We’re in the height of chard season, and I love it! I don’t care if its rainbow or swiss, I’ll eat it all. Admittedly, chard used to intimidate me. What do you do with it? Surely you don’t eat it like you would spinach in a salad…
My thoughts changed when I tried an appetizer at Third and Hollywood, a restaurant in Columbus, Ohio. The dish consisted of thin slices of charred bread, homemade ricotta, and braised greens. You then assembled the ricotta and greens on the toast to make a crostini like concoction. Genius!
I immediately started to try and make my own version of the dish, and while delicious all the time, it’s especially wonderful when you get fresh chard from the farmers market. My version of this dish doesn’t have ricotta, making it a light appetizer or side dish, or add a fried egg on top for a quick weeknight dinner.
Garlic Greens on Toast
1 bunch chard (rainbow, swiss, you choose)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2-3 large garlic cloves
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flake
1/4 -1/2 teaspoon sea salt
6 slices of good bread, I like sourdough
Wash chard thoroughly and cut from left to right into ribbons about 3/4 inch wide, stopping at the stems. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic when olive oil is heated and cook about 30 seconds, or until you can just start to smell the garlic. Add the red pepper flakes and chard ribbons to oil and garlic and stir. Cook, over medium hear for about 5 minutes, until chard is wilted. While the chard is cooking, toast your bread. I used our toaster, but you could also toast the bread in the oven, flipping half way through. When both the chard is wilted and the bread is toasted, put the chard on top of the toast, and enjoy!
Tip: if you want to make this into a meal, fry and egg and put it on top of the greens.