From mid-April until the first frost, lush chard bushes provide me with vitamin-rich greens. Beet tops are simply a storehouse of vitamins and minerals (carotene, phosphorus, iron and many others). So when regular use juicy leaves and petioles you will forget what it is high pressure and diabetes.
The colorful leaves of this crop can be used in fresh salads, botvinya, borscht, and from the petioles it turns out simply gorgeous side dish to fish and meat dishes. To do this, just cut them into small pieces and boil them by steaming or boiling water for 3-5 minutes. Before serving, do not forget to season the chard with butter.
Salad with chard
Ingredients for 2 servings: 2 large carrots, green onions, a bunch of parsley and dill and 2-3 large young chard leaves, 2-3 tablespoons of sour cream, salt to taste.
Method of preparation: Cut all ingredients into small pieces, mix well and season with low-fat sour cream (if on a diet) or mayonnaise.
Chard soup
Ingredients for 2 servings: 2-3 medium potatoes, 1 carrot, ½ onion, 2-3 large chard leaves, some young sorrel leaves, parsley or dill, 1 boiled egg, sour cream, ghee or vegetable oil, meat or vegetable broth, salt to taste
Method of preparation: Fry grated carrots and chopped onions together for 5-8 minutes. Meanwhile, cut the potatoes into cubes and boil one egg. Add the potatoes to the boiling broth and cook for 15 minutes low heat. Then add the roast, chopped sorrel and chard leaves, salt and cook for another 5 minutes. Before serving, garnish the soup with herbs, put half an egg in each plate and a little sour cream.
Stuffed cabbage rolls with chard
Ingredients for 2 servings: 8-12 large chard leaves, chopped meat, boiled rice, onion, sour cream, tomato paste, pepper and salt to taste
Cooking method: I estimate the amount of minced meat and rice by eye, as it depends on the size of the chard leaves. They should be washed thoroughly, hard petioles removed, and blanched in boiling water for 2-3 minutes. Next, the leaves are placed in a colander and allowed to cool completely. During this time you need to fry the minced meat with chopped onions until half cooked and add to it at the end boiled rice. Once the minced meat has cooled a little, form 4 lumps from it and wrap each of them in 2-3 chard leaves. Place the resulting cabbage rolls close to each other in a deep frying pan, add finely chopped petioles (this will be a side dish) and pour it all with sour cream sauce, tomato paste, salt and pepper. Simmer covered until done.
Braised chard with leeks and stalked celery
Ingredients for 2 servings: 3-4 chard leaves, 2-3 celery stalks, 1-2 white leeks, salt to taste
Method of preparation: Grind all products into small pieces. Heat a frying pan with melted butter and simmer the celery and leeks for 5-8 minutes over low heat. Then add chard leaves to the contents of the pan and keep everything covered, stirring constantly until soft (another 5-10 minutes). Finally, add salt to taste.
The last recipe is my favorite - this vegetable dish not only has exquisite spicy taste, but also perfectly ignites the fire of digestion. I often use it as a side dish for heavy meat dishes.
You can learn everything about growing chard in the garden and on your home windowsill from.
Chard is not nearly as popular as its closest relative, the table beet, and this is a big omission, because it is no less rich in vitamins and minerals. Only the greens and petioles of the plant are eaten. The root, even after cooking, remains tough and tasteless. It is used only as a vitamin supplement in livestock feed.
What is chard and how do you eat it?
A similar question is even asked experienced housewives, since Swiss chard, despite its outstanding nutritional quality, while the product is little known.
Chard is a two-year garden crop from the amaranth family. The closest relative of sugar beet, fodder beet and common beet.
There are two types:
- stem
- chard or chard
The valuable vegetable is harvested from the end of June until the lasting frosts, which usually occur in November. The more often the leaves are cut, the more abundant the harvest will be. At mild winter, the roots do not need to be dug out of the soil. Then in the second year, the first vitamin-rich chard will appear in early spring.
Stem chard has fleshy (up to 5 cm in diameter) petioles that taste like asparagus. Breeders have developed several varieties of the plant with different colors, making dishes from it not only tasty, but also very beautiful. 
