I was super excited when my good friend Eva asked if we would like to use her family’s farm share while they visit her parents in Austria for the next few weeks. Eva is inspirational because she works full time as a pulmonary pediatrician and is raising the two most adorable one year old twins you’ve ever seen. She somehow does it all and still finds time to cook most nights! We are always trading tips and food magazines (my Bon Appetit for her Fine Cooking) and I’m hoping she’ll treat us to a guest post at some point!
Anyway, I thought it was a perfect chance to see if we could actually use all the veggies in a farm share every week before getting one for ourselves. Look at the haul – organic red onion, baby spinach, Swiss chard, lettuce, grapefruit, apples, parsley, golden beets, sweet potatoes, Yukon potatoes, and carrots! Apolinaras immediately claimed the grapefruit and sweet potatoes, and then I set about the task of figuring out what to do with the rest of the goodies!
I set the potatoes and golden beets aside so I could make a mash of them to serve alongside Tom Colicchio’s braised short ribs on Valentine’s Day (which the carrots and onions went into). The short ribs were amazing by the way, and I highly recommend the recipe! My next order of business was tackling the Swiss chard, which I was curious about but had never used before. I knew it could be cooked similarly to spinach but tends to a little bitter, so I decided to use it in a quinoa side dish with my sweet leftover sweet golden raisins. Eva also suggested pine nuts went well with the greens, so I tossed some of those in too, along with garlic, onions, and a bit of lemon juice for some acid.
I settled on pairing the quinoa with champagne poached salmon, which was one of the entrée choices at our wedding, because I stumbled upon a super old bottle of sweet champagne at the back of our liquor stash when I was looking for the ingredients for our Valentine’s Day cocktails. I used to like sweet champagne but my tastes have changed and I’m a fan of the dryer stuff now – I think this particular bottle moved with us from Chicago over 2 years ago! This was a wonderful way to finally finish it off. The champagne flavor is subtle, but you can definitely taste it, and the salmon paired well with the quinoa. Thanks so much to Eva for the farm share – I’m already looking forward to picking up next week’s box!
Champagne Salmon with Swiss Chard Quinoa
Printable Recipe
Ingredients:
2/3 cup quinoa
1 1/3 cups chicken stock
1 bottle sweet champagne
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 dried bay leaf
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 salmon fillets (ours were 7 ounces each)
1/3 cup pine nuts
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1 bunch Swiss chard, stem removed and coarsely chopped (2 packed cups)
1/3 cup golden raisins
Juice of half a lemon
Directions:
Place quinoa and chicken stock in a stockpot over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, place a lid on the pot, and simmer 10 to 15 minutes or until all water is absorbed.
Place champagne, vinegar, bay leaf, and 1 teaspoon salt in a stockpot over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and bring liquid to a simmer. Place salmon fillets in the pot and simmer for 10 minutes or until salmon is cooked through.
Meanwhile, place pine nuts in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat and sauté for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring frequently, or until toasted. Remove pine nuts from the skillet and pour in olive oil. Sauté red onion for 5 to 7 minutes or until tender; add garlic and sauté one additional minute. Stir in Swiss chard and sauté for 3 to 5 minutes or until wilted.
Place cooked quinoa in a large bowl and stir in cooked Swiss chard, pine nuts, raisins, lemon juice, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Serve poached salmon over quinoa. Makes 3 servings.
Nutrition: 684 calories, 30.1g fat, 7.0g fiber, 50.0g protein per serving
Cost: $5.54 per serving (not counting the champagne)
What an amazing dinner! I loved how you poached the salmon in champagne – so elegant! I recently tried swiss chard, too. I love the taste and how versatile it is. I ate mine in a pasta dish, but mixing it in with quinoa and some toasted pine nuts and raisins sounds like a great plan for next time! Have fun with the farm share
Sounds delicious and really healthy. Just the way I need to be eating.
That looks amazing! I’ve never used champagne in recipes, but it sounds wonderful! I have never heard of a farm share, but with those amazing vegetables it sounds wonderful! This is a great recipe.
