In the Garden: Too Much Chard?

Today in the garden I pulled up the last of the spinach, broccoli and arugula, and planted carrots, climbing beans and mustard seed under the tomato plants.

Our weather is unusually pleasant: dry, clear, breezy and not too hot, so I found myself enjoying the garden in the noonday sun, not besieged by biting flies. Some years I’ve felt there was no way to keep up with the weeds. this year, better bed prep and garden fabric paths has made a huge difference. Pulling the occasional crabby or cracky grass is easy.

The crop dujour is the Rainbow Lights chard: huge rippled leaves of juicy green with stems that are red, pink, yellow or white. Yesterday faced with an excess of chard and eggs I made two lovely quiche that are even better reheated for breakfast.

Swiss Chard Quiche

2  pie crusts (I love the pillsbury ones in the red box!)
1/2 large sweet onion
BIG bunch of chard, stems diced and leaved shredded
2T each butter and olive oil
1/3 c heavy cream
12 eggs (I used 6 guinea eggs and 6 hen)
1 c shredded cheese (cheddar, gruyere, mozzarella)
salt and pepper
nutmeg

1. prepare pie crusts
2. preheat oven to 400f (205c)
3. whip the eggs and cream, adding the seasonings
4. dice onion and saute diced chard  stems and onions in butter and olive oil, over high heat until beginning to brown. layer leaves over top, allow to wilt.
5. fill the bottom of the pies with onion-stem mix, layer leaves on top.
6. pour egg-cream mixture over the vegetables
7. sprinkle cheese on top and bake about 30 minutes until golden brown and firm.

This recipe will work fine with spinach or other leafy greens.