Camacho Watcho

Last week’s CSA share was another lush assortment of greens – spinach, swiss chard, lettuce – as well as a zucchini, sugar snap peas and broccoli. A beautiful share it was, but unfortunately I do not have a photo to share. (I know I took one, but as I write this I’m on the Oregon coast and can’t seem to find it).

I did make several great meals with my share, but I am most interested to talk about the swiss chard.

The previous week, I loved my kale so much that I was very excited to try a quick sautee of the chard to serve with another pork dish. I had consulted my sister, a chard enthusiast, and she confirmed her love for the greens sauteed in olive oil and garlic with a light sprucing of red pepper flakes and lemon juice. But, to me…the leaves were just too bitter.

I had made a swiss chard gratin in the winter, chard greens and stems in a creamy sauce with gruyere, that was fantastically good. But with my remaining chard, I wanted to make something lighter than the previous deliciously, heavy dish. After another consultation with my sister, we decided I should go back to my staple…and create a meal a creamy egg dish.

The result was, perhaps, the best omelet I’ve ever eaten. I started by caramelizing a quarter of an onion and then adding the chard leaves to wilt. In another pan, I crisped up two slices of bacon that had been cut into small pieces. These pieces were added to the onion and chard to await the filling on my omelet.

The omelet was cooked until the top was just barely set and then the filling added, as well as feta crumbles. The creamy eggs, salty bacon, and sweet onions were a perfect balance for the bitter greens. And the feta…well, everything tastes better with feta.

In need for a quick dinner on a rainy Monday night, I pondered the contents of my fridge. We had hosted brunch the morning before, so we had a few breakfast fixings that were begging to be eaten – eggs, asparagus and bacon…you can’t go wrong with that combo.

I rolled the bacon around the thin asparagus stalks and cooked them in the oven about 15 minutes, then finished them quickly under the broiler. A quick poach of a few eggs – firm whites and runny yolks – and toast of some sourdough slices and dinner was complete. The rich, runny yolks, salty bacon and tender asparagus were the perfect cure for the rainy Monday blues. Of course, it didn’t hurt that we also had some bubbly leftover in the fridge from our mimosas – and we didn’t want it to go to waste…