Receta Sauted Swiss Chard with Bacon, Raisins and Pine Nuts
SRC Post for November: A Swiss Chard Recipe—Seriously delicious so keep reading!
Here is my fifth posting with Secret Recipe Club. This club, hosted by Amanda, Angela, Tami, Tina, and Jane, is a great way to expand your foodie horizons and explore different blogs. The premise is that you will be assigned a “secret pal,” you explore your new friend’s site, and then secretly bake or cook away with one of your new pal’s recipes.
I don’t know how I get so lucky. Every single one of my SRC assignments has been absolutely foodie fabulous! November is no different. Thanks Amanda for my newest secret pal: Aimee at From Chapel Hill to Chickenville.
Aimee (currently from Chickenville) states that she is no super mom (despite the “Wonder Woman T-shirt her husband made for her). I beg to differ, Aimee.
This super woman currently is raising four cute youngsters under the age of eight, homeschooling, blogging, tending a flock of hens and cooking away.
You be the judge.
To tackle all these responsibilities and duties, one would need a sense of humor, correct? Aimee has that too.
Ten Crazy Things About Me (from Aimee’s blog)
My favorite color is purple..ever since I was five years old..with a purple “fur” coat
Here's a couple of purple beauties for you!
I have broken a baseball bat…on purpose…with my shin
If you looked under my bed you would find a hoard of dust bunnies..I’m allergic to vacuuming…really
One of my children was born on Leap Day
I bought a stove off Ebay once…really
I LOVE my minivan and see no reason why you can’t still jam out to Motown with the kids…windows open…rocking the van from side to side…while strangers are looking at you like you are insane
None of my kids like my favorite vegetable…peas (they also don’t like mashed potatoes, so they really can’t be trusted)
I have no idea how to text…I’ve never even attempted it
I once quit my job and went to Australia on “walkabout” for 3 months
My engagement ring belonged to my Grandmother and was originally purchased at a pawn shop!
I’m diggin’ her.
My pick from her list of recipes had to be Sauteed Swiss Chard. My rainbow Swiss chard has survived last winter, a tremendous heatwave, and a drought (I have no idea how) and is still going strong even after one hard freeze and a recent frost and I wanted to make something using as many local products as possible. The raisins intrigued me as well. Plus, I have found a recent affinity for Swiss chard and I love the colorful rainbow or “Bright Lights” varieties. But, as a child I absolutely hated it. My grandmother would grow it in her garden and then she would stew it until it almost fell apart. No offense grandma—you were a fantastic cook and I learned many kitchen techniques from you—but it wasn’t until I had sauteed chard that I fell in love with this food.
I only made a few adaptations to Aimee’s original recipe. I added bacon (a no brainer) and I found some beautiful jumbo mixed raisins at the grocery store. I thought their color would play off well with the rainbow chard.
Sauteed Swiss Chard
Adapted from Aimee at Chapel Hill to Chickenville
- 3 slices thick cut bacon
- 1 T. bacon fat
- 1 bunch of chard, stems trimmed off
- 1 c. onion, chopped
- 1/4 t. smoked paprika
- 1/2 c. jumbo mixed raisins
- 1/4 c pine nuts
I thought the colorful raisins would compliment the rainbow chard.
Trim the chard: slice off the large stems and slice the leaves into large strips.
This is a big ol' bowl of chard.
In a large skillet, cook bacon until crisp. Remove bacon and crumble; set aside. In the reserved 1 T. of bacon fat, add the onions and sprinkle with paprika. Cook, stirring occasionally until the onions are translucent, about 4 minutes.
Add the chard leaves, raisins, and bacon.
Cram it all in the skillet.
It will reduce down quickly as the chard cooks. Cover the skillet and let cook for around 6 minutes, stirring a couple of times. Stir in pine nuts before serving.
Seriously, this is delicious stuff.
Aimee states, “The mix of the sweet raisin, crunchy pine nuts and delicious chard put this dish in a class by itself.” She is absolutely correct. I tried this recipe for a pre-Thanksgiving family meal this past weekend. My brother-in-law loved it and asked for the recipe. This dish would be a great side for your Thanksgiving table.
I absolutely love that Aimee served this with Macaroni and Cheese because “You gotta have the Blue Box sometimes!” (See, sense of humor again.)
Photo credit to Aimee at From Chapel Hill to Chickenville
Aimee—you have inspired me. I want chickens in my backyard, too. As a final homage, you prompted me to search my crazy soul.
Ten Crazy Things About Me
Contrary to popular belief and comments, I, Eliot, am a female.
I was once on Jeopardy! (Alex is pretty aloof and it is way too stressful to be fun!)
I have a cat who thinks she’s a dog.
My husband and I cancel out each others votes on every election.
My family (as far as I know) does not know that I blog. Only my hubby knows. I am waiting to be “discovered” by everybody else. So, thus far, it gives me a lot of freedom to talk about them.
I broke my nose in high school when I ran into one of my best friend while we were running “suicides.”
Speaking of high school, I couldn’t decided if I wanted to marry Rick Springfield or Adam Ant. (I had issues, OK?)
Now, if I weren’t very happily married (hear that honey?), I would marry Anthony Bourdain (and yes, I know he is married, too.)
If I could live anywhere in the world, it would be New Mexico.
Finally, I hate to copy, but I am pretty sure I am allergic to vacuuming as well!
Aimee, so nice to meet ya! Please check out From Chapel Hill to Chickenville.
They grow 'em big in Chickenville. (I thought Aimee would appreciate the humor!)
You can check out my other SRC posts: