Caramelized Onions and Swiss Chard Recipe - Don't Waste the Crumbs (2024)

FAQs

What is the trick to caramelizing onions? ›

When you add baking soda, the onions start to turn to mush as they caramelize. Delicious mush. But something closer to jam.

Chard stems take a little longer to cook than the leaves, but the whole plant is edible and delicious. It's a little bit sweet in the stems (which have a slight celery-like flavor) and pleasantly bitter in the leaves. Some people prefer to remove the stems from the leaves and cook them separately.

Caramelized onions are an easy way to add richness and depth of flavor to any dish but if you don't take it low and slow then you're often left with burnt crispy onions.

You can use either oil or butter to caramelize onions — but ideally, you use a combination of both! I like to use olive oil, and this cooking fat tolerates heat particularly well. Meanwhile, butter adds a distinctly rich flavor to the caramelized onions.

Caramelize the onions: Heat about 1 tablespoon of canola oil in a large skillet or dutch oven over medium-low heat. Once hot, add the onions and stir to coat. Let cook, stirring every 5-10 minutes, until deeply caramelized, about 1 ½ - 2 hours.

Tip: use apple cider vinegar for white and yellow onions and balsamic vinegar for red onions. Tip: the vinegar serves to deglaze the pan, adds acidity, and brings this recipe together by boosting the tangy and savory flavors of the caramelized onions. If the onions stick to the pan, that's fine.

Our Test Kitchen likes to use butter when caramelizing onions, as it offers the richest flavor. If you avoid dairy or don't have butter, you can caramelize onions in other fat such as margarine or olive oil. Add the onion slices. It's okay if they overlap a bit here because they'll shrink as they cook down.

Cover the pot with a lid, and then turn the burner on to medium-low heat. Cook covered until the onions have mostly broken down and are a pale brown sludge (about 45-60 minutes). Be sure to stir the pot periodically, checking to make sure the onions aren't burning.

Blood clotting: If you are on blood thinners, you may want to avoid Swiss chard due to its high vitamin K content, which plays a role in blood clotting. Allergy: If you are sensitive to grass pollen, you should avoid eating Swiss chard because inhaling vapor from boiling the vegetable may trigger rhinoconjunctivitis.

Is Swiss chard hard to digest? ›

Broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts and cabbage are among the most challenging to digest due to their complex fibers, which tend to ferment in the gut, causing gas and bloating. Alternative nutrient-rich foods that are easier on the gut include dark leafy greens like kale, spinach and Swiss chard.

Boil Swiss chard for a healthier side dish.

Add the chopped stems from 3-4 leaves, and cook for 2-4 minutes until they're mostly tender. Place the leaves in the pot, and cover for 1-2 minutes. The leaves should be wilted. If they're not, cook them another 1-2 minutes.

The trick is to use a heavier pot or pan—a tri-ply stainless steel saucepan or enameled cast iron Dutch oven is ideal—that can transfer heat slowly and evenly, preventing the hot and cool spots that are the bane of good caramelization.

You definitely want the flavor of butter in your onions—but butter has the tendency to burn. For insurance, use a combination of butter and oil, which has a higher smoking point. But how much do you use? Depending on the consistency you want your onions, you can use more or less fat.

For most of the cooking process, the heat should be low or medium-low to prevent the onions from burning before they have a chance to soften and caramelize.

Our Test Kitchen likes to use butter when caramelizing onions, as it offers the richest flavor. If you avoid dairy or don't have butter, you can caramelize onions in other fat such as margarine or olive oil. Add the onion slices. It's okay if they overlap a bit here because they'll shrink as they cook down.

Cover the pot with a lid, and then turn the burner on to medium-low heat. Cook covered until the onions have mostly broken down and are a pale brown sludge (about 45-60 minutes). Be sure to stir the pot periodically, checking to make sure the onions aren't burning.

So adding water and covering the skillet causes the raw onions to wilt faster and more evenly as the water turns to steam. Then, uncover the skillet and begin a process of pressing the softened onions into the bottom and sides of the skillet for maximum contact—and maximum browning.

Salting caramelized onions is like the icing on the cake. They must have salt but don't make the mistake of salting the onions too early. Instead, salt them at the very end of the recipe. Salt makes the onions release moisture which can slow down the caramelization.