How I Bulk Prep Swiss Chard

[jesse_the_k]

I love some green veg at lunch. Commercial frozen green veg are hard as rocks and nastily overcooked. Here’s how I bulk prep fresh swiss chard for my lunches

Before

• one large bunch of chard
• sharp paring knife
• sharp chef knife
• salad spinner
• wax paper
• pan that fits in your freezer
• freezer

During

1. Cut the leaves away from the stems
   • place face down, slice along the stem with your paring knife
   • cut away any low-grade portions you don’t want to eat
   • cut away any veins which are white and sturdy
   • set any full length leaves to one side
2. Chiffonade leaves into 1/2-inch wide strips
   • Lay down a full length leaf, which becomes your wrapper
   • Lay short pieces along the wrapper with small overlaps, until 4-6 leaves thick
   • Pinch the lowest edge together and roll up until the top, like a cigar. In winter your cigar will be ~3-4 inches; when you have access to local chard, it may be 7-10 inches
   • Hold the leaves together with one hand, and slice crosswise into 1/2-inch wide strips
3. Thoroughly wash these cut-up ribbons (One bunch fills the spinner)
   • Add lukewarm water to ribbons in spinner, let soak 5 minutes, pour out water, check for grit in bottom. Repeat soak & pour until grit free
   • Spin out remaining water
4. Parboil ribbons — I place in large covered casserole in my 1200 watt microwave, cooking 3:33 at 70% power
5. Set aside to finish cooking and let cool at least 15 minutes
6. Using salad tongs / chopsticks / whatever portion chard on ~5-inch wax-paper squares. I measured them first in 30g packets and now I can eyeball it. 1 bunch yields 4 to 6 packets.
7. Fold the squares in half do not squeeze tight, array on pan
8. Freeze these chard-lets for at least 90 minutes
9. Pan to counter for 5 minutes to thaw enough to
10. Pack in gallon zipper slider bag

After

When it’s time to eat, pull a packet from the bag, let it sit for 5 minutes, peel off the paper, slice into bite size, heat up with rest of your meal. (Because you didn’t squeeze when you made packets, they’re readily sliceable when frozen.) I find them edible when nuked as briefly as 00:00:30 at full to 12 minutes simmering in a soup. The extensive rinsing and quick parboil cook off almost all the bitter chlorophyll.

You don’t have to use an Oxo Salad Spinner but your life will be better with one! Starting this prep routine motivated me to replace my 20-year-old one—

Comments

[otter]

I appreciate the organization and thoroughness of your description :)