches, puree soup in blender until smooth. Return to same pot. Add half and half and bring to simmer. Thin with more broth if soup is too thick. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in chives. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Rewarm over low heat, stirring frequently.)
Ladle soup into bowls. Top with dollop of sour cream and serve.
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. Will make perfect spinach salads, all the while nutritionally fantastic.
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