If Willy Wonka Could Make Vegetables

Umpa, Lumpa, Dippity-dee

When I saw this striking vegetable in the supermarket, I wondered how it managed to hide from me all these years. Maybe it was more me hiding from them. But now that I am exploring vegetables these leafs screamed "Look at me!" I'm a sucker for color; I had to grab a bunch. But how should I prepare them?

I found a delicious and easy recipe for swiss chard from a YouTube channel called Hungry in Brooklyn. The video itself was nicely edited, and I would have believed it if she said this was a new web series for the cooking or travel channel.

In her video, Shea Hess talks to a Chef and a famer to find out some tips on this psychedelic vegetable. Here are a few things to know about swiss chard:

- It is pronounced CHard like Chocolate
- Leafy vegetable similar to spinach
- Member of the beet family
- Spring/fall are the best times to buy

Here is the recipe she used:

Sautéed Swiss Chard with Shallots and Garlic

Strip leaves from the rib (stem)

Cut off ends of rib

Cut the ribs into small 1/4in pieces

Chop 2 shallots

Chop 2 cloves of garlic

2 tbs of olive oil

1/4 cup of white wine

1 tbs of butter

Directions:

Toss olive oil, Chard ribs, shallots, and garlic into pan

Add a little salt

Add the leafs of chard (blanch two minutes before hand)

Add white wine

Cook it down, so the alcohol evaporates

Add butter

The recipe was a little time consuming, only because she says you should blanch the vegetables to reduce bitterness and to prevent burning. Total time to cook was about 25 minutes, but the results were fantastic. Not only were the colors bright and vibrant, but it tasted phenomenal. The center rib from the chard gave the dish a crunchy dimension, and the leaves tasted like a wonderful shade of spinach.  

It was an excellent side dish to steak. The crispy outside of the steak and the crunchy ribs were a good pairing. Also, if you’re looking for a dish to give your dinner a little liveliness, then chard is the way to go. It looks like something out of the Willy Wonka factory, but it tastes so much better.

One thing to note if you are having company or want left overs: the leaves cook down a lot, and I was left wanting more. A whole bunch of chard easily boiled down to about two cups. This was fine for me, but if you’re having guests, or you want to have left overs I would recommend cooking two bunches. 

Check out more of Hungry in Brooklyn’s videos here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/hungryinbrooklyn

Know Thy Fishmonger

I failed. Not once but twice. Both times I over cooked my tuna steaks, and they turned out horrible. Cooking salmon seems to be easy enough - especially with the skin on. You just toss it in the pan with some oil over medium heat. Then I usually flip it over for a minute or so and presto! Delicious. Tuna - not so much.

The tuna steak is interesting because it bridges the gap between surf and turf (sort of), giving non-red-meat eaters something to be excited about. Typically the tuna that I eat comes in a can, and most of it tastes and smells like cat food. Enter Tonno. This is tuna packed in olive oil and a little salt and is downright delicious. When I lived in Charlotte, I found it at Harris Teeter, but I have been unable to find Tonno at our local Giant. I might have to venture over to Wegmens to find it. That place has everything you could ever want. In fact, I'm pretty sure I could live there - permanently.

This is great if you are on the go or need to make a quick meal, but what if you have more time? What did I do wrong? Did I need to marinate it? Obviously, I needed to cook it less, but how much less? How pink can you leave it?

After a little digging these seem to be consistent tips for cooking your best tuna steak:

1. Make sure your fish is pink and has a firm flesh. (thinking back, my tuna was more of a gray then pink - gross)
2. Buy the steak the day you intend to cook it, or put in fridge overnight. Do not freeze the steak. (I had it in my fridge for 4 days, but to be fair I don't think it was fresh to begin with. Sorry Giant)
3. Marinate over night for best flavor (I should have done this)
4. Use salt and pepper to taste (Check)
5. Put heat source on high (Check)
6. Sear both sides for 3-5 minutes. Do not cover. (Perhaps over cooked by a few minutes, plus I covered it. Now, I'm breaking rules left and right)
7. Allow it to cook 1/4in on each side, still rare in middle is fine. (Definitely not still rare when I was done)

So, now that I have some tips I'm going to go back to the grocery store to give this another shot. Do you have any favorite tuna steak recipes? Here are two that look uber tasty and paleo-friendly too.

Recipe 1: Blackened Tuna Steaks with Mango Salsa
Recipe 2: Sesame Crusted Ahi Tuna Steak

7 Quick Cooking Tips from a Noob

Cooking is an art, and like most art it takes time to craft and master. On my exciting return to cooking, thanks to the paleo-diet, I have learned a few things that I would like to share.

1. Lemon makes just about any meat or vegetable tasty - I have tried squeezing fresh lemon on anything from fish to broccoli to parsnips. I'm guessing limes, oranges and other citrus fruits will work just as well.
2. Steaming vegetables is SO easy - This is definitely my new favorite method of cooking veggies.
3. Balsamic reduction sounds a lot more complex then it is - It's very easy and adds a rich and slightly sweet flavor to your dish. Here is a good discussion on CHOW.
4. Having the right equipment helps - No need to go overboard, but you need the basics. Right not I'm using my skillet to cover the top to my pans when I steam. Probably time to invest in some basic kitchen ware.
5. Learn useful tips from the Food Network and Cooking Channel - I don't watch a lot of TV, but I do have 10-15 minutes while I'm eating. The Cooking Channel has really grow on me recently. I feel they have a lot more helpful shows, where as the Food Network still has shows like Unwrapped. No offense Mark Summers, but I liked you better on Double Dare.
6. Fresh is better than frozen - This is true with nearly everything. Frozen veggies just don't taste as good as the fresh ones. I know this is pretty standard advice, and some times we need to take shortcuts in cooking, but from now on I'm going to try to limit my frozen vegetables.
7. Find a good mentor - Having a friend who is also interested in cooking making it all the more enjoyable. Especially, when they can steer you in the right direction when it comes to new food, spices to use, cooking methods ect. Don't have a friend that likes to cook? That's what number 5 is for.

Those were just some quick tips that I've learned recently. I have had some successful meals and definitely some busts, but I'm loving getting back into it. Isn't that what it's all about? Have any other tips for beginner chefs? Feel free to add a comment.