what the heck do I do with all this swiss chard?

I keep getting a HUGE bunch of swiss chard in my CSA and I just don't really know what to do with it. Last time I blanched it, then sauteed it with bacon and garlic and that was pretty good but I don't want to do that every time.

Help! I prefer simple, few ingredient type things.

Kimchi. Any good Korean cook would chop it up and pack it away with garlic and red pepper paste. You can probably also make some interesting sauerkraut with it. Or try this:

Last summer I didn't find any kind of greens that didn't make great pesto-like product (although I didn't grow any swiss chard or try it specifically). Greens (my surplus last year was mustard greens), alliums and allium greens (whatever you got -- garlic leaves have huge flavor that vanishes when you cook them, so they are great for this), whatever nuts you got (I used my local wild pecans) and traditionally, olive oil. But I just used a few more nuts and omitted the oil. I was never disappointed.

Microwave polenta (or regular polenta but microwave it's easy to do a serving for 1)

1/4c polenta
1 c water

stir in butter, parmesan, chopped greens, sundried or fresh tomatoes, etc. Anything that might go into an omelet.

I lived on this last summer for lunch. If you time it right, you can even soft cook an egg in a well on top. If you screw up the timing, it's a mess.
----------------
Sausage, bean, greens soup is a classic. It's a clean-out-the-fridge soup too. Freezes better with kale, but will do ok with chard.

----------------
Would be good as a base for spaghetti sauce if you wanted to cut back on the noodles.

----------------
If you have more than you will use, blanch it in boiling water, chop, squeeze the water out, divide into serving portions and quick freeze on a baking tray, then put the portions into something freezer worthy. I use a small bowl to shape them, they look like green hockey pucks. Can do with spinach, kale, etc., or mixes.

----------------
flavor affinities: onions, leeks, garlic, chorizo, tomato, ham, butter, beans, tuna, salmon, lemon, pinons, othe nuts.

Could make a pretty dang good pasta, potato or rice salad, cook the starch, add the chard in the last few minutes of cooking, drain it all down, and mix in some goodies from that list.

Anything you can do with spinach you can do with chard:

Potato-Crusted Spinach Quiche
Spinach Artichoke Dip
Chicken Stuffed with Spinach and Feta

OK so starting from the point I don't know if you have ricotta cheese in the States. its a fresh cheese I really don't know how its done, a few friends do it, and I use in the kitchen. for sure someone does it
Anyway you take 600 gr of swiss chard or spinach, I love swiss chard for its flavor. let it cook in a pan with some salt so it gets the water out and if not well cooked add some water. When it's cooked put some butter and a chopped onion. make it still cook so it flavors up, then you let it cool. you take 200 gr of ricotta cheese mix it with the cooked swiss chard that you cut with scissors or knife. you can add pepper, nutmeg, and salt if necessary I use little in the kirchen. add some flour 200 gr, use whatever flour you like, it really serves just to keep it together and maybe you can put less, I actually just put some in and mix it feeling the texture.
then an egg. Mix it well. you make small balls with a spoon, one at a time and pass them in the flour, then you put the ball in hot boiling water. you can put more than one ball in the water they are cooked when they come to the surface.
you put them in a baking tin (?, its so difficult to translate recipes, urghhh), something thast goes in the oven, with butter and sage, that you previously have singning in a pan ( this is a story I have to tell: in Italy we say butter sings when you put it in a pan, and it starts to sizzle, and that is when you have to take it off the fire, or put the ingredients in, and in this case sage, that you make cook for very little just has to free its flavor), pass it in the oven for five minutes with parmesan or similar on top, or you put it with tomato salsa on top and the cheese for 5/10 minutes and then eat it all up

These are called Malfatti here in Italy, and they are the filling as for the ingredients of ravioli filled pasta.
it seems long but it actually takes half an hour for that amount of swiss chard I wrote.


I tried to link a photo but nothing it doesn't work

I hear that a lot. Chard is a basket filler, but it turns off most people. Many csa would be better off with only a half full basket some weeks than a half basket of chard every week.

We freeze extra spinach, chard and kale for smoothies in the winter. We have done pesto, then froze it in icetrays for winter as well.

Lorenzo Costa wrote:in Italy we say butter sings when you put it in a pan, and it starts to sizzle,

This is the happiest thing I have read in days. I hope you post more recipes, Lorenzo!

Pureed swiss chard soup!

http://www.gardenbetty.com/2012/11/pureed-swiss-chard-soup/

I also like them roasted in the oven - add leeks, onions, balsamic, spices, or feta to jazz things up.

