For the last kitchen held at the Gilmore Park Church before the summer break, we made a couple of dishes with Swiss chard. The Richmond Sharing Farm shared some of their produce to the community kitchens especially during the abundant harvest in the summer.

The community kitchen made a Swiss Chard Pesto which is good to go with a tomato based pasta or just used as a dip like we do.
Ingredients

• olive oil
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 bunch Swiss chard, stems removed (about 6 cups)
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 250g cream cheese
• 1 bunch of basil leaves
• salt and pepper to taste

Source: Gilmore Park Church Community Kitchen

Instructions

Heat two tablespoons of oil and the garlic in a saute pan over medium heat. Once the oil is hot and the garlic has become fragrant, gradually add the Swiss chard, wilting it into the oil and sauteing for a few minutes. Set aside to cool.

Combine the walnuts, cream cheese, and basil leaves in the bowl of a food processor. Add in the cooled chard and garlic. Pulse to roughly chop and combine the ingredients. Then, stream in 1/2 cup of olive oil while blending to your desired consistency with a little water if needed too.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve the pesto with crackers or vegetables. To freeze the pesto, fill an ice cube tray with leftover pesto and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Once the pesto cubes have frozen, they can be transferred to a ziplock bag and kept for a few months.