Vegetable: Swiss Chard

The Swiss Chard is a colorful vegetable that is loaded with vitamins and minerals.  "Eating chard regularly has the potential to lower high levels of cholesterol and blood sugar", writes Milo Shammas in Dr. Earth Home Grown Food.  Such a statement will ensure that this vegetable ends up in my garden next fall.

I was not sure about the chard after a failure last year, but I sowed seeds this time and they did well.  But now, what do I do with it?

It is suggested that you tear off the leaves because cutting with a knife makes the stems bleed.  Leave the bulb in the ground and it will continue to produce edible leaves.

I also found out that I could pickle the stems, so I did.  For the brine, I used one cup f white vinegar, 1 cup of sugar, and 1 cup of water.  For spices, I used mustard seeds and coriander seeds and a pinch of dried red pepper.

I heated the brine and then poured it over cut up stems in a jar and put it into the fridge for later use.

For cooking, I treated the laves like any other greens e.g. kale and collards.  After removing the leaves from the stems, I cooked them for 3 minutes as stated in one recipe.  Oh,no!  It was too tough for my tender palate.  It does require a much longer cooking time.  I tried 8 minutes and kept cooking.

The chard is still growing in the garden and I am afraid the huge bulb is going to explode.  

Boom!  Boom!