merlot a few nights ago..now for the Chard...green that is..

Ok, NOW we are getting into "hippie" territory for all of you hippie-phobes who have yet to make the granola from the other day.


Be prepared to go out of you comfort zone for this one.


I made a side of Sauteed Green Chard for dinner last night to compliment my Kentucky pork chops.


I know you are all thinking: "Wait!! I want the pork chops recipe instead of the damn leafy green hippie chard recipe"


Sorry, No can do.
It was a Dream Dinners item.  


Now,We can go on and on about Dream Dinners pros/cons. 
Here's my 2 sentence (ok, maybe 4 sentence) overall feeling.

I work full time and I drop AND pick up the kids..and I make dinners..and I do laundry...and I clean the house...and the trim the rose bushes....wait, this should be for another blog...point is. I'm crazy busy...or just crazy?


--side story: I was getting Grant dressed for bed before I ran off to Bikram yoga the other day. Here's our conversation:


Grant to me: "Mom, why are you going to yoga?"


me to G: "Because I like it"


Puzzled at my answer, he replies: "Dad told Miss Kathleen(our neighbor and dear friend) going to yoga makes you crazy.'


Laughing, I tell him: "Oh, Dad probably said that going to yoga makes me LESS crazy."


Getting back to that point: I have a VERY small window of time when I get home before my kids are starring into the pantry looking for a "snack", which, inevitably, ruins whatever dinner I attempt to make. Dream dinners brings variety into my menu and it's totally convenient and IS better than any frozen Beratolli (sp?) "quick meal".  I use it to supplement our dinners...and I don't think it's any more expensive that going to the grocery store to make the same item. May even be less. 


Enough about that.
Here's what they looked like (picture from Dream Dinners)





At the moment when I was assembling the pork chops during the Dream Dinners session, I was thinking that I probably could remember the recipe; however....there seems to be a short in my super-mom memory recall function as of late and I have absolutely no idea. 


There was a dry rub, and then a wet sauce.


Perhaps next time I'll snap a picture of the recipe with my phone....


Damn! Why is Hindsight always 20/20?




And, I"ll just tell you. They were FANTASTIC. Had a little kick




So now for the Chard:


For those unfamiliar with Chard let's learn a few things together:



1) it's classified by the color of it's stalk:
white, red, green, or rainbow (combo of all 3)


2) The smaller the leaves, the sweeter the taste (mine were HUGE--ugh oh)


3) Can be stored in the refrigerator for 3 days in a bag.


4) Small leaves can be cooked with the stems attached. Larger leaves should be separated from the stems, which should be given a few minutes’ head start when cooking. 


5) Chard can be stirred into stews and soups, blanched, or sautéed.




I thought I wanted to sautee it...but didn't know exactly what to do with it...
I'm looked up a quick recipe on my Iphone app (allrecipes.com) and found this one


I mean, it had bacon in it, so that would:


A) make it"less hippie" for Brent
B) Guarantee that it would be good


Now for the recipe:




Sauteed Green Chard


4 slices of bacon, chopped
2 TBS butter
3 TBS fresh lemon juice
1/2 tea garlic paste
1 bunch Swiss chard, stems removed and leaves cut into 1 -nch pieces
salt and pepper to taste




1) Heat Skillet over medium heat
2) Place chopped bacon in the skillet and cook 


Note: I drained fat from the bacon and added a little chicken broth--maybe 1/3 cup?)
3) Melt butter in skillet
4) Add the swiss chard to butter mixture
5) When leaves begin to wilt, place a cover on the skillet
6) Cook covered for about 4 minutes covered
7) Stir swiss chard and salt and pepper to taste






It was good!!! Actually, It was really good.
I'm totally going to start cooking with it!!!


Serve with pork chops (and I made roasted fingerling potatoes)


And you MUST


Pour a Chard with your Chard.