Chard is a leafy vegetable prized for its mild-tasting leaves and colorful edible stems. It forms a wonderful introduction to "cooking greens," as well as adding crunch and color to salads. Increasingly, chard is bred for its colored stems (white, pink, red, orange and yellow; one popular variety offers a rainbow of all colors). Like lettuce and spinach, chard prefers moderate weather. Exposed to prolonged hot weather, all three will "bolt," sending up flower stalks and going to seed. Of these, chard has the most heat-tolerance and is therefore an excellent lettuce or spinach substitute into early mid-summer.
What to look for:
Chard Storage and preparation tips:
Cooking with Chard:
Both stems and leaves add color to salads. Chard can also be steamed until just wilted or added as a final layer to a stir-fry. Substitute chard in any recipe calling for spinach. Its special affinity for eggs makes it a welcome choice for an omelet or quiche. Stems and leaves can also be finely cut and used as a bed for grilled chicken or fish (the heat of the chicken or fish will "cook" the chard). The same finely cut vegetable becomes a "chiffonade" when used as a generous garnish on top of a dish.
Chard Nutrition Highlights:
This fragile vegetable is a nutritional powerhouse. Chard is an excellent source of Vitamin A and beta-carotene. High levels of lutein contribute to healthy vision and epithelial tissue (skin, non-muscle tissue, and mucous membranes). Vitamin K and iron assist in blood production and coagulation. Chard also contains good levels of calcium, choline, which plays a role in liver function, magnesium, and trace minerals.