Chard - Bright lights

[Lazgaot]

I didn't realise there was such a love-hate thing with Chard! Personally I love it and will grow more. We've had it in veggie lasagna, veggie pies and on its own (steamed and tossed in gently fried onion and garlic).

[Alison]

Seems to taste very earthy to me, but is does look beautiful though!

That's the beetroot connection!

[bobleponge]

I grew it this year, and was amazed at how quickly it does grow, and pest free it seems. Looks beautiful, I grew both Swiss and Bright Lights.
Grew so well that when I got back home, the plants were at least 3 feet tall, with leaves a foot and a half across. Tried to eat it,
Buerk. Not a taste I particularly enjoyed, so it got composted.
Does look lovely though.

[Flummery]

A few leaves shredded or just ripped up go fantastically in a curry. Really. Trust me - I'm NOT a doctor!

[Snoop Puss]

Chard stalks

Hello, this is my first post from here in rural north-eastern Spain, where in fact my neighbours prefer the stems of chard as a vegetable rather than the leaves. They chop the stems into 2-inch lengths, steam or boil them and then serve with a good sprinkling of salt and a drizzle of olive oil (though I have to say I'm more partial to a knob of butter with a bit of chopped garlic sizzled around in it). Mind you, they also love (no exaggeration) borage stems, which they peel to get rid of the hairy skin, again boil and serve with salt and olive oil. It doesn't taste too bad, but it doesn't warrant all the effort of peeling it. And I have to admit that a plate of chard or borrage stalks doesn't look terribly appetising...

[Jillyreeves]

Very interesting as Bright Lights Chard is on my seed wish list for next year.

If I got some seeds now would it be too late to put it in now?

[Welsh Wizard]

Chard is a gorgeous vegetable: Red and yellow stems are great adding crunch and colour to stirfries, while the greeen parts of the leaves taste better than spinach when steamed with a twist of salt, plus has far more texture and tends not to cook down to a gloopy mess. Plus no pest problems and pretty hardy. What's not to like?

[Maximillian]

i agree! i'm in the loving chard camp! i bake it al forno....chop, steam then mix with ricotta, salt, pepper, finely chopped garlic and lots of parmesan with a drizzle of olive oil. or steam then mix with olive oil warmed with chilli and garlic. yum!

[jacquie]

I'm in the chard loving camp.

Where some of you might be going wrong is by trying to use anything but the tiniest leaves as complete leaves.

I treat the stems and leaf bits as two different vegetables. The stem I cook as an asparagus substitute, or cut up in stir fries etc. The leaf as spinach. The cooking times for the two parts are too different for it to be successful as one batch.