Asian Chard Salad with Mushrooms and Bell Pepper

How many of you are lucky enough to have a wonderful farmer’s market nearby? Or access to locally grown produce? After moving here to Maui from the SF Bay Area, one of the first things I had to adjust to was that a lot of the locally grown stuff, the good stuff, went to the Resorts/Restaurants on the island. I was spoiled in NoCal, good produce was everywhere, at every store, and on every corner it seemed.

There are farmer’s markets here to get great stuff if you can get up and out of the house early in the mornings. I am up early; getting out of the house early, not so much. Fortunately, a wonderfully smart businesswoman here started a business of providing home delivery of locally grown produce, as well as local artisan products (jam, bread…) and local fish.  Every Wednesday I get my “goodie box” delivered right to the front door. Her name is Roxanne Tiffin and you can read more about her company, Kula Fields.

I am never sure what will show up in my box! I’m lucky that I have time to research recipes and also that I have a hubby who will eat anything. Really, anything…

Some of the culinary delights he sampled on our trip to China; those who tried them said they were very tasty!

Well, Roxanne hasn’t delivered any sandworms or water beetles but week after week she provides us with most of our veggies. I love that it is local stuff, that-even in a small way-I’m helping local farmers and Roxanne succeed and in turn they are helping Maui become more self sustained.

If you saw my post yesterday for Whole Wheat Pizza, you may recall that I served a simple chard salad with the pizza. Today, the last few chard leaves were calling to be eaten so I rummaged around in the veggie drawer and found some mushrooms and a red bell pepper that I thought would make a nice lunch salad with the chard. I do love an Asian vinaigrette on chard so I whipped some of that up and served the salad with some left over grilled chicken breast to round out my South Beach lunch.

Asian chard, red pepper and mushroom salad; makes one serving of about 2+ cups

Approximately 211 calories, 17 grams carbs, 14 grams fat, 7 grams protein 

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups chopped chard
• ½ cup chopped mushrooms
• ½ cup chopped red bell pepper
• 1 ½ tsp EVOO
• 1 ½ tsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 TBSP rice vinegar (could use another vinegar if you don’t have rice vinegar)
• 1 TBSP plus a shake of seasoning (I used an all natural salt free “Oriental Blend” that has sesame seeds, garlic, pepper, onion as main ingredients)

Method:
Wash and dry the chard leaves and remove any big stems. Roll the leaves and cut into ribbons. Place in salad bowl with chopped mushrooms and chopped pepper. Whisk the oils, vinegar and seasoning together and pour over salad. Toss and add another shake of the seasoning to the top of the salad. Serve with 3 oz of protein for a satisfying South Beach meal.

The red bell pepper looked great with the red veins in the chard.

Chard is a wonderful source of fiber, vitamin C, and vitamin K, as well as many other nutrients.

 Have you cooked with chard? I’ve only eaten it raw in salads like today’s recipe-would love to hear your experience with this mega-green.

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