Rainbow Slaw: Swiss Chard Stem Recipe
If you’ve made a salad or soup that uses Swiss chard leaves but discards the stalks, don’t throw those stems away! Use this Swiss chard stem recipe instead. This slaw is easy to pull together, is colorful, and vibrant. The crunchy Swiss chard stems have a slight bitterness, that echoed in the rich walnuts. Sweet bell peppers are joined with tart granny smith apples, purple onions add flavor, and the parsley lends even more freshness. All those flavors are married together with a simple homemade vinaigrette seasoned with dill. This Swiss chard stem slaw adds that perfect freshness, brightness, crunch, and color to any meal.
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All About Chard
Swiss chard is a leafy vegetable, native to Europe, with tender leaves and heartier stems. It can come in a beautiful array of colors, from reddish and pinks, to oranges, yellows, and whites. I have to admit, a lot of the time I buy Swiss chard because the stems are so beautiful (and this salad is the perfect way to capture those colors). Like most greens, it’s Swiss chard is low in calories and contains no fat. 1 cup of greens does contain 3 grams of protein though! Swiss chard contains a massive amount of Vitamin K, as well as a healthy amount of vitamins A, C, and E. Swiss chard is packed with minerals too, and has a good amount of magnesium, copper, iron, manganese, potassium, and calcium. And in case you needed more nutrients, chard has a whole bunch of antioxidants as well.
I have to take a moment here for a little bit of a detour. I have no idea why, but I feel like one place where American English and British English really seem to differ is in vegetables. Eggplant becomes aubergine, zucchini are courgettes, cilantro becomes coriander, a rutabaga is a swede, and so on. And, in case you were curious, Swiss chard has a different name across the pond- it’s silver beet! So if you ever find yourself looking at a recipe asking for silver beet, you now know to reach for a leafy bunch of chard.
Got Chard Leaves? Try one of these Swiss Chard Leaf Recipes
- Swiss Chard Salad by Sharon Palmer
- Sweet Potatoes and Swiss Chard by Plant-Based Cooking
- Super-Food Smoothie by Our Plant-Based World
- Swiss Chard Pasta by Veggies Save the Day
- Hoppin’ John with Chard by Connoisseurus Veg
Looking for Slaw Recipes? Try of these!
- Vegan Red Cabbage and Rhubarb Slaw
- Wood Sorrel, Jicama, and Beet Slaw
- Seaside Vegan Beet Salad
- Vegan Miso Napa Cabbage Slaw
- Vegan Spicy Korean Radish Salad
How to Make this Swiss Chard Stem Recipe
This recipe only uses the stems of the Swiss chard- it’s meant to be paired with another recipe that only calls for the leaves, so that you don’t end up wasting any of the chard. I have a few recipes that only use the leaves listed above, but generally you can use the leaves without the stems in the place of spinach. This salad is very much a chop it all up, throw it all together situation. For the best experience, chop all the vegetables relatively small so you get everything in every bite. Chop the chard stems, apples (no need to peel), and bell peppers all to about the same size. Dice the onions slightly smaller, and finely chop the parsley. The only cooking in this recipe is to the walnuts, which just need to be toasted for a couple minutes in a hot, dry skillet to bring out all the great nutty flavors. Give your nuts a rough chop, and throw them in a bowl with the rest of the salad ingredients.
I like to use my immersion blender to make a dressing like this one, but you can also just throw all the ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid and shake it really well to combine. Taste, and add salt and pepper to your dressing. Add the dressing to the vegetables and mix it all together well. And that’s it! A simple salad that helps reduce your food-waste, what could be better?
Rainbow Slaw: Swiss Chard Stem Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 large bunch of Swiss chard, stems only
- ½ small purple onion
- 1 medium granny smith apple
- 1 large bell pepper
- ¼ cup [parsley, finely chopped
- 1/3 cup walnuts, toasted
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tsp. maple syrup
- 1 tsp. nutritional yeast
- ½ tsp. dried dill
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Remove the stems from the chard, and slice into small pieces. Thinner stalks can be cut down the length, thicker stalks should be cut in half or quarters before slicing into small pieces. Dice the onion. Cut the apples into small pieces. Remove the core and seeds from the bell pepper and chop into small pieces. Roughly chop your parsley. Toast your walnuts in a small skillet, and then chop or crush them into small pieces. Add all the salad ingredients to a large mixing bowl, and toss.
- Mince the garlic for the dressing. Add all of the ingredients for the dressing to a jar, and shake well to combine. Alternatively, you can use an immersion blender to get it creamy quickly. Top the salad with the dressing, toss, and serve.
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Photography drew me in. Wonderful recipe – so easy to make and super healthy. Thank you for posting this.
Thanks for the kind comment Laura!