The stems are not consumed raw. Most often they are boiled, then rolled in breadcrumbs and fried in butter. The petioles are also placed in vegetable stew or first courses.
Schnitt chard (Roman cabbage) is a lush rosette of leaves, smooth or with a clearly defined texture. If the stem variety has small greens, then in this case some specimens reach a length of 45 cm. The color of the leaves varies from light green to dark green, with red edges and veins.
It is recommended to eat chard fresh, as it contains many vitamins and valuable nutrients. If the leaves are exposed culinary processing, this must be done as quickly as possible so that they do not lose their taste and shape.
For the winter, leaf and petiole chard should be frozen. This method helps the best way preserve the nutritional quality of the product. In addition, the plant is pickled, salted and fermented like cabbage.
Benefits and harms
Summer residents are in no hurry to grow chard on their plots, mistakenly believing that it can be replaced with young tops of ordinary beets. However, it is not. Even if you don't take into account the difference in taste - beet tops bitter and not as tender as chard, beneficial features two types leafy greens absolutely incomparable.
Let's start with vitamins. Chard contains:
- Vitamin K, which supports metabolic processes in bone and connective tissues, as well as proper kidney function. Lack of this substance leads to skeletal deformation, salt deposits on the walls of blood vessels and internal hemorrhages.
Attention!
Chard is able to provide our body with a triple daily requirement of vitamin K. However, an excess in this case is no less dangerous to health than a deficiency: blood viscosity increases, and blood clots may occur. Therefore, it is undesirable to eat chard beets in huge quantities- everything is good in moderation.
- There is no less vitamin C in chard than in green onions - 33% of daily norm. Therefore, by regularly consuming this product fresh, we increase immunity, improve the condition of skin and hair, and cleanse the blood.
- Vitamin A, a powerful antioxidant that keeps our body healthy, is also present in chard, which makes it indispensable for poor vision, frequent bronchial diseases, and problems with the “female” organs.
- In addition, chard contains, but in smaller doses, B vitamins, including thiamine, which supports the work nervous system and pantothenic acid, which is involved in important metabolic processes.
The leafy vegetable is rich in minerals, it contains almost the entire “periodic table”. Salts of iron, potassium, calcium, copper, phosphorus, manganese and sodium are known to promote the normal functioning of the main body systems and prolong youth.
In addition to the above, the following were found in chard:
- 19 polyphenolic antioxidants
- cardioprotective flavonoid
- syringic acid, which normalizes blood sugar levels
- phytonutrients responsible for the timely removal of waste and toxins.
With regular consumption of chard, the risk of cancer and cardiovascular diseases, vision improves, the body is cleansed, bones and teeth are strengthened. This good prevention diabetes, anemia and atherosclerosis. 
Chard is recommended:
- During the recovery period after serious illnesses, including those associated with surgery.
- For problems with the pancreas.
- People suffering from diabetes or obesity.
- Women who have reached menopause.
- For the treatment of depression, insomnia and other nervous disorders.
- Externally for burns, abscesses and conjunctivitis. Considered good cosmetic product, rejuvenates and whitens the skin, reduces hair loss.
- To improve immunity, as a general strengthening product if there are inflammatory processes in the body.
- As a digestive stimulant.
Swiss chard should definitely be included in their diet for people who are trying to get rid of excess weight. The healing plant will not only help you successfully lose unnecessary pounds, but will also cleanse the body of toxins that provoke overeating and cravings for “forbidden” foods, such as fast food or sweets.
Contraindications
Chard contains oxalates - salts and ester compounds of oxalic acid, which interfere with the absorption of calcium and lead to the growth of kidney stones or gallbladder. Therefore, for those who already have education in these organs, it is better to refrain from using green vegetable or do it with great caution.
Attention!
Freshly squeezed chard juice is not recommended for adding to smoothies and fresh juices, as it can cause dizziness and a sharp decrease in blood pressure, nausea or vomiting. The reason for this is special volatile compounds that continue to be released some time after the plant has been treated. To protect yourself from unpleasant sensations, the juice is allowed to settle and only then consumed.
