Chard Wraps (and Freeze the Extra Chard) and Nori Wraps

Chard Wraps And Nori Wraps for Potluck

Chard in the Garden

Nutrition Dense Chard

Want another use for those huge chard leaves? This morning hubby Bob said to me “your chard is getting a little big….” The bamboo fence posts in this picture are 3 ½ feet high. Time for making chard wraps which are great for supper or save for lunch tomorrow. Chard is an antioxidant, anti inflammatory nutrients superstar and a source for Vitamins K, A, C, E , and minerals such as calcium, magnesium, copper, iron, zinc, manganese, potassium and this is a short list. You can read more at http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=16 Your wrap can become a provider of nutrients rather than just something to hold your food such as a nutrient limited flour tortilla.

Chard – check for little green caterpillars

Organic Chard

My chard is rain washed and we don’t use any sprays, so all I do for initial prep is be sure the little green worms haven’t discovered it yet.

Asparagus, zucchini, carrots, cucumbers great in wraps.

Wrap combos – be creative!

Next step check out the fridge for fun wrap items. Asparagus always makes me think

of wraps – squash, carrots, cucumber also go well. Really, just be creative in thinking of items for your wraps – cooked yams, tofu, mango are a few more ideas.

To Trim Your Asparagus

Break your asparagus stems where they snap off easily – you’ll find this just breaks off the really tough ends. Quarter your carrots. Simmer these both – maybe 5 minutes – until they start to soften.

Wilt Chard Lightly

Then set your chard leaf VERY briefly into the pan. This will make it pliable for rolling around your veggies. (You could freeze this water to use later as a light veggie broth to use in oil-free frying)

Trim the Stem from Chard

To make it “rollable”, cut out the firm central stem; freeze it to add fiber and other nutrients to your next smoothie, or save it to make your veggie stock .

Cut squash and cucumber into thin 4 inch long veggie sticks.

Layer with Hummus or Rice

To hold things together I made hummus in my blender just with garbanzo beans, red peppers and garlic. (I added the pepper just at the end of blending so it kept some texture and color) You could also pat some brown rice into this.

Rolling the Veggie Strips

Place the veggies at the wider end and gently roll the wrap, smoothing as you go.

Soak up extra moisture

Set the rollson a paper towel to soak up extra water. They will firm up and also flavors will blend if you then set them in the fridge for later that day, or overnight.

While I prepped my veggies, I set aside some chard to freeze for smoothies, tossing into soups, or adding at the end of roasting vegetables.

Freeze some Chard

Chard is simple to freeze – just fold it up into a freezer bag. Seal the top, using a straw at the end to suck out the air and “vacuum pack” your chard. These are easy to stack in your freezer. Don’t worry about the thick stems – to use the chard, you just break a chunk from the frozen bag full (honest, it works) and toss it into your favorite soup, chili, roasted veggies, or cook it up with just some balsamic vinegar .

Use Nori Wraps

For our HEA pot luck gathering that evening, I took some of the veggie sticks, the hummus and Nori wraps for people to create their own. (Nori wraps are a good iodine source – along with many other nutrients). The best part was that we also had various bean, rice, veggie dishes left over that were super wrapped in Nori; a great way to use your leftovers to take for lunch the next day!! You can use some specific techniques to make your Nori wraps perfect http://allrecipes.com/recipe/25316/vegetarian-nori-rolls/ or you can just have fun wrapping! (Enjoy our video) Chilling them a bit and using a serrated knife is the key to cutting your delicious rolls.