All vegetables have their merit, something that makes them stand out and be worthy of our consumption. One category of veggies, however, really deserves a blue ribbon. Of course you know I’m talking about the good ol’ leafy greens. Their nutritional value is, dare I say, unmatched in the vegetable kingdom. High in fiber, calcium, folic acid, iron, potassium, Vitamins A, C, and K, with anti-cancer and heart-disease fighting nutrients, these babies seriously need to make a regular appearance on your dinner plate. I know what you’re thinking.
Tell us something we don’t know.
Okay, unless you’ve been living under a rock you are well aware of the health benefits of leafy greens such as swiss chard, collard greens, kale, broccoli, and spinach. I’ve known how important it is to incorporate these powerhouses into my diet for quite a while. The problem? I’m still not getting enough. We should be getting at least three servings of these a day. I eat broccoli and spinach often, and kale chips make a regular appearance around here, but I am still not getting what is recommended. Not even close. So I am on a mission to step out of my cooking comfort zone and get these foods on my plate (or in my bowl) more often.
I will readily admit that when I think of a plate of sauteed greens, I don’t get excited. At all. Sorry all you greens lovers, they are just not my favorite. But the addition of a little sweetness from the golden raisins and the crunchiness of the toasted pine nuts made this more than just tolerable, and that is usually how I view cooked greens. This is really delicious and I don’t think it’s just my healthy-food bias talking. Everyone who ate it finished their entire portion and there were no leftovers.
I made this as a side dish to go with the pumpkin penne I prepared when my in-laws were in town (yes, even my vegetable-hating father-in-law ate this up!), but that post was already long enough so I saved the recipe for a different day. I almost forgot about it until I was looking through some pictures and saw a few photos of the rainbow chard. I knew this dish shouldn’t be left out of Happy Healthy Mama, so here it is.
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Sauteed Rainbow Chard with Golden Raisins and Pine Nuts
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
An easy side dish full of nutrients
Ingredients
- 1 medium bunch rainbow chard (you can substitute swiss chard if you can’t find the rainbow variety)
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup golden raisins
- 1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted (you can substitute sliced almonds)
Instructions
- Thoroughly wash and dry your chard. Use a knife to remove the tough ends and reserve for another use. {I recently learned that you can actually EAT these. Dumb me threw them away!} Chop your chard into small pieces. Isn’t rainbow chard pretty?
- In a large saute pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add your chard and saute until it is wilted. Meanwhile, dry toast the pine nuts in a small pan over medium heat. Just shake them around for a few minutes until they start to brown. Be careful-they can go from browned to burnt quickly! (If you are using almonds, do the same thing) Add the pine nuts and the raisins to the chard and stir until thoroughly heated. Serve immediately.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Side Dish
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 152
- Sugar: 1g
- Sodium: 81mg
- Fat: 11g
- Carbohydrates: 13.5g
- Protein: 2.5g
I didn’t give this to Meghan to try. Every time I’ve tried to give her cooked spinach, she has trouble chewing it and ends up gagging on it. I guess she just isn’t ready for cooked greens yet. If you are looking for ways to get your little one to eat greens, try these broccoli bites or these spinach cheese bites. Both are really tasty and kid-friendly.
M doesn’t really care for cooked spinach either. She will eat up salad though.
And that dish looks so pretty. Especially in that bowl.
I may have missed this in a previous post, but do you make green smoothies?!?!? I add loads of spinach, kale, chard, etc to my smoothies every day and even my kids will drink them. Their fave combo is spinach/pineapple/kiwi. Banana/blueberry/greens is another standard mix. Spinach is a good starter, then chard. Kale is the hardest to disguise but I don’t mind it. We add lots of other goodies in there too – chia seeds, hemp seeds, flax meal, etc. Just another getting-your-greens idea 🙂
Yes, we’ve done green smoothies. I usually use banana+peanut butter +spinach or kale. I’ve never tried chard! Spinach+pineapple+kiwi sounds great!! Thanks for the suggestion-we will definitely give that a try.
Chard is one of those things that I’ve never had the guts to try making. I’ll put this one on the list for sure!