Easy Greens....that in this case are red....Garlic Swiss Chard

We all need to add more dark leafy greens into our diet.....but how many of us skip over the wide variety of greens available to pick up the regular spinach and lettuce, only to avoid the 'other' options because we don't quite know what to do with them? Well I'll be the first to admit, that was me. That was until I got my Organic Veggie box and they gave me red chard.....what does one do with red chard? I had no idea.....


I kept it in my vegetable crisper and when I got home tonight from being away for 5 days, it was the only veggie left in there because I haven't been to the grocery store. And so red chard on the menu came to be by default. The recipe I made, however, has shown me not to be afraid of new greens - and red chard is going to be regularly making it on the meal rotation!

* Sidenote: swiss chard comes in 3 varieties: red, green and multi-coloured. Nutritionally it's a powerhouse! It's very high in phytonutrients (big player in disease prevention), Vitamins C, A, K and B-complex, and it's a good source of important minerals such as copper, calcium, sodium, potassium, iron, manganese and phosphorus. The added bonus? It's low in calories (approximately 19/100g) so eat up!

Garlic Swiss Chard
makes 2 generous servings

Ingredients:
1 bunch of red chard
2 cloves garlic
2 tsp of extra virgin olive oil

1) Heat up oil in a frying pan (preferrably one with a lid).
2) Add garlic and sautee until browned.
3) Add bite-sized chopped red chard (the red stalk is edible so include it too!)
4) Put the lid on the pan and let steam for approximately 4 minutes (any more and it will get overly mushy)
5) Remove lid and 'toss' chard until well coated in the oil and garlic.
6) Serve!

The great thing about this side dish is its versatility. Tonight I mixed it into my egg white and hard parmesan scramble - the garlic added just the pop it needed! Tomorrow I'll be using the other half of my chard in a chicken stirfry.