Confluence Literary Festival

Back in February, when I was still designing the season's garden in my notebook, it was difficult to know how much of each crop to plant. After hours spent agonizing over the tantalizing choices in my Territorial seed catalog, I mailed off my order form and waited in anticipation for the packets of seeds to arrive. Peas, spinach, beets, lettuce, chard.... these were the first seeds to plant as soon as the soil was warm enough to work with. I decided on two rows each of the leafy greens, to leave enough room for the tomatoes, peppers, beans, and squash that would be planted weeks later. All my greens were sown on the same sunny day in early April. For days I waited, eagerly checking my beds each morning for signs of growth. The spinach came up first, then tiny emerald beet and chard sprouts. I watered and thinned and mulched, enjoying the chores each day as I watched my vegetables grow.
Some grew faster than others. The lettuce was ready to begin eating after only a few weeks, and spinach soon followed. The first meals made from my spring garden were delicate affairs- baby salad greens, gently steamed spinach and rice, fresh peas eaten two by two on the front stoop. My greens grew steadily, and before I knew it there was more food than I could eat! Now piles of spinach, loads of lettuce, rows of beets as tall as my knee- all vying for a spot on the dinner table. And with the largest and most luscious leaves of all, the rainbow chard demanded my attention. I trimmed its colorful stems, happily steaming and stir frying until I grew weary of chard. But still it grew, its prehistorically large leaves appearing almost as fast as I could eat them.
With the heat of summer finally arriving in the past two weeks, my lettuce patch has gone rather bitter and the beloved rows of spinach are starting to bolt. But with the chard showing no signs of slowing down, I had to turn to my cookbook shelf for inspiration. One of my favorite books on the subject of vegetables is Alice Waters' Chez Panisse Vegetables. Ms. Waters relies on the honest flavors of truly fresh ingredients to speak for themselves in her recipes. Simple directions and straightforward ingredient lists make for a practical cookbook that has a place in any kitchen, especially mine. The book is organized by vegetable, with beautiful, full color linocut prints by Patricia Curtan that highlight the individuality of each food crop. For cooks blessed with a bounty of a particular vegetable, this book is indispensible. After browsing the chapter on chard, I felt inspired once again to take my shears to the garden and bring another basketful of chard greens to the kitchen. If you, too, have more chard than you know what to do with, try this gratin, perhaps with a cup of black bean soup and an ice cold IPA. Recipe adapted from Chez Panisse Vegetables.

Rainbow Chard Gratin

2 pounds young rainbow chard
2 cloves garlic
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups milk or soy milk
2 tablespoons flour
Whole nutmeg
Salt and pepper
1 cup toasted bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Wash and trim chard, then parboil 1 1/2 minutes in lighly salted boiling water. Drain, squeeze leaves dry, and chop into pieces. Peel and mince garlic and set aside.
In a cast iron skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the chard and turn as it begins to wilt, adding the garlic and cooking uncovered for 7 or 8 minutes. As the chard cooks, warm the milk in a small saucepan.
Sprinkle the flour over the chard and stir to distribute evenly. Cook for one minute more, then begin to add the milk a little at a time. When the milk is completely incorporated, season lightly with a grating of nutmeg, salt and pepper. Transfer mixture to a buttered gratin dish, top evenly with toasted bread crumbs, and bake for 35 minutes until the bread crumbs are browned.Serves 4.