A Really Delicious (and Pretty) Swiss Chard Salad

Well, I had a baby at the end of May. I spent weeks just staring at her perfect little face, napping and soaking it up, sustained and nurtured by spectacular meals made and delivered by friends and family. It works like this: you have a baby, and someone, like your sister, calls up all your friends and invites them to prepare you a meal and deliver it on a particular day. That means your baby-admiring visitors come one at a time, and when they do, it's the best thing ever. We ate handmade sushi one night and baked macaroni and cheese with freshly baked bread the next,  followed by stuffed pork chops with grilled vegetables, chicken cacciatore, Thai curry, roasted ham and vegetables.....

There was so much love in that food. I never wanted to cook again. Thankfully. two months later, I'm regaining my passion for the kitchen. It helps to have a weekly box of lovely vegetables delivered to me from my friend Sarah's new farm. Like many gardens in the Valley, hers produces lots of beautiful Swiss Chard.

I love Rainbow chard braised with lots of garlic and caramelized onions, but I'm always a little disappointed that the brilliance of its orange, pale green and red stems fades with cooking. Chard is slightly challenging as a raw salad green when it's mature, which is why the dressing I make for this is extra scrumptious.  It's a big gorgeous salad with lots of extra yummy things that make it just right for your next summer barbecue, or to bring to a new mother. ❤

Pretty Delicious Swiss Chard Salad 

1 bunch rainbow Swiss Chard, washed and cut into ribbons
1/2 cup crumbled Feta
1/4 cup chopped Almonds
1/2 cup slivered Red Onion
A big handful of Raspberries
1/4 cup dried Cranberries

Spread the chard on a large platter and arrange the feta, almonds, red onion, raspberries and cranberries on top.  Drizzle with lots of the dressing just before serving and toss gently.

Dressing:

1/4 cup Maple Syrup
1/4 cup Olive Oil
1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar
1 teaspoon Salt
2 teaspoons Grainy Mustard
1 clove Garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground Black Pepper
Shake all the ingredients together in a jar with a tight fitting lid.

Greek Vegetable Sauté

Happiness to me is cupboards full of all the ingredients I like to cook with, a variety of vegetables in the refrigerator, and a freezer stocked with good meat.  Not everyone in the world can buy quality locally grown meat as easily as we can in the Annapolis Valley.  Aside from the excellent meat shops like Meadowbrook Meat Market and Oulton's, many of us are also lucky enough to have neighbours with free range chickens, homegrown pigs, rabbits and lambs who like to share.
So this night, we had some beautiful lamb chops from our friends Stephanie and Austin (the kind of wonderfully generous friends that we should all have).  I followed a Mediterranean-inspired Gourmet recipe for the chops and wanted a side dish that would cover both the carbohydrate and vegetable aspects of our meal.  This dish combines a few of my favourite things; spinach, tomatoes and garlic; with sweet onions and sharp feta cheese.  In the coming weeks, local spinach and hothouse tomatoes will become more readily available, just in time for you make this simple and delicious dish.

This time last year: Corned Beef with Winter Vegetables

Greek Vegetable Sauté
Although we served this alongside lamb chops, this would also be lovely on its own for supper or to take to a potluck!  It's just as nice at room temperature as it is hot.

3 small Potatoes, diced
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Onion, diced  (1 cup)
1 large clove Garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons Salt
1/2 bunch Swiss Chard, sliced into ribbons
4  cups Spinach, chopped
3 Plum Tomatoes, diced in 1/2" pieces
1/2 Lemon
1/4 cup crumbled Feta Cheese (I love Holmestead)


Place the potatoes in a small pot and cover with cold water.  Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer until tender, 10-15 minutes, then drain.  Meanwhile, in your largest sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add the onions and stir often until they are tender and beginning to brown.  Stir in the potato cubes, garlic, Swiss chard and salt.  Add a few tablespoonfuls of water and cover the pan to steam the chard until it is tender, about five minutes.  Uncover, add the spinach and tomatoes and toss until the spinach is wilted and liquid has evaporated.  Pile into a serving dish and squeeze the lemon juice over the sauté, then sprinkle with the crumbled feta.

Autumn Pizza

Every Thursday morning at the Cafe I bake batches of Focaccia Bread.  It's a soft, wet dough that bakes into a spongy, chewy bread full of holes and fragrant with olive oil and rosemary.  We cut it into large squares and stuff them with chicken and roasted vegetables, or split them and layer the halves with ham, apples and cheddar.  They also stand in nicely when we run out of hamburger buns, an inevitability on busy weekends.  More often than not we mix up an extra batch of dough for pizzas.  We let our imaginations run wild, usually inspired by a quart of just-picked strawberries, a bagful of fresh herbs, or a bowl brimming with colourful heirloom tomatoes.  We're incredibly lucky.  Many of Union Street Cafe's present and past staff are gardeners.  And all the gardeners I know, especially my Dad, grow way too much for their own use.  So in through the kitchen door it comes, in bags and baskets and boxes: truly seasonal inspiration. And always gratefully received.
 This time last year: Kid Friendly Meals

Roasted Squash and Sausage Pizza with Greens
Here is last week's creation!  Feel free to sub in pita or pre-made crust if you don't want to bother making your own.  Just bake until the cheese is beginning to brown.

