Spotlight on Swiss Chard
June 3rd, 2009
Filed in Plant Profiles
Tags: greens, Plant Profiles, vegetables
Swiss Chard
A lot of people are scared of Swiss chard. A member of the beet family, Swiss chard is kind of like the beet without the beet. You can put baby chard leaves in salads, but normally when you buy or pick chard, it is a gigantic leaf that looks like it would be closer to home in a flower arrangement than on the dinner table.
Additionally, even though greens are some of the healthiest vegetables you can eat, many people don’t know how to cook them, and thus stay away. Greens are jam-packed with vitamins and nutrients, and are great for people trying to lose weight—greens are low in calories! Swiss chard provides the following nutrients: potassium, vitamin C, calcium, vitamin A, and beta-carotene.
How to Grow Swiss Chard
Swiss chard is one of the easiest vegetables to grow. Some gardeners refer to it as a “cut and come again” plant, because you can continuously harvest from the plant all season long, as long as you harvest the outer leaves, and leave the center of the plant to grow.
Chard grows best when planted from seed, in rich garden soil in full sun. Sow chard seeds about three weeks before the last frost. Chard tolerates warm weather fairly well, though seeds sown mid-July through late August won’t do as well as plantings sown earlier.
How to Cook Swiss Chard
You can eat the leaves and the “leaf stem” of the Swiss chard. The stem is much more pungent, in terms of flavor, than the leaves. The leafy part of the green is tasty steamed, or sautéed with a bit of bacon, butter, onions or garlic. You can toss the steamed leaves with cooked pasta and a sprinkle of blue cheese, in place of spinach. It is also tasty added to spaghetti sauce.
Here are a few other Swiss chard ideas:
Add finely chopped Swiss chard to soups. Stir in the chard leaves right after you remove the pot from the stove heat. The greens cook quickly, so you do not need to leave them on the stove.
- Sautee some chard leaves and add them to your omelet fillings
- Substitute Swiss chard in vegetable lasagna-in place of spinach
- Toss blanched swiss chard with sautéed pine nuts and raisins for a light salad
Above all, give Chard a chance! You’ll be glad you did.
March 12th, 2010 at 7:50 pm
Thanks for the info. I’m one of those people that are or at least have been “scared” of the Swiss Chard. Im not sure what it is that is so intimidating about it. I made a pledge to try something new at the farmers market each week. This week it will be the Chard based on your recommendation. : )
If I hate it, Ill blame you. Just kidding. I’m vegan, so Im sure Ill like it.
Thanks.
September 25th, 2010 at 7:57 am
Here is one more idea (meditterenean) to cook and consume it. Very simple and healty, just cook in boiling water (not too much) and drain, put some virgin olive oil when its hot and then fresh lemon juice when it becomes tepid. You can eat as salad or with some tuna or sardines why not try to eat with black-eyed pea, mmmm delicious
July 12th, 2011 at 6:08 am
I just go round the plant and pick off the leaves, themn grab some lettuce and some beetroot leaves and toss it all in a salad bowl with balsamic yum!