If I had to choose a green that I loved the most, I might waver towards Swiss chard.  Tender leafy greens that are slightly sweet and super easy to cook, these greens (and their lovely colorful stems!) are popular in a variety of Mediterranean dishes.  Sauteing them is the quickest way to enjoy them, but they are also a lovely, large green leaf that you can stuff (like in a stuffed cabbage dish), or chop and steam and put into a quiche or nice frittata.

For this saute of rainbow Swiss chard you actually start the cooking process with making candied garlic cloves. They are sauteed in a touch of olive oil, then sprinkled with sugar and cooked in dry red wine.  Next come the stems and greens, then diced sweet pears, buttery pine nuts and sweet, golden raisins. The combination of velvety greens, candied garlic in red wine, the fruit and the nuts just screams Mediterranean cooking at its best!

(To view this recipe from Hillary Davis’  Cuisine Niçoise, click on the blue title of the blog post above*)

Tagged: candied garlic, chard, Cuisine Nicoise, French, garlic, golden raisins, greens, Hillary Davis, pears, pine nuts, rainbow chard, red wine, side dish, Swiss chard