You may be wondering what’s up with the strange recipe title. The reason for it is that I’m not exactly sure what it is that I bought. You see gourmet greens and/or salads are a rare find here. So as I have little to no exposure I have to rely on the internet for accurate translations.
The first time I bought the greens they were labeled as Beet Salad Greens, apparently they are gourmet baby beet greens. The second time I bought a package of the greens they were labeled as Red Chard Salad. The red chard is ordinary red chard and ruby red chard, which is a member of the Swiss chard family. At least that’s what I’ve read and since they are both new to me I don’t know otherwise. (haha)
As you can see I’ve been left confused and don’t know what they are and why one package said different from the other. The only conclusion I can come to is that the packages were mislabeled. From what I can tell the contents were actually a mix of baby beet greens and red chard. Can anyone help clarify this for me?
Regardless of what these vibrant salad greens are they taste fantastic. The taste is a bit mild like spinach but a tad earthy like beets. All I know is that both times I’ve made them hubby and I have really enjoyed them. I kept the recipe very simple as I wanted the greens flavour to be the star. But of course we all know that a recipe would not be a Spicie Foodie one without a little kick or spice, that’s where the chile comes in. The chile added a little spiciness which was a nice contrast to the sweetness of the red onion. Feel free to omit the pepper or use less if you don’t eat spicy food.
Alright let’s get our cook on!
- 1 mixed package of baby beet greens and red chard (300g or just over ½ lb.)
- 1 small red onion cut into ⅛ths
- 2 large dried red Mexican chile de arbolor your choice of pepper
- 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- pinch each salt and ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil
- Heat the oil, once hot saute the onions until soft and translucent. Add the chile and saute for another 2 minutes, then add the garlic and saute until soft. Add the salad greens, cover and allow to cook just until they begin to wilt. Sprinkle salt and ground black pepper over the greens, stir until well combined. Serve as a side dish.
On a last note I’d like to share some exciting news with you. My cookbook, An Epiphany Of The Senses, is now available on iBooks and iTunes. (Yay!) You can now download it to your iPhone, iPad, or iPod with iBooks, and onto your computer with iTunes. Plus with a great low price of $9.99 it’s a deal you shouldn’t pass up. (Thanks for reading my advert, when one doesn’t have a PR rep one has to do it all themselves:)
Have a great weekend everyone! I hope it’ll be as fun as mine, I’ll be working on a special photography project. By the way what food photography problem or question would you like answered? Can’t wait to share the project with you. But until then enjoy your weekend!
Gorgeous greens, they make a beautiful saute! Congratulations on the cookbook, I’ll be checking it out! :)
Thanks Laura, they are so pretty and hard to resist:)
Mighty scrumptious! A refined sauteed dish.
Cheers,
Rosa
Thank you Rosa:)
Beautiful to look at, so easy to make and 100% healthy: my kind of food! These look like baby beet greens to me: both the reddish and the green have the same size, shape and veining – possibly the two bags you bought had been packed by different companies with differing ideas. Our supermarkets may have as many as a dozen different mixes at any one time, oft with quite unhelpful names [gourmet, Asian, summer, spring restaurant etc!!]. I just look at what appeals, make sure it seems crisp and take potluck :) !
Hi Eha,
Thanks, I was so confused. We have those mixed salad packages here, often times I don’t recognize half of them. But also wonder why they aren’t sold individually- I love them all.
We can’t buy swiss chard ( like this) or baby beet leaves . I have to say it looks delicious.. or is that just your photos ?? Sorry I haven’t visited for a while I had a computer crsh and burn!!
Hi Tania,
That’s too bad. It was really delicious:) No problem and I do hope you are feeling better. Besides it’s good to take a break from the computer.
Beautiful, healthy and spicy!! This is what I call a win, win, win!! Great dish!! Hope you are having a wonderful weekend. :)
Hi Ramona,
Thank you so much. You too have a great weekend:)
When I lived in Italy, there were all sorts of different green salad leaves and I loved it. We are more restricted here for some inexplicable reason. I love your recipe but I would probably eat them just with a little salt and olive oil to taste the flavour. Some salad leaves have amazing flavour.
Hi Suzanne,
Too bad you don’t have as many different salad greens there. Next package I buy that’s how I’ll eat them. Thanks:)
tht’s a summery vibrant platter; loved learning abt those greens
Hi Priya,
Thanks!
I know I was looking at a salad called redleaf spinach the other day. Yours looks a bit similar to that. Basically, the darker the leaf, the more nutritious for you I think…so it should all be good! Ous here comes all mixed up too…all sorts of lettuces are together but they don’t really identify what each and every one is called.
Hi Sarah,
I’ve heard that before, about the darker the leaf or color the healthier it is. So it appears that those mixes are common everywhere. Thanks!
oh my goodness i love this! what a unique way to eat veggies. the chiles really kick it up a notch. i’m always trying to figure out how to do something new and different with salad greens, can’t wait to try it!
Hi Anna,
That’s exactly why I decided to saute them rather than use as a salad. It worked and tasted fantastic.
Congratulations on the cookbook! Don’t worry about not knowing which greens you’re using, just as long as you enjoy the taste.
Thanks! That’s true it is the taste that matters most:)
First of all… CONGRATULATIONS on the cookbook!!!! We’re surrounded by such talented food bloggers and so inspiring! I hear it’s a lot of work to write a book so I can imagine how hard you worked for this book. So happy for your achievement.
And the salad… hmm… those greens look familiar but I am not confident about what the name is… =P Beautiful photography!!
Hi Nami,
Thank you:) It was a lot of work, it took me about 6 months to put it all together. But it was so well worth it.
Thanks!
Your greens look like baby beet greens, very tender and delicious!
Thanks,now I know:)
Looks like baby chard greens to me? :) But what ever they are, they are lovely, as is this saute…beautiful!
Thanks Alisha! I thought about snapping a photo and asking you the first time I bought them. You are the veggie queen after all:)