Recipe - Green Chard And Slivered Carrots

3 tablespoon Virgin olive oil
1 Garlic clove; cut or sliced up
2 small Dried red chile peppers
=OR= Double amount
1 bn Swiss chard (about 1 One half lb)
3 md Carrots
Salt and pepper
Vinegar
=OR= Sliced Lemon Wedges

This can be either a hot side dish or a roomtemperature salad.

WARM THE OLIVE OIL in a pan with the garlic and chile peppers. Once the
garlic slices are brown, remove them and set the oil and peppers aside.
Separate the chard stems from the leaves. Cut the leaves into large pieces
and wash them. Trim the uneven ends off the stems. Then, to make the stems
as tender as possible, peel off the thin, transparent outer skin from each
stem. Catch the edge of a knife under the top layer of skin, and pull it
down the length of the stem. It sometimes helps, especially if the stem is
cured, to first cut the stem in half lengthwise. Peel both sides of the
stems, cut them into 2inch lengths. Then lengthwise into narrow strips.
Peel the carrots, slice them into long, 1/4inch diagonals, then into
narrow strips. Bring 4to5 quarts of water to a boil, and add 4 teaspoons
of salt. Briefly cook the chard stems and the carrots separately until each
is tenderabout a minute for the carrots, 2to3 minutes for the chard.
Remove them from the water and set them aside. Plunge the chard leaves into
the water and cook until they are tender, 3to5 minutes, depending on the
quality of the chard. When they are done, remove them to a colander. Press
against the leaves with the back of a wooden spoon to get rid of the water
then put them in a bowl with the stems and the carrots, and toss them with
the olive oil. Season with salt and serve with vinegar or slices of lemon.

DEBORAH MADISON PRODIGY GUEST CHEFS COOKBOOK

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini