Tuesday 17 July 2012

Swiss Chard.



If I owned just one square foot of soil; this is what I'd grow on it. Wonderful Superfood Swiss Chard.

Personally I don't eat the stems, I find them uninteresting and too earthy tasting. They are confined to the compost, and returned to the soil the following Spring.

Ideally the leaves should be boiled in just the tiny amount of water that clings after washing. Once drained, I add a decent lump of butter and turn it around in the pan until everything's coated.

Chard is the one vegetable that shouts out loud how good it is for you. You can almost feel its healing, warming, properties as you eat it. Those huge dark green silky leaves are a boosting panacea for all ailments, and they really perk you up when you're feeling low. Vitamins A, K, and C are in abundance, as well as Iron. It must be amongst nature's most effective medicines, and really should be available on prescription.

Chard is also very simple to grow, and their beautifully glossy leaves would even compliment the most fastidious flower bed.

Oh, and any imperfect leaves can be given to the chickens; they love it, and it can only be beneficial to them too.


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27 comments:

  1. Quite a few people are bringing Swiss Chard into the community food bank. where I volunteer. It seems to be a crop that has been grown in abundance this year. I am so happy to be giving out a healthy food to people who cannot afford such. Many do not know how to cook it so we hand out simple recipes with it also.

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  2. That looks a particularly good variety. Some tend to be darker and coarser. I always like it picked young but, then, I like most veggies picked young.

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  3. Morning Cro - I grow Swiss Chard every year and I particularly like to see the Rainbow Chard growing - such wonderful colours. This year it has strangely bolted very early. I didn't realise that it had such health giving properties - can't be bad for something so beautiful.

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    1. I used to grow the red 'Rhubarb Chard', but found it to be less productive than the bog standard variety. Looks nice though.

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  4. http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2006/oct/14/foodanddrink.shopping3

    Can I recommend that you follow this link and try the chickpea saute which contains swiss chard. It's one of my absolute favourite recipes.

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    1. Well, all the ingredients look good, so I'll give it go. Usually I just eat it PLAIN, although there's a very good pasta dish with bacon and chard.

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  5. my chard is 3 ins high!
    the weather is too wet and cold here!

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  6. you've made up my mind for me. I have not eaten chard, but I have a soup recipe to try (it's soup weather here!).
    Our street market is on today and has an organic veg stall, so I'm off to see what they have.

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    Replies
    1. If you like Spinach, you'll adore Chard!

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    2. It's a major element in my 'Compost Soup'.

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  7. Could not agree more Cro... I throw it in just about everything, soup, quiche, pasta. Or prepare it a la Cro with a lovely piece of grilled fish on top! - it's magic!

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  8. I am almost ashamed to say that I have never eaten swiss chard. But, the way I have been feeling lately, I think I will go to the grocery and get some! If I like it, I might just grow it next season. My friend also swears by it; you have convinced me!

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  9. Over here they call it silver beet. When I was growing up just about every every Kiwi family used to have some growing in the backyard. I use it all the time. I like to grow the variety "Fordhook giant" because it has very large stalks, which unlike you I like to eat. And yes, hens love it and can strip a plant in no time.

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    Replies
    1. My old mate Jock Veitch (see Wiki) was a Kiwi, and he always called it Silver Beet.

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  10. Yea chard. It beats spinach hands down for me. It must be cooked exactly as you described to be perfect.

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  11. saute the chopped stalks with a couple of anchovies in olive oil then add the shredded leaves, lid and steam for a mow...... the anchovies disappear in the oil and just make this increadible svaory flavour....delicious!!

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    Replies
    1. I like the sound of that. I use anchovies a lot; I know what you mean about 'disappears'. I'll definitely give that a go, thanks.

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    2. that DOES sound delicious! thanks for the cooking tip.

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  12. Chard doesn't sound like something edible, but it looks beautiful.

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  13. Sounds good to me. That's kinda how I feel about kale. It's been many years since we grew chard, but now, for some unknown reason, I seem to have a craving for it ...

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    1. I love Kale too. I grow roughly the same amount as Chard. We used to grow a variety called 'Hungry Gap' which was superb, but I haven't seen it around for quite a while.

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  14. It is a superfood! We eat ours the way you cook it Cro, and then top it off with a delicately fried egg topped with Asiago, coarse ground black pepper and sea salt.

    Is it lunch time yet??

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  15. We had a bumper crop of rainbow chard last year which I'm embarrassed to say that we didn't eat nearly enough of. They really cheered the borders up though!

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  16. I've grown this, the ruby red kind. Himself didn't care for it, but i ate it by the lorryload.

    Yours looks quite delectable; i ought to try growing it here and see how it does.

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  17. I've never tried Swiss chard. The leaves do look very similar to spinach and I love that. Like John says our weather has been too wet and cold to grow it this year - I wouldn't mind growing some next year.

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  18. Just finished up some garden chard myself tonight for dinner, sauteed in olive oil, deglazed with a bit of red wine vinegar, a dash of kosher salt and some cracked black pepper: sublime.

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  19. I'd never heard of chard until I read this, but then I'm neither a cook nor a great veggie fan. Sounds good though (I like the lump of butter bit) I just need to work out where to buy iy!

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