Swiss chard and scapes

It's so nice to see so many green things springing up at the market each week. Of course, thanks to this bloody heatwave, the veggies may be tempting, but the thought of actually cooking them is terrifying. Turning on the stove? Risky decision at best! Turning on the oven? Completely unthinkable, my friends.

Luckily, last weekend was bearable, temperature wise, so I was able to enjoy the rainbow chard I picked up at the Main Street market. I've only started eating chard in the last few years and I have to say, I absolutely love it. To me, chard is in that same category of beet tops and kale: greens full of irony goodness. This is the first time I've tried rainbow chard, and the bunch I bought had leaves that were completely free of earwig holes. (How is that even possible with the summer we're having?)

I can't say the rainbow variety tastes any different from the regular Swiss variety, but the colours sure are pretty.

I also picked up the last of the season's garlic scapes, so I decided to combine the two into the same dish. Normally, I'd saute a few cloves of garlic in a bit of olive oil before adding the chard, but no need with the scapes.

Next go the chard stalks, chopped into manageable pieces. Saute until soft.

Then come the leaves, washed and torn.


And cook until the leaves are wilted. Then add some salt and pepper and a bit of lemon juice.

Enjoy!