Swiss Chard - How very New Brunswick

By Mike Hawkins

We didn't grow a whole lot in our garden this year.

That's not to say we didn't try, it's just that not a whole lot grew.  It's now early September and our tomatoes are still the size of a grape, but sadly not grape tomatoes. Our pumpkin plant has lovely flowers but a little lacking in pumpkin. My poblano pepper plant has produced a couple of golf ball-sized peppers.  Unfortunately they should be about a foot long.

  Of the things that did work, we have a lot of fabulous fresh herbs and an incredibly good crop of Swiss chard.

  My wife and I fell in love with Swiss chard last summer after buying a big bunch of it at the Kingston Farmer's Market, then putting it to use in a variety of dishes.  We scoured the Internet for ideas and info on Swiss chard and came across a lot of great uses for it, as well as good information about the plant.

   Nutrition-wise, Swiss chard is a lot like it's relatives in the beet family and contains a lot of vitamins, minerals and proteins.  Like most greens, it packs a lot of good into every leaf.

   As for uses, one piece of advice we found is that chard can simply be used in the same way as spinach. Cooked, it has a more delicate flavour than spinach so this might be a good entry-level cooked green for the kids if you don't want to wallop them with spinach.  

   I've been known to just saute the chopped leaves with a little garlic and olive oil.  It's very popular in Italy and the rest of the Mediterannean so any influence from that region will likely work well with chard.  My wife loves chard in a simple vegetable soup as it adds great flavour, colour and even texture.

   One of my favourite uses for it though, is in a simple mashed potato.  The humble potato gets a huge boost in colour, flavour and nutrition from a few leaves of chard.  Cooked in the same water as the potatoes, it's a very easy preparation as well.

Mashed potatoes with Swiss chard

4 Russet or Yukon Gold Potatoes (or more or less as needed)

4 big leaves of Swiss chard

salt

Fresh ground black pepper

couple knobs of butter

Peel and chop the potatoes into quarters (or eighths if they're huge).  Coarsely chop the leaves of chard and set aside.  If your chard is the larger, darker green variety with sturdy stems, then set aside the stems separately from the rest of the chopped chard.   Bring a generously salted pot of water to the boil and slide in your potatoes.  Reduce heat and simmer for about seven minutes then add the stems to the water.  Cook for another five minutes, then add the rest of the chopped chard leaves.  Cook another five minutes and check the doneness of the potato.  If tender, drain everything with a fine collander and then mash well.  Season with salt, pepper and mash in the butter.  Keep warm and serve.