I made this yummy salad to share last night with the recently-christened "Flavors" Food Group that I'm a part of. I like chard, but not so much when it's the star ingredient. This salad, however, was surprisingly good! It was fun sharing it with some other local, in-season food enthusiasts, and it was even more enjoyable knowing that all the produce came straight from my garden!
Source: adapted from Better Homes & Gardens magazine, August 2012
1 large bunch of rainbow chard (12 oz.)
1 clove garlic
2 T. olive oil
1 T. apple cider vinegar
1 T. finely chopped shallot*
1 fresh hot chile pepper, very thinly sliced**
1/2 t. sea salt
1/4 t. freshly ground black pepper
5 oz. mozzarella cheese, coarsely shredded
Wash and dry the chard leaves. Removed the stems. Stack the leaves in a pile, roll up tightly like a cigar, and thinly slice crosswise into very fine strands.
For the vinaigrette, mash the garlic with a pinch of salt to a paste. In a large bowl, whisk garlic past with the olive oil, vinegar, shallot, chile pepper, sea salt and pepper. Toss the chard in the vinaigrette. Sprinkle with the mozzarella and season with additional salt and pepper if desired.
Yields: 6 (1-cup) servings
*Note - I never have shallots on hand and haven't had any success growing them in the past, so I usually substitute a combination of onion and garlic for the shallot.
** I used a red jalapeno in place of the chile pepper.
Enjoy!