Chard, like other leafy greens, can be chopped small and added to sauces, stews, and casseroles near the end of cooking time, as "stealth vegetables" for picky eaters. I find the stems need to be chopped particularly fine, and they just blend right in with no noticeable veggie taste. I generally don't cook chard on its own as a side dish, as some people are averse to a pile of cooked greens, but occasionally I cook them gently in the following broth mixture (adapted from the pan gravy recipe in the Joy of Cooking):

Cupful or so of stock and/or pan drippings
1/4 of an onion, chopped small
Spoonful of something acidic: wine, cider, lemon juice--even vinegar works, but just use a tiny amount
Spoonful of dry mustard powder
Any chopped fresh or dried herbs you fancy
Salt

I bring the broth to a simmer, chuck in the chopped greens, and let them wilt for about a minute or so, until soft. The broth doesn't need to cover the greens entirely, and you can use it as a sauce with the meal if you like, or save it in the fridge for another day. Take the greens out with a slotted spoon, and serve with a dollop of butter

There are a couple recipes for lax-fermenting the ribs of chard in Preserving Food without Freezing or Canning, one of my go-to resources when the American obsessed-with-sanitation sensibility in food handling fails me.

Cassie,
The stems of swiss chard are interchangeable with celery in almost any recipe! But they add color and more flavor. Also in the heat of summer, I use the leaves in exchange for lettuce, which has generally bolted already. Also as many already stated, cooked they work like any cooked greens, like collards or spinach. It is maybe one of my favorite multi purpose veggies. It will never beat out tomatoes, but instead of a BLT, why not a BST?

WOW! Thank you SO much everyone! I might do the soup from garden betty because that seems the easiest. But I will continue to visit this thread each time my csa gives me a ton of swiss chard, which is every time lol..

I haven't used chard specifically, but I think pretty much any green can be prepared saag-style. Here's how I do mine, usually with kale and mustard:

4 tbsp butter
1 onion
6 cloves garlic
a piece of ginger root, peeled, about 1" long
2 tsp garam masala
dried chilies to taste
1 lb leafy greens with woody stems removed (The pound should be measured *after* stem removal - with chard, I think the stems are tender enough to leave in.)
1 cup plain yogurt
1 tbsp salt (or so)
1 lb paneer or firm tofu or your cooked meat of choice

-Boil water in a large pot. Add the greens, and cover. Cook for 7-15 minutes, depending on the toughness of the greens in question. Don't worry too much about overcooking.
-While the greens are boiling, melt the butter in a frying pan over medium heat. Grind together the onion, garlic, and ginger, and add to the hot pan. Cook, stirring regularly, until the paste starts to take on a golden brown color. Add the garam masala and chili, and cook for a few more minutes until the spices no longer smell raw. Turn off the burner.
-Strain the greens, reserving the cooking liquid. Return the greens to the cooking pot, turn the burner to low, and hit them with an immersion blender until the consistency looks good to you. I went with pretty smooth, but with a few chunkier bits of stem left. Stir in the onion paste, yogurt, and salt. Add back as much of the cooking liquid as is required to result in an agreeable consistency. Maybe add a tiny bit extra to allow for absorption by the protein cubes.
-Let the saag simmer, covered, over low heat while you quickly pan fry cubes of paneer or tofu or whatever. Add the protein bits to the saag and let simmer further, until you just can't wait anymore.
-Serve over seasoned basmati rice.

I wanted to bring this thread back to life with another suggestion:  make chard into namul.  Cook the leaves to the desired texture, then immediately plunge into cold water to stop them cooking any more.  Once cool, drain them and then grab a handful and start squeezing all the water out--get it as dry as you can.  Once it's all compressed, chop the leaves and season with a touch of soy sauce and vinegar and then a more generous splash of sesame oil.  Sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired, and serve chilled or at room temp.

I make this a lot in the spring and summer, with all sorts of leafy vegetables including chard and beet greens.  Also things like radish tops and broccoli leaves, though they required a lot longer cooking time than the chard.

G Freden wrote:I wanted to bring this thread back to life with another suggestion:  make chard into namul.  

An excellent suggestion!! I find that swiss chard isn't great for kimchi (gets slimy) but namul is the bomb.
I did this last night with my endless tatsoi, in fact, and in a few weeks when the chard really starts coming in I'll be doing it again.
There is a Japanese equivalent, ohitashi https://sudachirecipes.com/spinach-ohitashi-recipe/  (and it works fine without the bonito flakes on top, which where I live cost more than gold)
and another one that works well, goma-ae
https://www.justonecookbook.com/spinach-with-sesame-sauce/

Another thing that may be useful-- last week when I had made all the things and there was still tatsoi bolting in the garden that had to be picked, I prepped, blanched, squeezed and froze it in balls that are a lot like frozen spinach I used to buy in the supermarket. Those are really convenient for making pasta and other dishes, and a bushel of greens cooks down into 4 baseball-sized frozen lumps.

