When cooking swiss chard, you need to treat the stems and leaves as two different ingredients that require different cooking times. Start the stems first since they take 2 to 3 minutes longer to get tender. Add the leaves at the end and they will wilt in under a minute for the perfect texture every time.
I cook swiss chard at least twice a week during growing season and have tested many methods over my years in the kitchen. The best results come from sauteing with garlic and olive oil in a hot pan. This brings out a mild earthy flavor that goes with almost any main dish you want to serve at dinner.
To prepare swiss chard for cooking, rinse the leaves under cold water to remove any dirt or bugs from your garden. Cut the stems away from the leaves and chop them into half inch pieces. Stack the leaves and slice them into ribbons about one inch wide for even cooking across the batch.
The stems contain fiber that makes them tough when raw but turns tender with proper heat application. Start by adding your chopped stems to a hot pan with oil and cook them for 2 to 3 minutes until they start to soften. Then add your leaf ribbons and toss everything together until the greens wilt down.
Many cooks throw away the stems but this wastes the best crunchy part of the whole plant. I love the texture the stems add to my dishes when I cook them right. They taste a bit like celery and hold up well in stir fries and soups where you want some bite in every spoonful.
Steaming works great when you want to keep your chard bright and crisp for simple side dishes. Put the stems in your steamer basket first and let them go for two minutes before adding the leaves on top. The whole batch will be ready in under four minutes total from start to finish.
My favorite way to cook chard is to braise the stems in chicken broth with garlic and red pepper flakes for heat. The stems soak up the broth flavors and turn soft without getting mushy at all. I add the leaves right at the end and serve it all over rice or crusty bread for a filling meal.
Young tender leaves from your garden can go straight into salads without any cooking at all when you want raw greens. They taste mild like spinach and add great color to your bowl of mixed greens. Pick leaves smaller than your hand for the best raw eating since bigger leaves get tough and bitter tasting.
Looking for easy swiss chard recipes to try at home this week? Start with a simple saute of garlic, stems, and leaves finished with lemon juice and salt. Or toss wilted chard with pasta, parmesan cheese, and toasted pine nuts for a quick weeknight meal the whole family will love.
When I first started cooking chard, I threw everything in the pan at once like a beginner. This gave me mushy leaves with crunchy raw stems every single time. Learning to stage the cooking changed everything and made chard one of my favorite greens to grow and eat.
Once you learn to cook the stems and leaves at different times, you will enjoy this garden green much more than before. The key is to never add them together or your stems stay tough while your leaves turn to mush. Keep them separate until the stems get a head start and you win every time in the kitchen.
Read the full article: How to Grow Swiss Chard Successfully
