Tuesday Treats! Chard with Apricot and Almonds

I've decided to try something new with the blog. Treats from the garden recipes every Tuesday and maybe sometimes on Thursday. These will not be gourmet major productions. I am neither a chef nor a food photographer. I'm a mom of two kids that have adventurous spirits that can only be stretched so far. I also work most weekdays, so this has to be fast. I'm just going to show how I've been using what I've been getting out of the garden.

Today from the garden I'll be using rainbow swiss chard and a bit of parsley. The recipe is Chard with Fresh Apricots and Toasted Almonds. Hard core measuring is not required. Use more or less as you desire.

For this recipe, do your prep ahead of time, but don't do the final saute of the chard until you are ready to serve. It's better right off the stove.

The ingredients: 1 large bunch chard, 1TBS olive oil, 1 purple onion chopped, chopped garlic (about 4 cloves), five ripe apricots, 1/3 cup almonds.

1. Throw the almonds in a frying pan without oil and toast them lightly. Remove and set aside.

2. Chop the onion, stems of the chard and thicker veins of the chard. Saute it in the olive oil for 3-4 minutes until tender. Turn off heat.

3. Chop your apricots (skin on is fine) and your garlic.

4. When you are ready to serve, reheat the onion mixture. Add the chard greens and saute for three minutes. Add the apricots, and garlic and saute for a 2-3 minutes more until hot and greens are bright. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with toasted almonds.

We had it with hickory grilled wild caught, sockeye salmon and grilled corn.

Family rating of chard with apricots 1-10 scale

Me: 8.5 (its not a brownie, but it's good!)

Lara age 11 (will try anything once) 7

"moooooom it's a vegetable!

Richie (want's to try nothing unless it's a corndog) 4-he said it tasted good but the texture of the greens was too much for him.

Hubby (if it's weird, I'm scared) "Good" I like it! 7.5

Of note all cleared their plates of it completely, even before they knew about the cherry pie in the oven. I'll make this again. I have a ton of chard in the garden, and this took less then ten minutes to throw together.