Cooking with Swiss Chard

Chard vegetable has long been popular in Europe, especially along the Mediterranean coast where it grows wild. The thick stems of green chard are sometimes separated from the leaves and then steamed or boiled like asparagus. Any of the recipes for asparagus in this website can be prepared with chard stems. In fact, Swiss chard is really two vegetables in one. The stems and leaves are often cooked separately and then combined in a finished dish or served separately. Chard leaves can be substituted for spinach in most recipes.

In Italy you will find soups, pasta fillings and gratins made from chard and I have even eaten a sweet tart or tourte made with chard leaves and apples when I was on the Mediterranean cost of France and near Nice.

Swiss chard is easy to grow and is prolific if regularly picked. As with many other vegetables, once you have eaten chard that has just been bought in from the garden it will be hard to go back to supermarket produce.

Chard is low in calories, a good source of absorbable iron and calcium, and contains vitamins C and A.

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