Recently came across a product from the food company Alessi -- Farro with beets and spinach.  It's a dehydrated meal that you dump into boiling water, then simmer until the farro is tender, about 40 minutes.  The idea is to use the farro in place of risoto.  I tried a package and added a bunch more chard from the garden since it cooks down so compactly.  Very good!  I don't know what the additional spices are that Alessi added to the mix, but the standard garlic, onion, and a few other easy items to add for taste should not be too hard to reproduce.  Since I alsready keep a fair amount of farro available for breakfast cereal and a soup additive, I'm looking forward to this combo in the future along with the 'Butternut squash and Kale' version.

I didn’t read the whole thread…. Found this while looking for something else!

I bet you’re going to get more recipe ideas than you want to use in a few weeks time!

What I do when leafy greens are plentiful: chard kale beet greens spinach….

I wash them, shake the water off, then put in a freezer proof container or plastic bag.  I put the bag in the freezer when the leaves are frozen solid, I crunch them up with my hands.  They’re a lot more compact for storage.  They’re pre-chopped and recipe ready.  I remove the stems and midribs for separate use.

I guess not everyone has a freezer, or electricity!  Sorry I don’t have a more universal answer.  Drying would also postpone the abundance.  I buy dried nettles and dried spinach when fresh is not available.  Texture is changed, but it’s food.

Another idea:  saag panir uses LOTS of greens.  Have a party and feed people saag panir.  Or make saag panir and give it to other households!  Or, freeze the excess saag.  Add the panir later.

I have a cook book with a good recipe.  It requires that you make 2 different curry powders from scratch!  It’s a good recipe and I will post it if there’s interest.

Thekla McDaniels wrote:
I have a cook book with a good recipe.  It requires that you make 2 different curry powders from scratch!  It’s a good recipe and I will post it if there’s interest.

Hellooooo nurse!! I always like a good recipe for curry powders. You should post a "poly-greens" saag recipe thread!

Tereza, how did you know I am a retired nurse?🤷🏻‍♀️🤣

I will post recipe later today.

And here’s the cookbook!  Probable cheap used if the shipping isn’t outrageous.  35 pastes and spice blends.

How to make panir and yogurt.  It’s a complete course in Indian cooking!

Whoa!  I am on break,  inside.  Just thought I would look into this awesome book.  It must be out of print or something!  The used paper backs are around 50 US dollars!

I would rather have a physical book, but Amazon shows $1.99 on Kindle.

Recipe for warming spice blend, also called Punjabi Garam masala
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon whole cloves
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon cardamom seeds from black pods
Three cinnamon sticks each 3 inches long, broken into smaller pieces
Three fresh or dried bay leaves


Preheat a small skillet over medium high heat add all the spices and bay leaves and toast shaking the skillet every few seconds until coriander and cumin seeds turn reddish brown the Closed peppercorns and cardamom turn ash black, the cinnamon and bay leaves a pure brittle and crinkly and the mixture is highly fragrant. About 1 to 2 minutes.

Immediately transfer the nutty smelling spices to a plate to COOL. The longer they sit in the hot skillet the more likely they will burn making them bitter and unpalatable
Once they are cool to the touch, place them in a spice grinder and grind until the texture resembles that I’ve finally ground black pepper. If you don’t allow the spices to cool the ground blend will acquire unwanted moisture from the heat, making the final blend slightly kinky. The ground blend will be reddish brown and the aroma will be sweet and complex Store in a tightly sealed container away from excess light heat, and humidity for up to two months.

Recipe for coriander scented un toasted blend, also called Bin Bhuna Hua Garam masala

This blend is a perfectly acceptable alternative in any recipe that calls for a commercial curry powder

2 tablespoons coriander seeds,
1 teaspoon cumin, seeds,
1 teaspoon black peppercorns,
1/2 teaspoon whole cloves,
1/2 teaspoon cardamom seeds from green or white pods
2 dried bay leaves
three or four dried red thai or cayenne chilies stems removed, to taste, or 1 teaspoon cayenne ground red pepper

Place all the ingredients in a spice grinder and grind until the texture resembles that of finally ground black pepper

Store the mixture in a tightly sealed container for up to two months.
Authors note: refrigerating the blend adversely affects its flavors.

