Grilled Swiss Chard Stems with Anchovy Vinaigrette | Anchovy Tin Lamp

When I saw this post on Apartment Therapy a few weeks ago, I knew exactly how I would repurpose the empty anchovy tin that’s been cluttering my kitchen counter for months. A quick run to Home Depot followed by a couple of blown fuses and my anchovy tin lamp (thanks to some guidance from Ben) was proudly standing atop my living room side table illuminating a stack of my favorite books below.

Perhaps not quite as beautiful as Apartment Therapy’s, my anchovy tin lamp makes me very happy. Next project: anchovy tin clock using the remaining face from the tin, which, based on this this AT tutorial, looks pretty straightforward.

With the lamp finished, I thought it only appropriate to make this anchovy vinaigrette, a recipe I had read about on Food52 months ago now. At Al Di La restaurant in Brooklyn, chef Anna Klinger uses the vinaigrette along with a splash of sherry vinegar to dress grilled Swiss chard stems, brilliantly salvaging an often overlooked (and discarded) vegetable trimming. While rescuing vegetable scraps from the trashbin is a genius use for this dressing, I suspect any number of grilled vegetables — endive, escarole, romaine, and spring onions come to mind — and meats — skirt or hanger steak in particular — would take nicely to a drizzling of this pungent vinaigrette.

Once removed from the leaf, chard stems keep amazingly well (at least a week) in a ziplock bag in the fridge.

Anchovy Tin Lamp

To make the lamp, follow this tutorial on Apartment Therapy.

Anna Klinger’s Grilled Swiss Chard Stems with Anchovy Vinaigrette

To make the vinaigrette and the grilled chard stems, follow this recipe on Food52.