GRANNIE'S FRENCH SWISS CHARD

A special recipe from Cait Johnson: The French love their chard (“blettes” in their language), and my Grannie (who was French and Swiss, among other things) used to make this recipe for me when I was little because she knew how good it was for me (chard is a fabulous source of many antioxidant vitamins and minerals)--and because this was one way I would actually eat it and enjoy it! The secret is adding raisins and pine nuts to the chard. I recently bought a drop-dead gorgeous book of French Provincial recipes, and in it was a recipe that looked just like the chard my Grannie used to make for me. It was even called “Blettes Grand-mere!” Try making it for your little ones: the sweetness of the raisins and the nutty, buttery crunch of the pine nuts make chard completely irresistible--and it cooks in about 3 minutes.

1 bunch Swiss chard
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
1/3 cup raisins or golden raisins
2 tablespoons pine nuts
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste

Remove the chard stems and the thick central vein from each leaf. Chop the leaves very coarsely. Using a large, heavy-bottomed frying pan over medium high heat, melt the butter with the oil until sizzling. Add the chard and the rosemary, stirring well to coat the chard with the butter mixture. Cook, stirring constantly, for another minute until the chard has wilted to about half its original volume. Add raisins and pine nuts, stirring to combine evenly, and continue cooking until any moisture has evaporated. The entire cooking process should take no more than about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.