Chard is an inter­esting green. It has hearty leaves that are at least as sub­stan­tial as spinach but without the metallic flavor. The stems, which have the tex­ture of celery or fennel, have a sweet­ness like beets but are more subtle. I recently got a bunch of domestic, organic rainbow Swiss Chard from FreshDi­rect and needed a good recipe. I turned to Best Recipe (from Cooks Illus­trated) for some tips. The book offers a master recipe and a couple of vari­a­tions for “tender” greens like spinach, beet greens, and chard. From this starting point, I came up with the fol­lowing recipe. The result was an amazing savory dish with a sat­is­fying, almost meaty quality that can stand on it’s own or work as a side dish. Umami to spare.

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