Hey everyone, it’s been a bit but I’ll avoid the blogger trap and spare you the life story. (If you actually are curious, hit me up on Twitter or Instagram!)

So instead, happy new year everyone, both the January first and Lunar variety.

One of the things I’m trying to do this year is eat more vegetarian meals. Helpfully I’ve discovered that I absolutely love chard, and it really makes meals it is a part of a real pleasure. Here’s one of my favorite ways to prepare it, on a corn tortilla.

I can’t claim any sort of authenticity here, but this is a recipe I’ve been working on a lot with a lot of respect to the ingredients and I have huge respect for Mexican cuisine (which goes so far beyond just tacos).

What I can say for sure is that for me personally, this recipe has also been a phenomenal way to vegetarian more often.

Keep reading for broken down steps or skip to the recipe below.

So what’s in it? It’s pretty simple really. Chard, onions, and garlic. And some pure olive or vegetable oil for cooking. The real star is the big shiny leaves, but if the stems look good you can use them in this recipe, or reserve some for another use. I particularly enjoy pickling them personally, but I added a bit of them into this recipe to show it can be done.

As another a part of the prep, dilute some soy sauce. For light soy sauce, it’s about 1 part water to 4 parts soy sauce. For regular soy sauce, it’s closer to a 1:2 ratio of water to soy sauce.

If you don’t mind having some extra on hand for later, I find half a cup of light soy and two tablespoons of water will do the trick (you’ll only need a few tablespoons of this for this recipe though).

How much onion? About a whole small to medium onion to a bunch of chard works for me, since I really like that sweetness, but you could probably get away with less.

If you are using stems, dice it similarly to the onion.

Forgot to show the finished garlic, but get this nice and fine,

Now that the fine work is done, time for the main attraction. (and ignore the mess in the background).

Roll up the chard stems snd slice it it into ribbons, about the width of a pencil.

Then chop your knife through each of the ribbons so you have pieces about 1-2 inches long.

Some decent prep there I’d say.

In a skillet over medium heat, cook your diced chard stems and onions in a skillet until translucent.

Add your garlic and keep cooking a bit more.

Then add the chard in batches, not overcrowding the skillet.

Until it starts to wilt.

Push to the side.

Then add more chard.

Until you’ve gotten it all.

At this stage, add some diluted soy sauce, and stir it through the chard until the steam abates somewhat. Give it a taste, and add more soy sauce as necessary.

At this point you’re good to serve! Corn tortillas are good of course.

Other good accompaniments include pickled veggies (pictured here), salsa, and hot sauce.

Final suggestion, I actually find that putting the pickles on the bottom layer is tastier, since it will hit your tongue sooner and melt with the rest of the savory chard afterwards. A bit less picture worthy perhaps, but that’s my take on it.

Happy cooking!

Savory chard for tacos:

• 1 bunch of chard leaves (well washed and chopped into small strips)
• chard stems, diced (optional)
• 1 small to medium onion, diced
• 3-8 cloves of garlic, minced
• Soy sauce + water to taste (1:4 water to light soy sauce, or 1:2 water to soy sauce)
• vegetable oil or pure olive oil for cooking

1. If you haven’t yet, prep all your veggies. This is important!
2. Heat a lightly oiled skillet over a moderate flame/heat setting.
3. Once the oil is shimmering, add the diced onion, and the diced chard stems if using.
4. One the onions start to turn translucent, add the minced garlic and cook a few more minutes.
5. Add the chard in batches, adding more once each batch has cooked down.
6. Stir in your diluted soy sauce a tablespoon at a time, and stir in vigorously. Tasting once the steaming slows down. Once you’re satisfied with the taste, serve it up as soon as possible!