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Pickled Rainbow Chard Stems #FoodieExtravaganza #InternationalPicklesWeek


Foodie Extravaganza is where we celebrate obscure food holidays or cook and bake together with the same ingredient or theme each month.

Posting day for #FoodieExtravaganza is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you! If you're a spectator looking for delicious tid-bits check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board!

This month I am hosting this month's #FoodieExtravaganza. I wrote: "International Pickles Week is the third week in May. Let's share your favorite recipes for making pickles, using pickles, etc. Lacto-fermented. Quick-pickled. It's all fair game!" Here's the list of our pickled creations...


In the Garden

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you'll know that my younger son created a garden for his IBMYP Personal Project this year. And the timing has been perfect for giving us greens during this shelter-in-place ordeal; I can stretch out store visits because I have fresh greens that he and Jake are harvesting daily.


One day they came in with a bowl full of greens - red chard, yellow chard, beet greens. I was thrilled. I used the greens in a quick sauté and decided to to pickle the stems.

In the Jar

Ingredients makes 1 cup
  • about 1 cup chopped chard stems (any color, I used rainbow chard)
  • 2 t salt, divided
  • 1/2 t dill seeds
  • 1/2 t fennel seeds
  • 1/2 t caraway seeds
  • 1 t black peppercorns
  • ¼ C apple cider vinegar
  • ¼ C rice vinegar
  • 3 T raw cane sugar
  • 1 sprig fresh thyme, destemmed


Procedure

Rinse and chop your chard stems into 1-1/2 lengths. Place them in a large mixing bowl and sprinkle them with 1 t salt. Toss to coat and set aside. Place the seeds and peppercorns in the bottom of clean mason jar. Set aside.

Place the vinegars, sugar, and 1 t salt in a pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Swirl and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Remove pan from heat and let the brine cool.


Rinse and drain the chopped stems and place them in a jar, cover them with the brine and refrigerate overnight before eating them. I used them as a flavor foil to a creamy lobster roll. I use them chopped in both tuna salad and egg salad. Unfortunately, as they pickle, they lose their gorgeous rainbow color, but they are still delicious. 

Comments

  1. I tried this a number of years ago. I was truly excited about the prospect of using the stems. Unfortunately, mine weren't delicious. We thought thought they tasted like dirt. :( Hope yours are MUCh better. :) Be well!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very very fresh pictures you give us by this article thanks
    From
    colorado

    ReplyDelete
  3. Isn't cooking from your own bounty rewarding? What a great way to use up some of the chard that grows like crazy.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love pickled, well, anything really so I was really excited to see what everyone else was contributing to this and I was not disappointed!! These look delicious and economical and extra economical because you grew your own.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The beautiful bright colors of those stems are amazing. Perfect timing for your garden to be harvested!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love that those came out of your own backyard!! Such beautiful colors - even if they loose their rainbow, so cool to see all the ways you were able to use them after pickling!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I've meant to pickle chard stems before and have often kept them planning to before promptly forgetting! They look pretty and sounds perfect timing on that garden.

    ReplyDelete

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