I love the idea of poaching the salmon in champagne and your pairing it with quinoa is terrific!
I really want to do a farm share someday. It’s sort of like being on “Chopped,” where you have a basket of ingredients and you have to come up with something to do with them! I love what you’ve done here! I’ve never cooked with swiss chard (my grandma used to make it but with TONS of butter). That’s so funny that you may have moved with that bottle of champagne!
Such a gorgeous, romantic dish!! The farm share box looks incredible – I’m dreaming about signing up for one now…
Do you think it’s possible for a two-person household to use a whole box? I’m eager to learn from your experience with the boxes! 
That salmon looks dynomite! Dish looks very romantic and tasteful. The picture with the fresh fruits cannot look any fresher, it puts my produce department to shame =/
Waw!! What a gorgeous meal!! I so love Swiss chard with champagne & salmon!! Terrific!
Spinach with raisins and pine nuts is is one of my favorite side dishes so I can imagine how good it is with chard too. Now the champagne salmon – that’s something I’ve never thought of and would definitely like to give it a try! For even sweeter touch, I’d be willing to try it with cider vinegar.
By the way, where does one get a farm share in the winter in Massachusetts?
I love cooking with wine, but have never cooked with champagne… great idea!
Oh would have loved to walk round that farm picking veggies all around…….with a little (ok big)veggie basket to carry the freshest of produce to the sunlit kitchen …………
Lovely! Such a romantic meal. I need a neighbour who gets Fine Cooking Magazine..
Every year, I keep going back and forth about whether I want to sign up for a CSA share. I feel like I’ll get overwhelmed with all those veggies and eventually give up, or have them go to waste. Not exactly the point. I do shop at the farmers market every summer/fall. Can’t wait for it this year!!
Champagne poached salmon, sounds delicious, like the idea of matching with quinoa…nice pictures
what an elegant dish, worthy of any expensive restaurant! excellent way to use your bounty, kerstin.
oh boy that looks so good… Love the whole look!
Salmon is my favorite
What a delicious pairing! That champagne poached salmon sounds divine! And I love swiss chard. You’ll have to let us know if you get through all of the veggies from the CSA. I’ve been thinking of getting one but have a feeling I might not be able to use everything up!
I cannot get over the bounty that you harvested in FEBRUARY! I wouldn’t even know where to begin! The salmon sounds incredible and salmon is so good for us! Ciao, Roz
Salmon poached in champagne! Oh how luscious!! I’m jealous of all the fresh veggies, too. Do you think after CSA, you’ll ever get stressed out knowing that you have to use them up as soon as possible though?
Look at all those goodies!
Your photos look fantastic! I guess those tips from the food photographer are really paying off. great job!
Poaching salmon in champagne? That’s an amazing idea
The champagne salmon sounds lovely!
That salmon looks perfect! And I’m striking out with quinoa, but that looks reeeeallly good!!
What a haul of fresh fruits and veggies! I would love to get a farm share, you’ll have to let us know how it goes. Your swiss chard sounds excellent – love it with this champagne salmon.
ooh, so jealous! look at that haul
i totally want to do a share, but it’s tough with one person! great dish, both the salmon and quinoa-swiss chard!
Awesome recipe! Great pic of all those veggies! I love quinoa & swiss chard – and salmon – looks perfect!
This is a delicious-sounding meal! And, what a great delivery from the farm. There’s so much variety, and everything looks fantastic!
Thanks everyone!
Cara – Eva’s is through Enterprise Farms, which I linked to above. She picks it up every week in Porter Square, but I think they have other locations.
Astra, Joanne, and Sophia – I’m really having fun using the veggies, but my main worry is that it would become a chore to use everything up eventually and that there’s no room for spontaneity. I’ve been known to run to the store randomly when I’m inspired to make something and don’t want to feel like I can’t do that because I have stuff I need to use up at home all the time!
Monica – Thanks! That means a lot coming from you because your pictures are always gorgeous!
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