Contributed by Jennifer Peachey

A few weeks ago, as I stood in line at a store, a young woman in front of me lovingly cradled some rainbow chard. "When I get married," she said to her mom, "I'm going to carry these down the isle." Why not? Rainbow chard is a beautiful sight and instead of throwing the bouquet away, you can eat it!

The Greeks, as far back as the 4th century AD, wrote about the treasured chard and its wondrous medicinal properties. Of course they did not know that it contained generous amounts of beta-carotene, vitamin C, iron, and calcium but they probably appreciated its laxative and diuretic
effects.

Like the young woman above, we can appreciate chard for its beauty as well. Rainbow chard has attractive red, orange and yellow stems while red chard has vibrant red stems and Swiss chard has bright white stems. All have dark green leaves that can be curly or smooth, depending on the
variety. All types of chard are interchangeable in recipes.

Chard can be eaten raw or cooked. The greens can be easily substituted in any recipe that calls for spinach or simply steam the leaves for 5-8 minutes and serve. Like spinach, chard needs to be washed thoroughly. Rinse it in a sink full of cold water until clean. The stalks of the chard can be used in place of Chinese cabbage or celery in sautéed
dishes. They can also be steamed alone for 8-15 minutes or braised in the oven for 20-30 minutes. If the stalks are more than ½ inch wide cooking them and the leaves separately is best.

To store chard, place it, unwashed, in a perforated plastic bag in the refrigerator. The leaves can also be frozen after being blanched for two minutes. The stalks, however, do not freeze well. Use thawed leaves in recipes that require cooked greens (see the above recipe and two in
Issue #60). Because thawed leaves are soggy, however, you should probably use fresh ones if you're planning a wedding bouquet!

Looking for other Chard recipes? Check out the following web sites:
www.fatfree.com (above recipe and more)
www.vegweb.com (Red Chard Rollups)
www.vegetarianrecipe.com (Red Chard Quich, without eggs)
www.globalgourmet.com (Yogurt, Swiss Chard and Pepper Soup)
Other possible websites:
www.vegsource.com
www.culinarycafe.com
www.veggiefiles.com
www.mexicanfood.about.com (all animal-product free recipes)

Ingredients

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Instructions

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