Chard is the new spinach. Didn't you hear? Nutritionally they're very similar - actually, spinach has slight advantages. Slight. And chard is so easy. I get it locally, six months out of the year, and it just goes with everything. That said, you could totally use spinach here, or another leafy green.
I've been using chard more and more in "Mexican"-style foods. A little chard in your black bean egg roll? Sure. In your quesadilla, of course. And in my Italian and Thai foods too. Chard plays well with others.
So we're thinking about dinner, and Sous Chef Brian says, "Mexican," and I say, "We don't have any beans ready, we don't have meat...." So butternut squash and chard it is.
Yeah, I make a lot of pizzas. Some are winners, some are not. In a week where I make pizza, I typically make two, because my dough makes two crusts.
Several months ago, when we were in the grocery store, Sous Chef Brian mentioned he wanted to get some salad dressing. I fought him on it. I make the salad dressing around here, damnit. Why would we want storebought?
Honestly, most of my "salads" are piles of lettuce with maybe one other vegetable, if it's handy and cut up, topped with straight balsamic vinegar. Or I'll put in cheese and fruit and skip the dressing. But for dinner, typically I'll put some sort of a half-hearted vinaigrette together. Sous Chef Brian, however, prefers a little salad with his dressing. So when we were in the store those months ago, I challenged his request for storebought dressing, and he had a reasonable answer:
"You don't make ranch dressing."
I've made tomatoes scary before. If you're not into that, or prefer not get upset about food, this is your opportunity to skip a post. If you read this and figure I'm a giant wimp, you are absolutely correct. Please proceed past the jump break.
I have this fear of eggs. Sometimes, I pick one up and it feels "off" - like the weight isn't right, and I have to set it aside and wait for Sous Chef Brian to crack it. I don't want to find any surprises in my eggs. This isn't eggs, it's tomatoes. I was making that Slow Roasted Tomato Sauce and cutting up a lot of tomatoes. I've seen bad tomatoes before - this isn't that.
I'm pretty sure when I sliced this open I turned into a 12-year-old girl. I don't have the transcript handy, but I said something like, "Ew, ew [maniacal laughter], Brian do you want to look? You don't have to look. Oh damn, ew [maniacal laughter] It's not spoiled, you can look if you want to, ew, do you want to look?" All the while, flapping my hands and backing into the dining room.
He looked. He didn't react nearly as badly as I did, but he was slicing onions and his eyes get all watery. He may have missed it.
Ready?
This weekend we got an email that the tomatoes we unreliable, due to the storm. So I ordered no tomatoes in the last week of August. I'm kicking myself.
Eggs.
Onions.
Chard.
Green beans.
Basil. Without tomatoes.
Garlic.
Peppers. Several serranos, bright cherry peppers and a light green one. A frying pepper?
