I’ve got a problem with dark green leafy vegetables. (There. I said it.)
I can “do” spinach. But…just mention the word kale and I…er… turn green. Collard greens? Don’t even go there. Ever.
Chard, however, has always been a leafy green vegetable that straddles the line for me—greener than most but not quite (gasp!) kale. Chard is pretty, too–particularly rainbow chard. Pretty is important in food in my opinion. (Oh, no! Did that “pretty” remark make me sound shallow?)
I am forever grateful to my friend Carole who turned me on to chard. She used to bring me bags of glorious chard fresh from her neighbor’s community garden.
So, I was delighted to find this recipe for Chard With Tomatoes and Green Olives in Yotam Ottolenghi’s latest cookbook, Flavor.
There is a whole lot of good stuff going on with this recipe. The chard is gently sautéed in olive oil. The stems are separated from the leaves and become a separate crunchy component of the dish. Then there is the wow factor in the dish—tomatoes slow sautéed in a garlic and onion sauce and then poured over the sautéed chard. The whole dish is further enhanced by a bit of lemon, fresh basil chiffonade and…wait for it…green olives.
This dish is served at room temperature. I served it in a salad bowl with sliced freshly-roasted beets and a scoop of cottage cheese. The possibilities with this dish are endless.
Did I mention that it is pretty?
Chard With Tomatoes And Green Olives
Ingredients
- 14 oz. chard (red stemmed or rainbow--stems separated and cut into 2 1/2 inch lengths, leaves chopped)
- 1 t. olive oil (plus 1/2 cup for sautéing onions)
- 5 garlic cloves (thinly sliced)
- 1 small onion (finely chopped)
- 2 strips of lemon peel
- 1 T. fresh lemon juice
- 2-3 fresh oregano sprigs
- 2-3 ripe plum tomatoes (diced)
- Salt and black pepper
- 3/4 C. green olives (pitted and sliced in half)
- 1/4 C. fresh basil leaves (roughly torn)
Directions
- Step 1 Heat 1 t. olive oil in a large sauté pan. Add chard stalks to hot oil and sauté for 4 minutes. Add chopped chard leaves and sauté for 3 minutes until the leaves are just cooked. Spoon this mixture into a large glass bowl and cover the bowl with a plate. Set aside and let the chard soften in the residual heat for about 3 minutes. Remove plate. Set aside.
- Step 2 In the same pan (wiped clean), heat 6 T. oil over medium heat. Add the garlic, onion, lemon peel and oregano sprigs to the pan and gently fry (stirring often) for 12 minutes. You want the onion to become soft and to begin to color. You need to watch the heat so that your garlic doesn’t burn and become bitter.
- Step 3 Add the tomatoes, 1/2 t. salt and some freshly-ground black pepper to the pan with the onion mixture. Cook this mixture for several minutes until the tomatoes begin to soften. Stir the cooked chard, chard stems and olives into this mixture. Remove from heat and let the dish sit on the counter for a few minutes for the flavors to marry.
- Step 4 Before serving, discard the strips of lemon peel and the oregano sprigs. Arrange the vegetables on a platter. You will want to use a platter with raised sides because you will have a fair amount of delicious oil to serve with this dish. Drizzle the dish with remaining 2 T. of olive oil and the lemon juice. Scatter torn basil leaves decoratively over this dish and top with a grind of fresh pepper.
