Recipes for Cooking Swiss Chard and Beet Greens
You gotta eat your leafy greens! They’re great sources of vitamins and energy. Some kids don’t like them, but rest assured, with the right recipes for cooking beet greens and Swiss chard, your kids will gobble them up. Mine do, and so do their friends who visit for dinner.
The secret to cooking beet greens and Swiss chard? Add a bit of flavor. We like garlic and olive oil, but lemon can do in a pinch.
Here’s my recipe for how to cook Swiss chard and beet greens. I learned the basics from my Italian mother-in-law back when I was married, and added some techniques from a chef I know.
How to Cook Beet Greens and Swiss Chard
The basic recipe involves steaming the greens with olive oil and garlic infused water adding flavor.
Cutting and cleaning the greens:
Take a bunch of Swiss chard or beet green leaves, and cut off and discard the stalk ends.
Cut the stalk into two-inch pieces.
Clean in a pot of water, making sure to rub any dirt off.
Put them in a steamer.
Cut and wash the beet greens or Swiss chard leaves in a similar fashion. Just hold the bunch of leaves and cut across two inches at a time.
Once all the Swiss chard or beet green leaves are cut, rinsed, and in the steamer:
Cooking the greens:
Put about an inch of water in the steamer pot.
Add a teaspoon of olive oil to the water.
Drop in 2 or 3 garlic cloves (without the skin) .
Put the beet-green or Swiss-chard filled steamer on top of the pot.
Cover. Heat. Steam until done.
How do you know when beet greens and Swiss chard are done cooking? Stab a stalk with a fork. If the stalk pierces easily and has a texture you would enjoy eating, then it’s done. Swiss chard and beet greens have thicker stalks, so they take longer to cook than just the leaves.
Serving the greens:
Dump the cooked Swiss chard or beet greens in a serving bowl.
Fish out the garlic cloves from the water and add them to the bowl with greens. You can stir around the leaves to pick up added flavor from the garlic. Plus, my kids love popping these soft garlic cloves in their mouths and eating them with dinner. (They actually fight for them, they’re that good.)
You can cook Swiss chard or beet greens ahead of the other courses, and let them sit in the serving bowl while the rest of dinner cooks. This frees up a burner for whatever else you’re preparing. It’s totally fine to serve these vegetables cold.
What to do with leftovers:
Refrigerate any leftover beet greens and Swiss chard. They’ll taste great the next day.
If you want to skip the garlic, you can still put olive oil in the water. If you’re adding lemon, add it after the greens are cooked, just before serving.
Enjoy!
- Recipe to Boil Cook Beets
- Grilled Asparagus Marinade
- Pasta and Peas Recipe
- Carrots with Olive Oil, Balsamic Vinegar, and Garlic
- Recipe for Chicken and Dumplings
| 
Subscribe | © 2008-2010 David Mott, DadsHouseBlog.com. All rights reserved.
Comment by Senorita
| September 25th, 2009
Well then your children are exceptional. I don’t eat much of the leafy greens.
I like to stick to other veggies like tomatoes, onions and mushrooms…………
Senorita´s last blog ..Happy Friday !!!!
Comment by BigLittleWolf
| September 25th, 2009
SWISS CHARD? (Did you once spend time in Switzerland, with a secret past yodeling and cooking your way through the Alps?)
Just don’t tell me you make chard for your special dates… It doesn’t strike me as sexy food, though I can’t quite say why.
BigLittleWolf´s last blog ..“But Dad – you promised!”
Comment by krn
| September 26th, 2009
Yeah, not such a sexy menu item (oy, the breath). But, yummy anyhow. We’ve never tried steaming the garlic in, but we’ve sauteed it with olive oil, garlic, lemon and lots of pepper. Delicious and once kids try a bite, they’re hooked. I’ll try steaming the garlic next time. Thanks, Dad’s.
Hope your weekend is a good one. Soccer season is here. :)
Comment by MommaSunshine
| September 26th, 2009
I absolutely LOVE beet greens and swiss chard. If I don’t get enough leafy greens I find myself craving them like crazy.
YUM!
Comment by schmendric
| January 2nd, 2010
Most recipes for swiss chard call for sauteing in olive oil and garlic, and I can attest that it is delicious when prepared that way. My wife and I tried swiss chard in a salad, a bit too chewy for our taste. Moreover we found that the chard works as a potent laxative when eaten raw.