Swiss Chard

Today I went for grocery shopping with a very good friend of mine, Sheela. She introduced me to this huge green vegetable called Swiss Chard. I had never eaten that before. She shared her recipe with me , so I got a bunch for myself.

The stems were of different colors: red or yellow or white.

I googled a bit about chard, and found that it is very popular among Mediterranean cousine. It is also known by few other names like silver beet , spinach beet, etc. Swiss Chard is high in vitamin A, K, C . Also rich in minerals, fiber and protein.

So I guess I shall buy it more often now. Thanks to Sheela. :)

So here's the recipe for you all :

Ingredients:

• Swiss Chard - 1 bunch
• Olive oil - 1 tbsp
• Fresh Garlic - 2 cloves
• Salt -to taste
• Black Pepper Powder - to taste

Directions:

• wash the leaves thoroughly and pat them dry with a paper towel.
• It has thick stems which can be little difficult to cook, hence separate the leaves from the stem.
• Do not throw the stems , it is edible. Save it for another dish ( Swiss Chard Stem Fries )
• Chop the leaves and keep aside.
• Chop the upper part of the stem which are thin and tender. That can be used in this dish. Chop them fine and keep aside.
• Heat a pan, add olive oil. Add those chopped stems first because it needs little more time to cook. Saute them till they are tender.
• Add chopped garlic then add chopped chard leaves.
• Add salt and pepper, toss them well and let it cook till done.

That's it !! Simple . You can eat this dish as is or use it in pasta dish or as side dish.

Variation: I did a little variation to this recipe to suit my taste buds. I added 1/2 tsp of red chilli pepper flakes and 1 tbsp of crispy fried onion flakes along with chopped garlic and that tasted good too.