Easy Recipes Add Greens To Your Menus

Getting more hearty greens into your family’s diet is thought to be a challenge – but all you need to do is mix the greens with things your family already likes.

Stuffed Swiss Chard

(This is take-off on stuffed cabbage. If you prefer other fillings, go with what you like best, but don’t forget the chard!)

1 pound ground beef
½ ground pork
2 cups cooked rice
1 teaspoon sugar
1 medium onion chopped
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
2 – 3 pounds Swiss Chard leaves, quick-blanched or steamed until just tender
1 Tablespoon butter
2 cups tomato sauce

Preheat oven to 350°. Steam/blanch chard leaves, and lay on dishtowel or paper toweling to drain and dry.

Mix thoroughly ground beef, ground pork, onion, salt, sugar, nutmeg, pepper, and rice.

Place a ladle of tomato sauce in 9×13 baking dish.

Put a ball of meat rice mixture on the wilted chard leaf about an inch or so up from the stem end. Fold and roll the leaf over the filling as you would a burrito. Repeat until you have used all your filling.

Place finished rolls in 9×13 baking dish, seam side down. Dot chard rolls with butter.   Pour remaining tomato sauce over the chard rolls, covering each roll top to bottom and side to side with the sauce.

Bake 40 minutes, covered with foil.  Remove foil and cook 20 more minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to rest five minutes before serving. Serve with salad and mashed potatoes.

Oriental Pork and Spinach Soup – from my book “From My Family Recipe Box”

4 cloves of garlic – minced
2 Tablespoons butter
¾ pound ground pork
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 (3ounce) package Ramen noodles–discard seasoning packet
1 medium onion minced
3 cups chicken or pork broth
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 pound washed fresh spinach

Saut̩ garlic and onion in butter in heavy soup pot until golden Рadd broth and bring to a boil.

Mix ground pork, pepper, cornstarch, and soy sauce in a bowl and form ¾ inch balls.  Drop into boiling broth; cover and simmer 10 minutes until meatballs no longer pink in the middle   Add noodles and cook 2 minutes.  Add spinach; cover and simmer 1 minute or until spinach is barely wilted.

Variation:

Use ground chicken in place of pork.

I love to use baby Swiss chard and baby spinach in salads – their earthy flavor adds a deep touch to a sandwich in place of lettuce.