The Everyman’s not a huge fan of the tougher, leafier greens that have become a staple of our CSA share during the past few months. Some weeks that means they get turned into oven “chips” for me (FYI – I finally made the kale ones and they do taste like potato chips, oddly enough) while others they are relegated to the bottom of the compost bin.
It pains me to throw good food away, but there are only so many dried “chips” I can eat. This past week I drew a line in the sand, said enough was enough, and determined to make a chard dish he would love.
The immediate concept was to make a fried chicken-type dish, and then side it with some stewed greens, using chard in place of collards. Being that I don’t care to fry things, I opted for oven “frying” instead of oil, because it would be quicker, easier and healthier. On the rare occasions I make battered chicken, (I blame my teenage years working for KFC for my impartiality regarding fried chicken; some things once they are seen, can never be unseen, unfortunately). I also like to up the health quotient by crusting it with something more substantial than AP flour (not that we even keep AP in the house, anyway). Usually it ends up being a crust of whole wheat flour, wheat bran and flax meal, but this time I had something slightly different in mind.
The Everyman’s mother has a gluten allergy, so I have a vast array of “alternative” flours in my basement freezer ready and at hand for any baking emergency or requirement. The latest acquisition in my floury arsenal was a tub of spelt flour, which sounded like a good choice, so I poured some into a bag, added the requisite wheat bran and flax meal, some pimenton, salt and pepper, and shook it all around, after soaking the chicken legs in buttermilk for a few hours. On it’s own it didn’t look overly appetizing, what with spelt flour having an almost grayish cast. Once coated onto chicken legs it started to perk up a little, and by the time it was out of the oven, it looked sensational, as seen above. In case you’re wondering, it tasted fantastic, too.
To side the “fried” chicken, I rough chopped my chard into medium-sized pieces, tossed it in a pan with some olive oil, salt, pepper and chili flakes, and let it sauté until the chard was limp and collard-like. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen the Everyman eat any vegetable that fast before. Our chard dilemma solved, it’s clear that I will definitely be making this again. (more…)
