{"id":18296,"date":"2016-01-26T08:45:06","date_gmt":"2016-01-26T13:45:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=18296"},"modified":"2016-01-26T08:46:12","modified_gmt":"2016-01-26T13:46:12","slug":"on-your-table-not-too-late-to-start-the-year-eating-healthy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=18296","title":{"rendered":"On Your Table: Not too late to start the year eating healthy"},"content":{"rendered":"

And remember, ‘healthy’ doesn’t have to mean boring or tasteless<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

By Cathy Branciaroli,<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0Food Correspondent, The Times<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"swiss-chard-7-white-cannelini-beans\"<\/a>

Swiss Chard is a winter green chock full of nutrients and when combined with beans or even pasta it makes for a healthful dinner meal.<\/p><\/div>\n

Here I am still thinking about the New Year\u2026. And since it\u2019s January we can yet have a conversation about healthy eating resolutions. Indeed, what finer gift can someone give to him or herself and the family but to take better care about the food one prepares. And this needn\u2019t be painful. Following through on a resolution to eat more fresh foods is really fun and simple.<\/p>\n

I spoke with Chef Greg Smith of the recently opened Avenue Kitchen in Glen Mills about his thoughts on this subject. He recommends choosing whole grains including farro instead of rice. He also suggests to limit the amount of red meat included in a dish. \u201cCleaner and fresher are what it\u2019s all about this time of year\u201d, he said\u00a0\u00a0 At Avenue Kitchen, they are currently offering a number of winter salads and handmade pastas including cavatelli. The restaurant, which opened in September, is a new venture owned and operated by the same folks who run the acclaimed Avenue Restaurant in Villanova.<\/p>\n

During our visit we talked about how winter greens can make a dish really nutritious while still being tasty and enjoyable. My personal favorite of the winter greens, being of Italian heritage, is Swiss Chard, although kale is still all the rage.<\/p>\n

Swiss Chard is one of the healthiest vegetables on earth. Indeed, all vegetables are healthy to some degree or another, but Swiss Chard is an extremely strong performer, loaded with vitamins and nutrients. And unlike kale, it\u2019s a tender green that doesn\u2019t need much cooking.<\/p>\n

Like spinach, it is a store-house of many nutrients. It is very low in calories and an excellent source of antioxidant vitamins including vitamin-C.\u00a0\u00a0 It is one of the great vegetable sources for vitamin-K<\/strong>.. It is also rich source of omega acids; vitamin A, Beta-carotene and B-vitamins.<\/p>\n

Oh and did I forget to mention how great a cooking ingredient it is?\u00a0\u00a0 Swiss Chard, can be steamed, saut\u00e9ed, braised and baked or combined in casseroles with other healthy ingredients like beans<\/p>\n

My grandmother grew up in the Abruzzo region of Italy where a favorite side dish was made with Swiss Chard and beans, sprinkled liberally with red pepper flakes.\u00a0 Although I like this dish just the way she made it, my husband prefers a more substantial meal, and I have been making it with pasta in recent years.<\/p>\n

Italian Style Swiss Chard and Cannelini Beans<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ingredients<\/strong><\/p>\n

1 large bunch swiss chard, stems removed and sliced<\/p>\n

\u00bd pound or box of orecchiette pasta (Optional)<\/p>\n

1 small onion, diced<\/p>\n

\u00bc cup extra virgin olive oil<\/p>\n

3 garlic cloves, diced<\/p>\n

1 can cannellini beans drained and rinsed<\/p>\n

1 cup low-salt chicken broth<\/p>\n

\u00bd cup grated parmesan cheese<\/p>\n

\u00bd tsp salt<\/p>\n

\u00bd tsp cayenne pepper flakes<\/p>\n

Preparation<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rinse the swiss chard and remove the stems.\u00a0 Cut into 1 inch slices and steam the chard in a little water for 2 minutes.\u00a0 Then plunge into ice water.\u00a0 Set aside.<\/p>\n

If you are serving the dish with pasta, cook the pasta according to the directions and drain, reserving \u00bd cup of the pasta water. Saut\u00e9 the chopped onion in the olive oil till translucent and then add the garlic.\u00a0 Cook for 3-4 minutes.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Heat the chicken broth and pour over the savories.\u00a0 Then add the beans and the pasta water.\u00a0 When everything is heated, add the Swiss Chard, cook for 2 more minutes then top with the parmesan cheese.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cathy Branciaroli also writes about her adventures in the kitchen on her blog <\/em>Delaware Girl Eats<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

And remember, ‘healthy’ doesn’t have to mean boring or tasteless By Cathy Branciaroli,\u00a0Food Correspondent, The Times Here I am still thinking about the New Year\u2026. And since it\u2019s January we can yet have a conversation about healthy eating resolutions. Indeed, what finer gift can someone give to him or herself and the family but to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18295,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,4],"tags":[3896,3760,7033],"class_list":["post-18296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","category-featured","tag-healthy-eating","tag-new-year","tag-swiss-charg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18296"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18296\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18297,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18296\/revisions\/18297"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}