March 12, 2023

Rainbow Slaw: Swiss Chard Stem Recipe

If you’ve made a salad or soup that uses Swiss chard leaves but discards the stalks, don’t throw those stems away! Use this Swiss chard stem recipe instead. This slaw is easy to pull together, is colorful, and vibrant. The crunchy Swiss chard stems have a slight bitterness, that echoed in the rich walnuts. Sweet bell peppers are joined with tart granny smith apples, purple onions add flavor, and the parsley lends even more freshness. All those flavors are married together with a simple homemade vinaigrette seasoned with dill. This Swiss chard stem slaw adds that perfect freshness, brightness, crunch, and color to any meal.

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All About Chard

Swiss chard is a leafy vegetable, native to Europe, with tender leaves and heartier stems. It can come in a beautiful array of colors, from reddish and pinks, to oranges, yellows, and whites. I have to admit, a lot of the time I buy Swiss chard because the stems are so beautiful (and this salad is the perfect way to capture those colors). Like most greens, it’s Swiss chard is low in calories and contains no fat. 1 cup of greens does contain 3 grams of protein though! Swiss chard contains a massive amount of Vitamin K, as well as a healthy amount of vitamins A, C, and E. Swiss chard is packed with minerals too, and has a good amount of magnesium, copper, iron, manganese, potassium, and calcium. And in case you needed more nutrients, chard has a whole bunch of antioxidants as well.

I have to take a moment here for a little bit of a detour. I have no idea why, but I feel like one place where American English and British English really seem to differ is in vegetables. Eggplant becomes aubergine, zucchini are courgettes, cilantro becomes coriander, a rutabaga is a swede, and so on. And, in case you were curious, Swiss chard has a different name across the pond- it’s silver beet! So if you ever find yourself looking at a recipe asking for silver beet, you now know to reach for a leafy bunch of chard.

Got Chard Leaves? Try one of these Swiss Chard Leaf Recipes

Swiss Chard Salad by Sharon Palmer
Sweet Potatoes and Swiss Chard by Plant-Based Cooking
Super-Food Smoothie by Our Plant-Based World
Swiss Chard Pasta by Veggies Save the Day
Hoppin’ John with Chard by Connoisseurus Veg

Looking for Slaw Recipes? Try of these!

How to Make this Swiss Chard Stem Recipe

This recipe only uses the stems of the Swiss chard- it’s meant to be paired with another recipe that only calls for the leaves, so that you don’t end up wasting any of the chard. I have a few recipes that only use the leaves listed above, but generally you can use the leaves without the stems in the place of spinach. This salad is very much a chop it all up, throw it all together situation. For the best experience, chop all the vegetables relatively small so you get everything in every bite. Chop the chard stems, apples (no need to peel), and bell peppers all to about the same size. Dice the onions slightly smaller, and finely chop the parsley. The only cooking in this recipe is to the walnuts, which just need to be toasted for a couple minutes in a hot, dry skillet to bring out all the great nutty flavors. Give your nuts a rough chop, and throw them in a bowl with the rest of the salad ingredients.

I like to use my immersion blender to make a dressing like this one, but you can also just throw all the ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid and shake it really well to combine. Taste, and add salt and pepper to your dressing. Add the dressing to the vegetables and mix it all together well. And that’s it! A simple salad that helps reduce your food-waste, what could be better?