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Swiss chard is a healthful, mild green that's generally available from spring through fall. Some hounds like to blanch chard before sautéing or otherwise cooking, while others find chard mild and tender enough that it needs no blanching. If you choose to blanch, put the stems in boiling water and allow it to come back to a boil; after 2 minutes, add the leaves, bring the water back to a boil again, and blanch for 2 minutes more, then drain the chard and rinse with cold water, instructs GretchenS.
shaebones blanches Swiss chard and mixes it with caramelized onions, garlic, and crushed red pepper sautéed in olive oil. "I really love chard in a sweet/savory sort of combo with golden raisins, pine nut, and tomato," says sarahe1. "It is kind of Sicilian-inspired, and totally dynamite with fish!" "I eat it for breakfast at least twice a week," says CarrieWas218, "sautéed with a bit of butter and once wilted, I scramble it with eggs and sometimes a little Parmesan cheese. Great way to get more greens in my diet!"
thursday thinks CHOW's Winter Greens Lasagne is lovely, and prefers to make it with lots of garlic. This Swiss chard, raisin, and pine nut tart is "the absolute best chard recipe I have ever tried," says Isolda. She uses lemon instead of orange in the tart, and replaces the cream with 1/2 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese.
Chard's stems are good eating; slice them as you would celery and start cooking them a few minutes before you add the chopped-up leaves, suggests GretchenS. Or you can remove the stems and save them for a different recipe, says erica, who likes Marcella Hazan's sautéed Swiss chard stalks with olive oil, garlic, and parsley. erica also likes to blanch the stems and stack them in a baking dish with olive oil or butter and grated Parmesan cheese, then bake at 400ºF for about a half hour.
Discuss: How to cook Swiss chard
I have a fond recollection of swiss chard at home as I grew up. My mom would thoroughly wash then cook the chard in a pressure cooker (yeah, I know - overkill, but she was cooking it, not me), then let it cool, drain it, run it through a grinder and put it in a saucepan. She would then season it with salt, pepper, and ground nutmeg, add 1/4 cup of red wine vinegar, reduced to half, and a good...+READ
I have a fond recollection of swiss chard at home as I grew up. My mom would thoroughly wash then cook the chard in a pressure cooker (yeah, I know - overkill, but she was cooking it, not me), then let it cool, drain it, run it through a grinder and put it in a saucepan. She would then season it with salt, pepper, and ground nutmeg, add 1/4 cup of red wine vinegar, reduced to half, and a good handful of grated parmesan. She would then put it in a baking dish, top with another good handful of parmesan and put it in the oven to bake at 350 or so until the top was lightly browned and the chard was bubbly. Absolutely KILLER. Or maybe it's because most kids love stuff that their mom made. I still remember how awesome it was, though it's a bit labor intensive for me now.-COLLAPSE
Though I've never used the stems, I will after reading the comments above. I do not blanch the greens, just steam them for four minutes in the water that remains on them after washing along with garlic and balsamic vinegar for 4 minutes. This is a wonderful vegetable for home gardens. It's also a nice accent plant for the flower garden.