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Swiss Chard with Potatoes

Croatia inspired recipe

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I feel like my recipes lately come all with some kind of a story and this one is not an exception :) Last summer we went on a summer holiday to Croatia and I tried something new and delicious there. Actually I did try many new delicious things, but today we are going to concentrate on swiss chard :) We were travelling to Sibenik, a very old city with an old town that is completely under UNESCO protection and I could definitely understand why. It is very beautiful and unique and we really enjoyed the walk around even if it was piping hot :D If you would like to have a short virtual walk around with me around Sibenik, have a look here. 

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We had our walk around the beautiful Sibenik and were looking for a place to enjoy some delicious sea food. We found a place, unfortunately I don´t remember the name, and from all the delicious options they had we chose a sea food platter to share. This sea food platter came with some boiled potatoes and some greens that I didn´t recognize. I had to check again in the menu and it said mangold, which I had never heard about, so Google to help and I foudn it is swiss chard, which I also didn´t now about previously. We enjoyed the fish and the rest of the sea food and also I absolutely loved the swiss chard. I am a fan of greens and so I wanted to find this swiss chard back home as well. However, I was really dissapointed to find out that none of the local stores sell swiss chard.. So what one does then? One grows it in the garden! :) And since we got our garden last autumn right after the holiday in Croatia, that was also my plan.

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Early in the spring I planted two different types of swiss chard, one was a regular light green one and another one was with different coloured stalks, bright pink, red, yellow and white. When they started growing about a month ago I got so excited and started to plan the dishes already in my head :) Just now when I am writing this I have another recipe already planned and I will be testing it today :) So I promise you will be seeing more recipes with swiss chard coming soon. I would also like to tell you a bit about the differences between these two types of swiss chard that I planted, but until now I have only cooked the ones with colourful stalks as they were quicker growers :) But I promise that ones I get a chance to try the other ones as well, I will write shortly about that in one of my next posts :)

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I picked my first swiss chard and was not patient enough to film the recipe, so I just cooked it and wanted to give it a taste :) I served the first one as a side of some oven baked gilt-head bream (sea bream)​ and boiled potatoes. I felt like I was back on a holiday in Croatia, it was also so much like what we had there and it just brought back those great memories. With my next harvest I decided I need to film a recipe and I thought since I do have a recipe available for the fish already, the only thing is missing are the potatoes and the swiss chard. I don´t know how they made it there in Croatia, but I decided to combine these two into one dish, that is how this recipe was born :)

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I hope you will enjoy this little culinary adventure to Croatia with me! :) If you have any questions about swiss chard, how to grow it or even if you are interested in some travel tips for Croatia, let me know in the comments and I will be happy to help :)​

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Enjoy!

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Step by Step Video

RECIPE

Swiss Chard with Potatoes

Croatia inspired recipe

​INGREDIENTS

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  • about 10 medium potatoes

  • big bunch of fresh swiss chard

  • 2 garlic cloves

  • olive oil

  • salt

  • black pepper

  • 5-10g butter (optional)

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DIRECTIONS

  1. Wash the potatoes well and peel them, if you prefer them without skins, or leave the skins on for a more rustic taste. Cube the potatoes into bite sized pieces and cook in salted water for about 10-15 minutes until they are cooked through.

  2. In the meantime, wash the swiss chard thoroughly and remove the stalks leaving the greens aside. Then cut the stalks into 1-2cm pieces and leave aside. Also cut the greens roughly and leave aside.

  3. Peel the garlic and slice it finely. Heat a big pan over low to medium heat with some olive oil. Add in the garlic and fry only shortly so that the garlic starts to release its juices into the oil. Make sure to keep the heat down so that the garlic doesn´t start to brown, as when it goes really brown it also becomes bitter. Then add the chopped swiss chard stalks, mix shortly, cover with a lid and cook on medium heat for five minutes.

  4. After the stalks have been cooking for five minutes add in the greens, mix shortly, cover again and continue cooking for another 3-5 minutes until the greens have cooked.

  5. Once the swiss chard is ready and the potatoes have cooked through, strain the water from the potatoes and add them to the pan. Mix well, season with salt and pepper, and add a little butter for some extra creamy taste. At this point you can turn of the heat and just allow the butter to melt in. Then give a last mix and your dish is ready to be served.

  6. Serve as such or as a side to grilled fish (recipe available here).

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