Chard Gone Wild = Garden Omelet

When I got up this morning, everything was different. No water falling from the sky; no rain. From my bedroom window I could see the mountains over my neighbor’s roof.  No fog, no low clouds.

Downstairs, there was a weird brightness to the world. I had to squint to see, and when I looked up, I couldn’t see at all. What was–wait, I remember–it’s–it’s–it’s sunshine! Yes, the sun was shining. I would get into the garden today.

So I made an omelet for the Significant Other and myself. (If you cannot follow the reasoning here, go away.)

In the past couple of weeks the indoor chard has been doing its best to escape the confines of its box, so I brought it outside to begin hardening off, and cut the longest stalks and leaves for breakfast fare. A couple of scallions from the garden seemed apropos; the stems were so sweet and crisp I chopped most of them as well, adding the left-over tips to the stock pot on the stove.

These were indeed some of the 2nd year onions that wintered over under a plastic hood, of whose fate and flavor I was so uncertain. Well, they’re wonderful, even those that had been considering going to flower. (I nipped those in the bud, following advice given by Karen, of An Artist’s Garden.)

If I ever feeling like committing suicide, avocados will probably be one of the reasons I change my mind. However, they’re so high in calories that they’ve always felt like a guilty indulgence, right up there with ice cream. Until a couple of weeks ago, that is, when I learned that avocados are one of the few non-fishy foods that contain omega-3 fatty acids. Thank you, NPR! Thank you, Infinite Mind! Thank you, Peter Kramer!

Walnuts, too, made the omega 3 list, so I figured they made the cut for my omlette as well. The glass jar on the island that holds toasted ones was nearly empty–elves? goblins? number 1 son?–your guess is as good as mine. I figured I could just toss raw ones into the frying pan with the onions et. al., so I added a few walnuts to the cutting board.

Last, I crumbled up some feta. You saw the whole gang at the top of the post.

I’ve long been chopping chard stems and sautéing them almost whenever I use chard, but this time I learned that the oldest part of the main stem can get tough and stringy. Also, the walnuts were not all I’d hoped for–no crispness. I may try again with pre-toasted ones.

But all in all–pretty damned tasty.

And by the way, it’s now sleeting with a vengeance. I think today’s gardening window just slammed shut.