My introduction to kale salads came by way of a restaurant, True Food Kitchen, that my aunt and I frequented for lunch in the summer of 2010. At TFK, they marinated the kale in lemon and olive oil, then tossed it with bread crumbs and parmesan. Back then, eating kale raw (for many of us) was revolutionary, but it quickly became an obsession. In the years that followed, I ate and prepared many raw kale salads, but it never occurred to me until many years after that TFK lunch, to try treating Swiss chard in the same manner. I had relegated chard to the vegetables-that-require-cooking family, which is a seriously misguided placement. Chard, like kale, loves a lemon dressing, and when tossed with bread crumbs and parmesan, its leaves relax, more so than kale in fact, and any bitterness disappears. Last week, when I asked Google if chard could be eaten raw, it pointed me to a salad on Food52, which I made immediately, and then again and then again. The dressing is simple — the juice of one lemon plus a quarter cup of olive oil — and the bread crumbs, seasoned with garlic and pepper flakes, are irresistible. If you’ve yet to give Swiss chard the kale salad treatment, now’s the time! Light, lemony, and refreshing — Swiss chard will never taste so summery. PS: All-Purpose Lemon Vinaigrette
Raw Swiss Chard Salad, Step by Step
Gather your ingredients: Swiss chard and… … parmesan, pepper flakes, lemon and garlic. You’ll also need some fresh bread crumbs: simply pulse stale bread in the food processor until it forms fine crumbs. Make the dressing. Combine the chard, bread crumbs, and lemon zest in a large bowl. Shave in some parmesan. Then toss with the dressing to taste. This is garlic from our CSA. Four enormous cloves per bulb. Isn’t it pretty? 4.9 from 52 reviews Note: If possible, get your hands on some good, tender Swiss chard for this recipe. We’ve been getting beautiful chard from our CSA as well as from the Niskayuna Co-op, which carries chard from Hope Valley Farm. Farmers’ markets, obviously, are a great source. Bread crumbs: Once, when I made this, I was out of bread — the horror! — and I used two English muffins instead. Worked like a charm.
