Greetings Farm Friends,
Saturday beckons! Come see us at the Great Falls Farmers’ Market and fill up on what’s good this time of year: tender greens, just waiting to replenish you after a brown and white winter.
We’ll be under a white tent on the East side of Park Drive, kitty-corner from the Civic Center. Look for our white and black signs and chalkboards.
Right now, we have: kale, chard, baby greens, salad mix, spinach and head lettuce. We will also have Jacob’s Blue Truck Bread.
If you’re into freezing food for the winter, now is the time to “put up” some of these greens. (See Bon Appétit's guide here.) They’re at their sweetest right now, so load up and stock your freezer with the taste of early summer.
This week’s green spotlight shines on: Chard.
Kale gets a lot of attention and spinach gets to be the staple, but we think chard is an under-sung green. It’s great sautéed, steamed, pickled (yes! Pickle the stems!) and chopped up to add some color and nutrition to a raw green salad.
Chard is a relative of beets and spinach. It’s full of vitamins C, K, A and magnesium, iron and potassium. The variety we grow is “Bright Lights,” which is known for it’s vibrant color and mild taste.
Don’t believe us about chard? Ask the Kitchn (one of our favorite culinary websites), which says, “There's a lot of great stuff to know about Swiss chard: it's low in calories but packs a ton of antioxidants and vitamins, making it a healthy choice when cooking.”
It also makes great comfort food, like this recipe for chard gratin:
Chard Gratin
2 bunches chard
1 cup water
1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs butter
1 cup milk
2 Tbs flour
Salt and pepper
¼ cup Parmesan cheese
1 Tbs bread crumbs or Panko
Preheat oven to 350. Cook chard in boiling water for 3-4 minutes. Reserve ¼ cup cooking liquid. Drain chard. Heat olive oil and butter in pan. Whisk in flour. Slowly add milk and ¼ cup cooking liquid. Add chard to pan and mix. Pour into baking dish and top with cheese and bread crumbs and pats of butter. Bake for 20-25 minutes.