Swiss Chard Stir Fry

Swiss Chard Stir Fry

Points before I start on the recipe:

1. In a series of Taiwanese dishes, this is NOT Taiwanese. Merely a concoction from my imagination.
2. Two ingredients I am not absolutely certain I put in here: chicken broth and half a sweet onion (versus half a red onion). I'm more certain of the latter. Give me a break, it's been a few days since I cooked it. I'm on the verge of a heat breakdown; I am so hot.
3. I'm not entirely pleased with how this dish turned out. As you may have figured out, I am a bit of a perfectionist. Any dish needs to look just so and taste just right. If not, in my mind, it qualifies as a FAIL. Why am I posting a dish I count as a failure, you might be thinking. Perhaps I'm bragging about the produce in my dad's garden. Maybe I've lost my marbles. Or, maybe I'm petitioning you for a better way to cook this.

Without further ado, let's begin.

Ingredients:

Swiss chard.

Not to be mistaken for lettuce. The taste of this has some personality to it. The night before last, we went to some friends' home for dinner and we were assigned to bring salad. My husband asked whether this greenery could constitute part of the salad.

"No," was my response.

He looked puzzled, "why not?"

"Taste it, honey."

"Wow, that has some kick to it."

Moral of the story? This vegetable isn't for the faint-hearted (or those who desire blandness).

Again, Swiss chard.


Next. Half a sweet onion. I used the other half of what I had used to make guacamole.


A bit of olive oil to caramelize the onion. Sea salt. Worcestershire sauce. Chicken broth.


Directions or the process:

Take half a sweet onion.


Cut thinly one way and then make a perpendicular cut.


Wash the chard thoroughly. I apparently didn't, because some parts were a bit gritty. Worry not. My father's vegetable garden is pesticide free. At the very worst, I'm ingesting some dirt, stuff from the earth. Then cut.


This is how much chard I had to cook.



In a frying pan, on lower medium heat, with just a bit of olive oil, cook the sweet onion until it's just about transparent. Then add in the Swiss chard and a bit of chicken broth. Cover for several minutes. Add in salt and Worcestershire sauce, stir thoroughly, and cover. Ready to eat a few minutes after that.

Lily, Lily, how does your garden grow?

Um, whose garden? Maybe Mary's garden is growing. I know my dad's garden is plentiful and beautiful.

Speaking of which, the following isn't even half of what my dad brought this last trip. Spent a huge chunk of yesterday cooking a majority of what was left of the fresh vegetables, excluding the tomatoes, since most of them aren't ripe enough to consume. Let's see if you can help me identify these beautiful, home-grown, pesticide-free vegetables.

Swiss chard.


As I pulled out all the chard and washed them, at the bottom of the bag was a pleasant surprise: okra. Haven't ever cooked that one previously.



Washed this. What is this called in English? It's not green onion; I promise. Not grass. Smells fragrant.



Whilst washing the above vegetable, I found a surprise. Yup, another surprise. Green onions. Can you tell the difference between the above vegetable and green onions when they're mixed together? I can, I can.


Kohlrabi. From my dad's garden this season? HUGE. And still tender and delicious. Stay tuned for what I've done with it.

Pickled kohlrabi has been one of my favorites since I was little. Mmmm, mmmm, good.


Tomatoes. Oh, how my mouth is watering. I love tomatoes, too. If I had my head together and was capable of gardening outside, these would definitely be part of the garden. How about potted tomatoes? Anyone have success making potted tomatoes flourish?


The next several posts will be dedicated to authentic Taiwanese (not to be mistaken as Chinese) dishes, as I include ways in which I cooked or pickled some of these vegetables. Authentic Taiwanese cuisine is my favorite, nearly tying my other all time favorites - Japanese food and Italian food. Could eat that stuff all the time.