1 small Butternut Squash, peeled and cut in small dice
2 T. Olive Oil
1/2 t. Salt
1/2 recipe Focaccia Bread (make the dough and let rise)
generous 1/2 C. Alfredo Sauce, optional
1 bunch Rainbow Swiss Chard, chopped and steamed until tender, or 1 recipe Greens with Caramelized Onions
1 lb. Sweet Italian Sausage, cooked and sliced thinly (try Meadowbrook's in the Valley)
2 C. shredded Mozzarella
2 T. freshly grated Parmesan Cheese

Preheat the oven to 400°.  Toss the squash with the olive oil and salt and spread onto a baking sheet.  Roast for 20-30 minutes, until squash is tender and beginning to brown.  Leave the oven on.  Prepare the focaccia dough and gently press into a generously oiled 13x18" pan.  I find this easiest to do in two or three stages, as the dough resists stretching and needs time to rest in between efforts.  Spread the dough with the the Alfredo sauce.  Top with the squash, the chard, and sausage.  Sprinkle with the mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.  Bake for 15-25 minutes, until the cheese is bubbling and beginning to brown.

November Harvest

It's getting to that time of year when you know it's all about to change. You may not know when, but it's coming. I've made my tire appointment, we've already burned through a noticeable quantity of firewood, and for a good two weeks before the clocks changed, the kids got on the bus in the dark.

Leaves have changed, been admired, and shaken themselves free.  Giant bonfires of scraped-together cornstalks one night yielded a gorgeous and surreal autumn vista by morning: smoke hanging low over the Valley floor and all the colour and orange-gold light. In the garden, I'm still harvesting kale, swiss chard and broccoli and wondering how I'll find the time to plant the garlic. I can still pick raspberries a few at a time, and if I looked really hard, I could find a sound tomato. Still, it's after Halloween and long past the first pumpkin pie.
 Last week, we ordered piles of last-of-season greens, beets and herbs from Katrina Fairn and Angie Schoonhoven. I'm sad to let this connection go for the winter, we've had such a good time at the Berwick Farmer's Market and I miss it. I'm wondering when it's going to get cold and stay cold.

Fall and winter are cozy time for me in the restaurant. In the summer, when we're sweating to death and wondering why in hell anyone would order French Onion soup, it's hard to remember that the kitchen can be such a welcoming place come cooler weather.

I'm looking forward to the dishes we cook for the holiday season: Carrots baked in Honey and Butter, Turnip with Garlic Cream, Sweet Potatoes and Maple Syrup, and Roasted Vegetables of all kinds, including Parsnips, Celeriac, and Beets. For now, though, I'm hanging on to end of fall. I made this dish for Sean and I a few nights ago, it's just the kind of thing when you have your foot firmly in two seasons at once.

Roasted Butternut Squash with Greens and Sausage serves 4

1 small Butternut Squash, peeled, seeded and chopped

2 T. Olive Oil

Salt

1 Onion, diced

2 cloves Garlic, minced

16 C. mixed Chopped Kale, Swiss Chard, or any kind of greens

1/2 lb. Cooked Sausage, cut in rounds (or substitute 6-8 oz Smoked Tofu, cut in strips)

Green Tomato Pickles or PC Fig and Balsamic Sauce

Preheat the oven to 350°. On a baking sheet, toss the squash and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil together with a little salt. Roast for 20-25 minutes, stirring after ten minutes, until fully softened and browned. Set aside. Meanwhile, heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook for ten minutes or so, stirring often, until they are soft and caramelized. Fire in the garlic, kale and ½ t. salt. Stir and cook for a minute, then add ¼ C. water and cover. Cook for five minutes covered, then and add the chard or other greens and cover again. Cook for five minutes, until the greens are nearly softened, then uncover and add the sausage or smoked tofu. Toss and cook until the water has evaporated and the sausage is heated through. Divide the squash amongst four plates, then pile the greens on top and grind on some pepper. This is amazing served with homemade pickles, but if your auntie won't share with you, the fig sauce is rather good on top.

Kale and Swiss Chard

Kale and Swiss Chard are among the most beautiful of vegetables. Sold in enormous bunches, and in a multitude of gorgeous colours, these greens practically jump into your market bag (they do look stylish jauntily peeking out of there). It's only when you get home that you go "uh-oh! What was I thinking, buying this many greens?" Well, if you are crazy healthy like my two good friends named Melissa and Melyssa, you put them in a smoothie and head back the next week for more. However, the rest of us may want to dress it up a little, or at least cook it. Luckily, it's easy.

Greens with Caramelized Onions
1 T. Olive Oil
1 large Onion, sliced or diced
2 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 bunch Swiss Chard or Kale, chopped (stems are most welcome, but separate them from the leaves and chop them)
Salt and Pepper
Optional: Balsamic Vinegar, Raisins, Dried Cherries, Feta, Parmesan Cheese

Heat your largest pan over medium heat and add the olive oil and onions. Stir and cook for at least ten minutes, until onions have softened and are browned in spots. You may add a little water from time to time if the onions are sticking. Turn the heat to high and stir in the garlic and stems. Saute for a minute. If you're using kale, add the chopped leaves at this point and about 1/4 C. water. Cover and cook for about five minutes, until kale is tender. If using Swiss Chard, the water isn't necessary. Just add the leaves and stir until wilted. In either case, season to taste with salt and pepper. If you like, add a sprinkle of balsamic vinegar, and/or a small amount of any or all of the suggested toppings!


Chicken Penne with Raspberries and Greens

1 batch Greens with Caramelized Onions
1 C. Whipping Cream
1/2 C. Apple Cider (optional, I love Boates)
1 lb. Penne or your favourite pasta, cooked
2 C. cooked chicken, diced or shredded
1 pint Raspberries
Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese and Chopped Parsley

Prepare the greens in your largest pan, then stir in the cream and cider if using. Bring to a boil over medium high heat and let bubble for a minute. Stir in the pasta and chicken. Cover and cook for about five minutes, until sauce has thickened and pasta is nicely coated. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and divide among 6 bowls. Garnish with the raspberries and sprinkle with the parmesan cheese and parsley.