SWISS CHARD PIE
This rich and savory pie will serve 6 to 8 as a side dish or 4 to 6 as an entrée
1 bunch swiss chard
1 teaspoon or more of fresh, chopped garlic
1 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon EACH dried basil, oregano, salt to taste
½ teaspoon EACH dried thyme, black pepper
2 eggs, beaten
½ cup grated romano or other strong flavored cheese
Method: Line a nine inch pie plate with whole wheat pastry crust. Strip stems from chard and steam or boil for about three minutes…or until just wilted. Drain well and chop coarsely. Sauté onion and garlic until golden. Add the chard and herb seasonings.
Remove from heat and add the eggs and grated cheese; mix well and then turn immediately into the prepared pie crust..
Place the top crust on the pie…cut vents or slits in crust.
Place pie into a preheated 350f oven and bake until brown and bubbly…about 45 minutes.
Notes: You may add up to one cup of other cooked vegetables, tofu, or meat to the above pie. You may also substitute other types of cooked, leafy greens for chard.
………………….OR…………………
You may make this dish as a chard ‘gratin’ by cooking the filling without the pastry in an oiled 8 inch baking dish. Sprinkle top of gratin with cheese, oiled bread crumbs, and/or chopped raw nuts such as walnuts.
Bake in a preheated 350 oven for about 25 minutes or until bubbly.
Chard
The word Swiss was used to distinguish chard from French spinach varieties by nineteenth century seed catalog publishers. The chard is very popular among Mediterranean cooks. The first varieties have been traced back to Sicily.
Chard can be harvested while the leaves are young and tender or after maturity when they are larger and have slightly tougher stems. Chard is extremely perishable.
Chard has shiny green ribbed leaves, with stems that range from white to yellow and red depending on the cultivar. It has a slightly bitter taste. Fresh young chard can be used raw in salads. Mature chard leaves and stalks are typically cooked or sauteed; the bitter flavor fades with cooking.
Cultivars of chard include green forms, such as 'Lucullus' and 'Fordhook Giant', as well as red-ribbed forms such as 'Ruby Chard', 'Rainbow Chard', and 'Rhubarb Chard'. Chard and the other beets are chenopods, a group which is either its own family Chenopodiaceae or a subfamily within the Amaranthaceae.
Nutrition and Preparation
Notes and Observations
For 2009, we're planting Golden, Rhubard and White organic seeds from Seeds of Change.Seeds will be planted in early June with the first leaves harvested in late July.
We like to plant all three types together to give their row in the garden a rainbow appearance.
Here in the mountains the chard plants flourish even in freezing temperatures throughout the July through October growing season with a minimum of care.Just regular water and full sun is all they need as they quickly out grow any competing weeds.
We harvest the outer leaves from smaller plants.When the plant is mature we justcut the whole plant about an inch from the soil which causes it to sprout even more plants from the base.
We like to plant all three types together to give their row in the garden a rainbow appearance.
Here in the mountains the chard plants flourish even in freezing temperatures throughout the July through October growing season with a minimum of care.Just regular water and full sun is all they need as they quickly out grow any competing weeds.
We harvest the outer leaves from smaller plants.When the plant is mature we justcut the whole plant about an inch from the soil which causes it to sprout even more plants from the base.