Swiss Chard

Swiss Chard right from our garden

Did you know that one cup of chopped Swiss chard has just 35 calories and provides more than 300% of the daily value of vitamin K? This earthy-tasting leafy green is a nutritional powerhouse packed with vitamins A, K and C as well as magnesium, potassuum, iron and dietary fiber.. But skip this veggie if you’re prone to kidney stones; it contains oxalates, which decreases the body’s absorption of calcium and can lead to kidney stones.

Swiss Chard comes in a variety of colors; red, white, yellow and green known as rainbow chard because of its assortment of stem colors–it’s as pleasing on the plate as it is to the palate.

Prepare Swiss chard by rinsing the crisp leaves under cold water and placing them on a paper towel or in a salad spinner to dry. Leaves and stalks can be boiled, steamed, sautéed or roasted. Many people enjoy the somewhat bitter taste of the stalks; similar to celery and others toss the stalks and eat the leaves; similar to spinach.

If you don’t want to waste food, cook the stems first since they need more cook time or if you have a compost bin throw the stalks in there which in return will be used for your garden.

Sauteed Swiss Chard

 

Ingredients:

1 bunch Swiss Chard
2 Cloves garlic
2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Fresh lemon, optional
Parmesan cheese, optional
Himalayan salt to taste

Directions:

Rinse and separate the leaves from the stalk by holding the stalk with one hand and pulling the leaf from the bottom to the top with the other hand.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in the garlic and cook until tender or slightly brown, about 2 minutes. Add the Swiss chard; cook and stir until the chard is wilted and tender, about 5 minutes.

Season with himalayan salt and pepper and serve. You can also add a Tbsp of Parmesan cheese on top or a squeeze of fresh lemon.

Swiss Chard Stuffed Whole Chicken

Recently I’ve been seeing a lot of supermarkets and big name food warehouses such as BJ’s and Costco selling more and more organic foods and products. I went into Stop & Shop and found an Organic whole chicken and decided to purchase. My husband does not like chicken on the bone so I called my father in law, who is a butcher, and he came over and deboned the chicken for me. We left the ends of the drums on so I am able to stuff the legs. I wanted to utilize the amazing produce that I’ve been growing in my garden so I picked some swiss chard and got started…

Ingredients:

3 cloves garlic, peeled (I like to mash the garlic and throw it in practically whole but you can also chop)
1Tbsp of Earth Balance Coconut spread
30-40 Stalks of Swiss Chard
Pecorino Romano, optional
2 Tbsp Carter & Cavero Tuscan Herb Olive Oil (Use extra virgin olive oil and dried herbs such as sage, rosemary and thyme as a substitute)
1 Whole Organic chicken
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 Sweet Onion
Italian Seasoning

Directions:

First, debone the chicken. Unfortunately, I didn’t take pics of my FIL deboning ours but I found this video online to show you how. Second, lay the chicken on top of a paper towel to dry the skin. While the chicken is drying, grab your swiss chard from the garden or refrigerator and remove the leaves from the stalk by either pulling up from the stalk or by folding the chard in half and cutting the stalk out with a sharp knife. Place the leaves into a bowl and wash under cold running water. Place the swiss chard on a paper towel to dry or into a salad spinner. In a large saucepan, on medium heat, add 1 Tbsp. of Coconut spread (you can use oil in place of spread). Once the spread starts to melt add the garlic and the onion. Once the onion is translucent, add the swiss chard.

*Remember, 30-40 stalks seems like a lot but they will wilt down when cooked

Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees

Sautéed swiss chard, onion and garlic in a coconut spread

.When the swiss chard has shrunk or wilted remove it from the heat and set aside. In the meantime, prepare your chicken by covering with Carter & Cavero Tuscan Herb Olive Oil. Place the swiss chard mix on top of the chicken, be sure to stuff some into the legs now that they are open. For a cheesy, nutty, salty addition, grate some Pecorino Romano directly on top of the chard mix.

Deboned chicken stuffed with onion, garlic and swiss chard

To close the chicken back up, take a skewer, weave the skewer in and out of the skin of the chicken to close it back up. You can also use butchers twine. Once the chicken is sewn closed, lightly cover with italian seasoning mix or you could use a combination of dried herbs and seasonings that you have on hand. I like to have that extra punch of flavor on the skin of my chicken since it will crisp in the oven. I know, I know the skin is so fattening yada yada yada but all things in moderation, RIGHT? You can also add some himalayan salt and ground pepper to taste.

Place the chicken on top of a cookie sheet that is covered with tin foil and lightly sprayed with olive oil from your Misto sprayer so the chicken does not stick. Place the chicken into the oven for 50 minutes or until the inside temp reaches 165 degrees.

Take out the chicken and place it on a cutting board. Allow your chicken to sit about 10 minutes so the juices redistribute. While your chicken sits, make a quick side of veggies or salad. We love our corn so we steamed a bag of sweet white and yellow corn in the microwave for 7 minutes.

We hope you enjoy this chicken because we certainly did 🙂

Stuffed chicken sewn with a skewer and steamed micorwaveable corn as a side dish.

Doesn’t this look UH MAZING?

Our healthy plate of chicken and corn