Blanched Greens
Two whole bunches of chard, blanched, squeezed, and ready for recipes or freezing.
Blanched greens have the distinction of going with practically everything. Let them cool enough to handle, squeeze out the extra water, press them flat, seal them up in a ziploc bag, and they freeze like beautiful green bricks. Slice off chunks of blanched greens and use them in homemade pizzas, frittatas, omelettes, and lasagna. Serve them with labneh for a classic Middle Eastern salad. Or with sesame for an Asian version, just as classic.
Process 1: Real Blanching
Prepare a large soup pot of water. For 2 bunches of greens, you want a gallon and a half of water, minimum. Get it to a rolling boil. Add 4 tablespoons of table salt.
Carefully dump the greens into the boiling water. Set a timer for 2 minutes.
Wasting no time, prep a second big pot of ice water. When the 2 minutes are up, dump the greens through a colander, then flip them into the ice water. Set the timer again for 2 minutes.
Drain the cooled greens over the colander.
Squeeze.
You can chop and use them now, or stuff the greens into ziploc bags for freezing.
Process 2: Lazy Blanching / Nutrient Saving
Once I read that fully half the greens’ nutrients leach away into the cooking water, my enthusiasm for blanching waned. Now I saute greens with a minimal amount of water still clinging to the leaves. Then chop and freeze.