Rainbow Chard-a-lish-ous

That is a meatball-on top of some Rainbow Chard. Yummy heh? Chard, Chard! I have got it coming out of the garden like crazy. To tell you the truth, I am not even a huge fan, I grew it simply because I love the way it looks as it grows in the garden. Beauty aside, it is quite good – in a spinachy sort of way. I thought I could impress you with some fun facts on chard, but it is hard to find out any information on chard. I will tell you this, Swiss Chard is said to have been discovered by the Swiss. The legend states that a Swiss gardener thought this vegetable to be a beet that had special leaves/greens that kept growing and growing and then later deciphered that it was in fact different from the beet and hence named it Swiss Chard. Yes, these are all Internet stories, so who even knows if this is true! Does anyone have an Encyclopedia Britannica out there? Anyways, the chard I have growing in my garden is not Swiss Chard, I have some sort of rainbow cultivar – purrrrty cultivar. The other chards come from Sicily, although it is thought the Far East and the Mediterranean also grew this vegetable. “Cicla“,the scientific name,is from “Sicula” which does refer to Sicily. Chard is an exceptional source of vitamin A, iron and potassium, rainbow chard contains a good source of calcium, vitamin C, and fiber. So, now you know it”s good for you and it”s tasty! Now all you need is a recipe, so here you go – I made one up for you. Kelly”s Meatballs 1 pound of local ground beef (I used Duenk”s Angus Beef) 4 small Ontario shallots, diced. (half for mix and half for pan) 1 clove garlic minced or crushed big handful of breadcrumbs handful of fresh basil, chopped small few sprigs of fresh rosemary few sage leaves, chopped few fresh chives, chopped teaspoon of cinnamon 1 egg salt and pepperhandful of flour for dusting Combine all these ingredients in a big bowl, take all your rings off and mix it all together. Shape into little big balls, lol. I got 11 meatballs out of my mix, but if you are a bit of a weirdo about even numbers – especially dozens, you could totally squeeze out twelve. Roll your formed balls into some flour. Heat up some oil in a pan, toss in your remaining shallots and then your meatballs and cook over medium heat until all brown and delicious. For the Chard A big bunch of Rainbow Chard 2 cloves local garlic (minced) 4 Ontario shallots (diced) knob of butter tablespoon oil Wash and dry your chard, cut off the stems and dice them. Get your pan hot and coated with oil and butter, toss in the garlic and shallots. Cook off for a few minutes until garlic turns golden. Add the chopped stems of chard, cook for about 5 minutes and then add in the leaves and cook for a few minutes, just until wilted. Remove from heat and chard will finish cooking on own. Get a glass of red vino and Belissimo!  Read More