Rainbow Chard Salad

Recipe by The View From the Great Island

This Rainbow Chard Salad is a deliciously smart way to use a vibrant underutilized veggie  Watch your back, kale, there's a pretty new super green in town and it's moving in on your turf... Chard, or Swiss chard, isn't Swiss at all, but an ancient Mediterranean plant, related to beets.  Rainbow chard is a variety with gorgeous day-glo stems. A spring trip to the farmers market inspired this recipe.  Rainbow chard is irresistible, the colors are unlike any other vegetable, they're almost unbelievable.  A lot of people think you have to discard the stems, can you imagine??  The stems are delicious and crunchy ~ eat them every day and you'll live to be a hundred.  (That last part isn't proven, but I'm working on it.) I didn't want to compromise those beautiful colors in any way, so I just sliced up the stems and shredded the greens for a beautiful salad. Wait, can you eat rainbow chard raw? You can absolutely eat chard raw, the same way you would eat kale or spinach raw. Even the stems? Yup, the stems are great raw, they're crunchy like celery! Isn't chard bitter? Chard has a slightly bitter, earthy flavor, like other dark

Ingredients

• 6 stalks assorted color rainbow chard, or about 1 cup greens and sliced stems per person
• 1 small shallot, peeled and finely minced
• 1 small Granny Smith apple, cut into fine matchsticks
• ¼ cup sunflower seeds, toasted in a dry pan until fragrant
• ½ cup crumbled feta cheese (imported sheep's milk cheese is best)
• dressing (whisk together)
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp champagne vinegar (or your favorite)
• Lemon juiced (save a little to coat the cut apple to keep it from browning)
• salt and fresh cracked black pepper

Method

1. Wash, dry, and trim the ends from your chard. Slice the stalks in thin slices, about 1/8 to 1/4 inch. If they are very thick, slice them lengthwise and then chop. Add the stems to a large bowl.
2. Take the large leaves and slice them lengthwise into several pieces, and then slice again into small slices or ribbons. The aim here is to avoid large pieces of the greens, which can be tough. Slicing them small makes them tender. Add to the bowl with the stalks, along with the shallot. Toss the chard with some of the dressing ~ enough to moisten but not drown.
3. Slice the apple into very thin matchsticks. Toss with a spritz of lemon juice so it doesn't brown. I toss the apple with my hands so I make sure every surface gets coated.
4. Add the apples and the toasted sunflower seeds to the top of the chard. Crumble the feta over the top, and give everything a good grinding of fresh black pepper.

View the recipe instructions at The View From the Great Island