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Three great (and easy) Thanksgiving sides recipe, part 1: Sautéed Swiss chard

Posted by Jamie Oberdick on 11/21, 2016 at 11:09 AM

Three great (and easy) Thanksgiving sides recipe, part 1: Sautéed Swiss chard

Editor’s note: This week in the three days leading up to Thanksgiving, we will feature three ideas for sides that you can pull together with a minimal amount of ingredients and little stress. Today’s first recipe is sautéed Swiss chard.

Swiss chard is a perfect Thanksgiving side dish. A truly cold-hardy vegetable, Swiss chard can be still found as a fresh vegetable, and it’s a staple of many fall gardens.

It’s also a very tasty vegetable, and in fact, is sort of two vegetables in one. The stems of the Swiss chard leaf looks a lot like celery, and you can chop them up and cook them much in the same way. The leaves are quite delicious, sort of in a sweet spot between the delicateness of spinach and the toughness of kale. The slight bitterness of chard is an absolute plus.

While those big leaves might be intimidating, Swiss chard is actually fairly easy to prepare. The following recipe has a limited number of ingredients, and is a breeze to prepare, especially during Thanksgiving crunch time.

Sautéed Swiss Chard

Ingredients

- One large bunch of Swiss chard (please note: what may seem like a ton of Swiss chard might not be as much as you think as it will cook down significantly)
- 2 Tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced or minced
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 cup slivered almonds
- Salt and pepper to taste

Steps

- Rinse the chard, then tear or cut away the thick stalks from the leaves.
- Chop the stalks into 1” pieces, like you might with celery.
- Put almonds in small pan over high heat, stirring for a minute until almonds become fragrant. Remove from heat and put into bowl.
- Sauté garlic in olive oil over medium heat for up to a minute, or until fragrant.
- Add stems ONLY (save leaves for later, as you must cook the stems separate and first).
- Add a little water to the pan, then cover pan and lower heat.
- Cook for 4-5 minutes, until stems are tender.
- Coarsely chop the leaves and add to the pan, tossing with oil and garlic.
- Add lemon juice, and toss.
- Cover and cook for 3-4 more minutes.
- Check to see if chard is finished, if not, go another 2-3 minutes.
- Add almonds, and toss.
- Serve immediately

Tags: recipe | chard | Thanksgiving |