Saag Panir… now that you have your spice blends prepared! (saag might mean spinach.  Any greens are appropriate:  spinach, kale, chard, beet greens pak choi, etc

List of ingredients
2 tablespoons oil
one medium size red onion thinly sliced
Six medium size cloves garlic, coarsely, chopped

Four lengthwise slices of fresh ginger each 2 inches long 1 inch wide 1/8 inch inch thick, coarsely chopped
2 teaspoons Bin Bhuna
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 tablespoons tomato paste
At least 1 pound of fresh greens well rinsed and coarsely chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
1 1/4 pounds of Panir cut into 1 inch cubes and pan fried
1/2 cup cream
1/2 teaspoon Punjabi Garam masala

These are the directions:

Heat the oil in a large skillet
Add onion, garlic, and ginger and stirfry until the onion is light brown, 8 to 10 minutes.  

Remove skillet from heat, stirring in the Bin Bhuna Garam masala, and the turmeric.

Transfer the mixture to a blender jar add the tomato paste and a fourth of a cup of water. Purée scraping the inside of the jar as needed to form a smooth, reddish brown paste. Return the paste to the skillet add 3/4 of a cup of water to the blender jar and whir to wash it out.  Add the water to the skillet.

Place the skillet over medium heat, pile handfuls of the greens into the skillet. Cover it and let the steam wilt the greens. Stir and repeat with remaining greens. When they are all wilted, cover the skillet and cook stirring occasionally until the greens are broken down to a sauce like  consistency, and are olive green in color. About 10 to 15 minutes.

Stir in the salt, fried panir cubes cream and Punjabi Garam masala.   Continue simmering the curry, covered, stirring occasionally until the cheese and cream are warmed through, about 5 to 8 minutes.

Serve

Authors note: you’ll notice that I use two Garam masalas here in different ways. Initially you add the untoasted blend early on to make sure the raw spices cook, providing this first spice layering. Then you swirl in the toasted garam masala towards the end.  This blend is a finishing spice and does not need to cook since you already toasted it. This yields a second tier of flavors that are aromatic, smooth and assertive. Both blends contain similar spices, but what you did with them at various stages creates a complex tasting sauce.

At about 17:40 in the following video, Rick shows how to make chard-based Dzotobichay (ancient Mayan tamales). I prefer them with a lot more chard -- double or triple, and wilted before I mix it with the masa.

Chard makes an excellent gratin.

Cut stems and leaves into small pieces but keep them separate. Sauté the stems with some garlic until tender. Add the leaves and stir until wilted.

Sprinkle through a dash of flour, and stir through enough milk or cream to coat it all. Optionally sprinkle some cheese over the top, or a sprinkle of nutmeg or smoked paprika.

Bake until the top is lightly browned.

Also I definitely second the comments on saag paneer, and using it anywhere spinach is called for!

And there's a lovely recipe in "River Cottage Veg" for spiced spinach and potatoes, I've used chard in this and it's excellent - I think the recipe was basically: pre-cook the potatoes and set aside, sauté some onions, add some Indian spices, then some milk or cream, stir through the cooked potatoes until heated through, and then add chard and stir until cooked.

I'm surprised I did not answer this thread some years ago ...
When I have surplus green vegetables (whatever kind, including Chard), I use them in a 'Vegetable Quiche'.
You can probably find recipes for Quiches all over the internet. Take such a recipe, but add less meat (or no meat at all) and more green vegetables to the filling.

We take extra greens (like chard, kale, and mustard greens) and run them through the dehydrator.  Then grind them into a powder.
We add this powder to soups and sauces to boost the nutrition in the winter.

Our favorite way of cooking chard, which we grow in our garden every year:

Remove at least the thickest part of the chard stems (we usually strip the leaves from the stems, discarding most of the length of the stems and keeping only the tender enough tips)
Steam a potful of the chard (we use a butterfly steamer and steam at medium high for about 4-5 minutes).
While the chard is steaming, chop up a clove or two of garlic.  Set aside.
Remove chard from pot and roll it into a towel to squeeze out the moisture - doesn't need to be totally squeezed out, but enough to prevent moisture from oozing out when mixing it into the garlic butter mixture later.)
Then roll it out onto a cutting board.  Chop the chard one way, and then the other way (perpendicular) so you have about 1/2 inch to 1 inch size pieces.
Dump the water out of the hot pan and add plenty butter in to melt - we like to brown it a tad.  
Then add the chopped garlic to the butter and stir fry a minute or so.
Then dump the chard back in and mix thoroughly.
Serve with shredded Parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!

Another idea.  Saute and use it instead of pasta with your favorite pasta sauce.

I don’t wring the moisture out of sautéed or steamed greens because the vitamins and minerals travel with the moisture.  If you want the greens to be dryer, save the moisture you wring out to add to broth soup gravy etc.

At our house, it gets sauteyed with a bit of butter and salt and limey juice, we eat it and then drink the pot liquor