It’s the season of three: green beans, zucchini and chard.
They’re on a 3-day rotation, chez nous.
In a few more weeks it will be the season of four – we add sweet corn into the mix (we hope).
I don’t buy vegetables in summer – we just eat what I grow.
Our summer is more challenging then usual, but more about that later.
This chard dish is made similar to the old-fashioned Wilted Lettuce Salad my mother made.
It’s nice eating from the garden….. Even the onion is fresh!
Keeping things interesting can be a bit of a challenge, though.
Wilted Rainbow Chard Salad with Ham and Onion
Total time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
- 6oz (180gr) chard or Swiss chard
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 slices dry-cured ham, Prosciutto, Bayonne, chopped
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 2 tbs red wine vinegar
- 1 tbs brown sugar
- 1 tbs salad olive oil
Instructions:
- Wash the chard and trim any bad bits. Stack the leaves together and roll the long way. Slice into thin strips, using both leaves and stems, but keeping the stems separate.
- Heat cooking oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and fry until tender.
- Add the stems, ham and fry until ham is crisp, and onions starting to brown.
- Add vinegar, brown sugar and stir until sugar is dissolved.
- Add the chard leaves and stir until the leaves are wilted.
- Add salad olive oil, stir well to combine and serve.
I have a weird garden this year.
I had the mystery plants.
They’re now gone and have been replaced with acorn squash.
My sweet corn is barely waist high but is in tassel and producing ears. A very few ears, I might add.
My zucchini is on strike.
I have 3 zucchini plants for 2 people.
This would send most people screaming in terror.
Normally, by now, I have my freezer half full of zucchini soup and a few have ended up in the compost.
This year I have had a total of 5 zucchini.
During the hot, hot days of July there were lots of blossoms, but no zucchini.
Now there are lots of leaves but no blossoms.
I planted 3 more…. Maybe I’ll get some for the freezer in September.
My green beans are the bushiest, greenest, fullest plants I’ve ever had.
Normally my freezer would have bags and bags of beans.
I barely get enough beans to eat every 3 days.
My tomatoes are so big and so bushy I can hardly get between the plants. In other years, I would be freezing the ‘eating’ tomatoes like mad – putting bags of yellow and white and orange and green tomatoes in the freezer while I waited for the Romas.
The Romas always seemed to be late, and by the time they were ready I barely had room in my freezer for them.
This year the Romas are ready and filling my freezer and the ‘eating’ tomatoes are just starting to ripen.
And last, but not least, in other years I would have loads of butternut squash ripening in the August sunshine. This year? All flowers, no squashes… But I did see a few forming when I watered tonight
And a few of the little pumpkins starting…..
The only thing behaving remotely like normal is the chard.
I think I have moved into the garden Twilight Zone.
If you want nutrition information, try this site: Calorie Count
My silver beet is massing and we aren’t even into spring yet – bodes well for my vegie growing this year !!
What you describe is what happens to me _every_ time I plant veggies – all hope and little reward. 🙂 At least you can blame yours on the quirky weather. I have no good excuse, except that I don’t work very hard at it.
Your garden is like our garden. I am bereft without my courgette glut. I think we have had 5 we could use. But the chard is going strong. At lease we can rely on that! Love your warm salad. Bookmarked 🙂 Have you tried this – it’s really very good! http://www.delicieux.eu/?p=1392
Kate, I hope your veggie patch does better than mine this year…. all though it’s turning around now, thankfully.
Zoomie, it’s so frustrating and so out of my control…. I like to control things LOL
annelifaiers, it’s such a bizarre year all over France I think… Thanks for the recipe – I tried it and will post later.