Moroccan chard

All the nutritional benefits of Swiss chard are captured in this lightly sautéed, flavourful dish. The recipe produces enough for one person, therefore, you should increase the quantities in accordance with the number of adults who will be eating.

Moroccan chard

                                                                                   Yield: 1 serving

Sliced chard stems and leaves,
paprika, cayenne, cumin
and lemon

Ingredients:

2 large chard leaves with stalks, washed

1 small cloves of garlic, minced

1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

¼ cup vegetable or poultry stock

 large pinch of fresh ground black pepper

 large pinch of ground cumin

 large pinch of ground paprika

 large pinch of ground red (cayenne) pepper

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Preparation:

1.  Slice the stems away from the washed chard leaves. Slice the stems crosswise, into 1 cm. (smaller than ½ in.) slices.

2. Slice the leaves crosswise, to produce strips about 1 cm. (less than ½ in.) wide.

2.  In a saute pan, heat the olive oil and add the minced garlic. Stir and cook until the garlic releases its fragrance. 

3. Add the sliced chard stems and vegetable or chicken stock. Reduce heat to simmer. Cook for 3 minutes..

4. Add spices. Stir and cook for 1 minute.

5. Add sliced leaves. Stir until leaves are wilted. Cover and simmer for 1 minute. Remove the cover and continue cooking for 2 minutes. 

6. Remove from heat and turn out into a small bowl. Sprinkle with lemon juice.

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Swiss chard omelette

The whole Swiss chard leaf is used in this omelette. Because fibre is essential for a healthy dietary, reserved stems from other chard leaves are added to bulk up the fibre content.

Swiss chard omelette

Fibre is a complex carbohydrate composed of a sugar molecule attached to other non-sugar molecules. Most dietary fibre is indigestible. Of that portion which is soluble, the carbohydrate released is not the type that provides energy. Rather, it is pectin, which is good for your heart.

            Yield: 1 omelette

Clockwise: Swiss chard leaf and
 sliced stalks, eggs, garlic,
and celeriac stalks

Ingredients:

1 Swiss chard stalk 

2 celeriac stalks, leaves intact

1 garlic clove, peeled, minced

small handful chopped Swiss chard stalks

2 eggs, whipped

2 tablespoons tomato salsa

2 tablespoons tomato paste

        ¼ teaspoon ghee

¼ teaspoon coconut oil

1 tablespoon Balkan yoghurt

Preparation:

1. Wash and spin dry vegetables. 

2. Remove central stalk from Swiss chard leaf. Clean 3 or 4 other Swiss chard stalks. Thinly slice Swiss chard stalks to produce a quantity of about 1 cup. Reserve.

3. Slice celeriac stalks and leaves in the same manner. Reserve.

4. In a non-stick saute pan over low heat, cook minced garlic in melted ghee and coconut oil until it releases fragrance ( about 1 minute). Add sliced Swiss chard stalks and celeriac stalk slices. Saute for about 5 minutes.

Swiss chard stalks, celeriac stalks, and garlic in saute pan

5.Raise heat to medium. Pour in whipped eggs. 

6. Slice Swiss chard leaves crosswise into 1 cm. (½-in.) strips. In a separate pot with steaming basket, lightly steam slice chard for about 1 minute. Remove from heat. Place steamed Swiss chard slices in a separate covered bowl.

Sliced Swiss chard leaf

7. Cook omelette until egg is almost set. Slide a spatula around the rim of the omelette to prevent adherence. Shake the pan to ensure that omelette is loose. Flip omelette over to cook the top side for a few minutes. 

Flip omelette over again. Spread steamed Swiss chard over half of the omelette. Fold the uncovered omelette half over the steamed Swiss chard. Lift onto a serving plate.

8. Add salsa to tomato paste. Stir. Add tomato paste and yoghurt to serving plate.

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Borscht No. 1

Admit it. This is what you've been waiting for. Borscht! Beautiful, filling, delightful borscht: the Monarch of Soups.

Er, okay...maybe not. But it is delicious.

Borscht No. 1

                                                        Yield: 6 - 8 servings

This borscht requires the use of black garlic which lends a somewhat beefy flavour to the broth.

Borscht with soured cream

Ingredients:

4 small beets, about 3 - 5 cm. (1.5 - 2") in diameter

1 carrot

1 medium-sized red potato

1/2 cup red onion, diced

1 cup grated purple cabbage

2 cloves black garlic, finely chopped

4 sprigs fresh dill

3 - 5 cups chicken stock or water from steaming vegatables

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar or lemon juice

freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup commercial soured cream

Beets, carrot, potato, black garlic and purple cabbage

Preparation:

1. Thoroughly scrub beets, potato and carrot under running water to remove sand and debris. Remove any wilted or discoloured tops and roots. Place whole beets in the basket of a food steamer or pressure cooker. Steam vegetables. If using a pressure cooker, follow the user manual. Otherwise, when a fork can easily pierce a beet to the centre, turn heat off. Remove vegetables to a heat-proof container and set aside to cool. Reserve fluid from steamer to use in this borscht preparation, or else store for later use.

Steam rises off the beets, carrot
 and potato cooked in a pressure cooker

2. When beets, potato and carrot are cool enough to handle, slip the peels away. Dice. Reserve. 

Diced beets, carrot and potato

3. Place peeled and diced red onion in the soup pot together with diced black garlic, whole sprigs of dill and 3 cups of chicken stock (or the liquid of your choice). cover. Bring to boil, then reduce heat to simmer for 5 minutes.

Black garlic and fresh dill

4.  Add diced beets, potato and carrot. Bring to boil, then reduce heat to simmer for 5 minutes to enable flavours to mingle.

5. Add grated purple cabbage. Raise to boiling point, then reduce heat to simmer for 10 minutes.

Purple cabbage cooking in the beet mixture

6. Remove from heat. Add freshly ground black pepper to your taste. Add red wine vinegar or lemon juice. Stir.

7. Ladle into bowls. Top each bowl of borscht with a tablespoon of soured cream.

You will want second servings. 

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