Swiss Chard Tart
Swiss chard is such a marvelous vegetable. Not only it looks beautiful with its colorful stalks but it also is extraordinarily healthy. Just one cup of raw, uncooked chard gives you 4 g of fiber, over 700% of daily requirement for vitamin K, 100% for vitamin A, 50% for vitamin C, almost 40% for magnesium, 27% for potassium and 23% for Iron. It really is exceptionally lot for just 1 cup. It also gives you a decent 15% of Calcium but since it contains oxalic acid, the nutrient is not as easily accessible because oxalic acid binds to Calcium preventing it from being fully absorbed. It is the case for most of the green, leafy vegetables like spinach and collard greens and when eaten in excess, it might cause kidney stones so you should watch your intake of green leafy vegetables if you think you’re prone to kidney stones. One school says that cooking helps neutralize oxalic acid but there really is no definite answer to that. Oxalic acid also binds to Iron preventing it from being absorbed but by consuming vitamin C together with chard, you greatly improve Iron absorption. It is especially very important for vegetarians to take vitamin C every time we eat non-heme Iron from vegetables, because we usually get less Iron than meat eaters and we are more prone to anemia.
Ok, that’s enough of the scientific talk. Lets get to the cooking part. The tart I made is with whole wheat flour but if you want to achieve smoother texture, use regular all-purpose or pastry flour. I used whole wheat because I wanted my tart to have more fiber, besides I never had tart on a whole wheat dough and wanted to give it a try.
Ingredients:
1 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup salted butter
4 Tbsp icy cold water
About 10 Swiss chard leaves with stalks
1 minced garlic clove
1 cup milk or half-and-half
3/4 cup Swiss cheese
1 egg
Salt
Cut the butter into the flour until it becomes crumbly.
Add about 4 Tbsp icy cold water and incorporate into the flour. Work the dough with your hands a bit until it becomes smooth.
Wrap in foil and put into freezer for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile chop the chard stalks and leaves into smaller pieces.
Add stalks and minced garlic to a pan with olive oil and saute for a minute.
Add leaves, season with salt and saute 2 min more.
when the pastry is cold either roll it thinly and transfer to a 9 in pie dish or grate into a dish like you would grate cheese.
Using your hands press the pastry into a bottom and sides of a dish. Pierce with fork and bake 15 min in the oven preheated to 425°F.
In a bowl mix together milk (or half-and-half), cheese and egg.
Spread the chard evenly all over the baked pastry.
Pour the milk and cheese mixture all over the top of the filling. Bake 30-35 min (or until golden brown) in the oven preheated to 350°F.
Nutrition Facts in 1 portion (whole tart yields 6 portions) if made with whole milk not half-and-half:
Energy:
Kilocalories 331.13 kcal, Protein 11.53 g, Carbohydrate 26.79 g
Fat:
Total 21.4 g, Saturated Fat 12.95 g, Monounsaturated Fat 5.57 g, Polyunsaturated Fat 1.12 g, Cholesterol 90.95 mg
Carbohydrates:
Dietary Fiber 5.7 g, Sugar 3.76 g
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