Dj friend came by yesterday and bought 4 lbs @ $7/lb. 2 steak cuts which are each packaged paired, so either package will make a nice special meal, plus one pack of hamburger.
As we were talking, he reminded us that we told him about Lenny's ... and I have been complaining about produce prices, how nothing is under $1/lb. Okay, $.99/lb, but that's only for loss leader items. Not that I don't take advantage of them, but it would be nice to turn back the clock to, say, 2004 or so.
So we went back to Lenny's. $.99 for blueberries, .69$/lb for carrots, $.89/lb apples. Ah, back to where it takes a fair amount of weight to get to $5. I also picked up a bunch of swiss chard that looked good - $1.19/lb.
I sauteed the chard leaves in olive oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes. However, I found a great recipe for the chard stalks:
Creamed chard over pasta
1 bunch chard stalks - about 3/4 lb, or 2 cups
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 stick butter
1 cup heavy cream
dash nutmeg (my twist from the recipe I found)
pasta - I used penne
salt, pepper
Clean chard stalks if you haven't already, chop into 1/2 inch pieces.
Melt butter at low/med low heat, add garlic, saute for 1-2 min. (watch the butter, I burned my first batch. 
)
Add chard, saute until chard is soft. (5-8 minutes)
Add the heavy cream to the chard, stir, keep at low heat and reduce to half the volume. Add nutmeg after about 10 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.
Cook pasta al dente if you haven't already.
Dress the pasta with the cream sauce, serve warm.
food doings
September 6th, 2010 at 06:23 am
September 6th, 2010 at 01:40 pm 1283780438
September 6th, 2010 at 03:02 pm 1283785338
September 6th, 2010 at 07:44 pm 1283802253
NJdebbie - swiss chard leaves taste and behave a bit like spinach (slightly more bitter and meatier), but don't taste quite as bitter as mustard greens or collards. Kale is pretty close. The stems taste a bit like the leaves, but they behave a bit like celery. Often they are red or yellow, which in this recipe bleed into the cream coloring it a bit.
September 6th, 2010 at 11:36 pm 1283816161
blueberries for 99c a pound! here they are $6 for 250g!
September 7th, 2010 at 04:24 am 1283833495