Swiss Chard: What Is Swiss Chard?

Swiss chard is a vegetable that is often overlooked. It is worth a try, however. Colorful and tasty, Swiss chard is full of nutritional goodness. Swiss chard is related to the beet, and comes in a variety of colors. The leafy portion is always a nice green, while the stalk can be white, bright yellow, or a Christmas red. If you are growing your own, or buy it from a farmer's market, it is not unusual to see all three colors packaged together as 'Rainbow Chard'. A very colorful salad or vegetable dish can be made using all three colors together. The edible portion is the leaf and stalk. The stalk needs to cook longer than the leaf, so it can be treated as two separate vegetables.

The younger, sweeter leaves can be put raw in salads, providing color, nutrition, and a spinach-like taste. Larger leaves can be chopped and cooked. The leafy portions cook quickly like spinach; the stalks should be chopped into bite-size pieces and can be sautéed or steamed for a longer period of time than the leaves.