Welcome to SAVEUR’s weekly column on learn how to cook dinner native produce in keeping with our check kitchen supervisor, Fatima Khawaja. That is the place you’ll discover artistic, unfussy meal concepts plus loads of cooking recommendation—like what to do with that bumper crop of zucchini or learn how to retailer delicate heirloom tomatoes. Every week, Fatima hits the farmers market and chooses a peak-season ingredient to discover in depth. Comply with alongside, and also you’ll discover ways to flip the season’s bounty into simple plant-based meals that’ll be on the desk in below an hour.
This time of yr on the farmers market we’re spoiled by the numerous varieties of greens to select from, however I can by no means resist Swiss chard with its rainbow of colourful stems. In contrast to hardier greens like kale and collards, chard loves fast cooking, making it excellent in last-minute stir fries.
Chard, which is intently associated to beet greens, isn’t only one plant. There’s rhubarb chard (to not be confused with precise rhubarb greens, that are poisonous!), with its forest-green leaves and fuschia stalks. There’s ruby chard, which you’ll be able to acknowledge from its pink-veined greens. These heirloom varieties are barely extra bitter than the gentle and extra broadly out there inexperienced or rainbow cultivars, the latter of which is available in an array of cheerful colours.
It doesn’t matter what kind you discover on the market, although, the fast and simple dinner choices are infinite. I like so as to add the greens to vegetarian tacos with chipotle and mushrooms, or serve them chilly on this riff on Japanese-style seaweed salad. However this season, I can’t get sufficient of this straightforward stir fry.
When searching for chard, price range one bunch (10–12 ounces) per four-person crowd, and hunt down specimens with crisp, uniformly inexperienced leaves and turgid stalks. (If the greens get slightly wilty within the fridge, concern not—simply soak them in a bowl of ice water for a couple of minutes they usually’ll crisp again up.)
Any kind of chard will do on this fast dish that makes use of each the tender leaves and the stems. It comes collectively in a flash utilizing pantry objects like sesame oil and rice wine vinegar, which fragrance the greens shortly as they brown. I like to make use of this system from J. Kenji López-Alt’s glorious new cookbook The Wok: Recipes and Strategies, which requires a fast blanche earlier than the greens hit the pan. This not solely preserves their inexperienced coloration; it additionally lets you transfer shortly within the wok, and concentrate on the charred spots.
An enormous, scorching wok is good for this dish, however a large, heavy-bottomed pot or skillet will do the trick too. Simply be sure you crank the warmth, so that you brown the greens versus steaming them. The recipe has a forgiving method: Don’t have jasmine rice? Use basmati. Don’t have sesame oil? Merely up the quantity of vegetable oil. The identical goes for the rice wine vinegar, which you’ll be able to swap out for one more gentle vinegar and even citrus juice.
Stir-Fried Swiss Chard with Crispy Rice
A screaming scorching wok is the key to this gingery vegetarian essential.
Yield: serves 4
Time:
20 minutes
Components
- 1 massive bunch rainbow chard (10 oz.), cleaned
- ¼ cups sesame oil, divided
- 3 tsp. vegetable oil or different impartial oil, divided
- 3 cups cooked jasmine rice
- 3 medium garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- One 1-in. piece contemporary ginger, peeled and finely chopped (2 Tbsp.)
- 1 tsp. crushed purple chile flakes
- 3 tbsp. rice wine vinegar, plus extra to style
- Kosher salt
- 1 tbsp. toasted sesame seeds
Directions
- Utilizing your palms or a knife, strip the leaves from the stalks, then reduce the leaves into 1-inch items and the stalks into ¼-inch items.
- Convey a wok stuffed two-thirds full with water to a boil. Add the stems and boil for 30 seconds, then add the leaves and cook dinner till brilliant inexperienced, about 30 seconds extra. Drain, then switch to a paper-towel-lined plate and refrigerate to chill barely, about quarter-hour.
- In the meantime, return the wok to the range and switch the warmth to excessive. When the pan begins to smoke, add 2 tablespoons of the sesame oil and 1 teaspoon of the vegetable oil. Add the rice and, utilizing the again of a spoon, press it up the edges of the wok to make a pancake roughly ½ inch thick. Fry, with out stirring, till crisp and golden, about 4 minutes, then switch a platter and tent with foil.
- To the empty wok, add the remaining sesame oil and vegetable oil. When it begins to smoke, add the garlic and ginger and cook dinner, stirring constantly, till mild brown and aromatic, about 30 seconds. Stir within the chile flakes, cook dinner for five seconds extra, then add the reserved chard and stir-fry, till the greens are calmly charred however nonetheless brilliant and crisp, 1–2 minutes. Flip off the warmth, stir within the rice wine vinegar, and season with salt to style.
- Scrape the chard onto the rice cake, sprinkle with the sesame seeds, and serve scorching.