Cooking recipes
Here are some options for preparing this useful crop.
Pickled chard stalks
The stems can be pickled, similar to.
We will need
- 500 g stem chard
- 2 – 3 tbsp. l. salt without a slide
- 1 – 1.5 tbsp. l sugar
- 1 tbsp. l. vinegar essence
- 1 liter of water
- dill umbrellas (preferably with seeds)
- garlic cloves
- horseradish leaves, currants, cherries to taste and desire
- spices: mustard powder, a few peas allspice, sesame
Cooking method
- Let's prepare the chard petioles: remove the leaves, rinse thoroughly and place in a colander to drain.
- Cut the stems into pieces of approximately the same length, focusing on the height of the jar (it is recommended to take half-liter containers). In order for the chard to be completely immersed in the marinade, it should be about 1.5 cm short of the neck.
- The solution for pouring is prepared as follows: pour into boiling water vinegar essence, stir thoroughly, then add sugar and salt and bring to a boil again.
- At the bottom of pre-sterilized and dried jars we place a large umbrella of dill, 2 - 3 garlic cloves, a little spices (2-3 allspice peas. 1/3 tsp. mustard powder) and leaves for flavor. Lightly press all these “ flavorings"so that they don't take up a lot of space.
- Fill the container with chard petioles, placing them vertically. Pour hot marinade, sterilize and immediately roll up.
- We cool our preparations by turning the jars upside down, and then store them in a dry, cool place.
How can you easily check the sealing tightness and be sure that the preservation will not “explode” during storage? Just look at the lid. If it is slightly “pulled in”, you don’t have to worry about the quality of the workpiece.
Swiss chard cabbage rolls
For this dish, large overgrown leaves are selected. The filling can be anything you like. 
We will need
- 400 g minced chicken
- 100 g rice
- 3 medium sized onions
- 2 cloves of garlic
- bunch of dill
- 12 large chard leaves
Preparation
Quick layer cake Torta Pasqualina (Italian cuisine)
This traditional holiday baking prepared for Easter in Italy with spinach leaves. But what stops us from using beet salad crop? It won't turn out any worse. 
We will need
- 2 sheets of prepared yeast puff pastry
- large bunch of chard
- 5 – 6 eggs
- 200 g hard cheese
Preparation
- Blanch the chard leaves or steam them for 5 – 7 minutes.
- Chop the greens, sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Place a thinly rolled out layer of dough into a greased baking pan. We distribute the filling from the leaves, then at some distance from each other we make “nests” in it, where we put a small piece butter and carefully pour in one egg at a time.
- Sprinkle the entire surface of the pie with grated cheese and cover with a second sheet of dough. Pinch the edges and brush with egg yolk.
- Bake until done in an oven preheated to 200ºC.
Spicy chard salad
In general, there are a lot of salads with this crop. These leaves will decorate any snack from a variety of fresh vegetables. I’ll give you a version of a healthy green salad. 
We will need
- small bunch of Swiss chard
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 50 ml any vegetable oil(ideally olive)
- equal parts cilantro, dill and parsley
- 5 shelled walnuts
- 1 tbsp. l. lemon juice
- salt and sugar to taste
Preparation
- Wash the chard leaves well, blanch, and drain.
- Tear it with your hands, quite coarsely, you can crush it slightly if the greens are hard.
- Add finely chopped cilantro, parsley and dill, as well as crushed nuts.
- Make a dressing from butter, salt, sugar and garlic pressed through a press.
- Pour over the salad, add lemon juice, let it brew for half an hour.
Omelette
For an omelette you need to take a lot of leaves. When cooked, they decrease significantly in volume. 
Ingredients
- 500 g chard
- 4 eggs
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- grated parmesan – 2 tablespoons
- freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste.
Preparation
- Rinse the chard thoroughly. Separate the stems from the leaves. Boil the petioles until soft in salted water, drain in a colander and let the liquid drain.
- Heat olive oil in a frying pan, add finely chopped garlic cloves. As soon as the garlic turns golden, add the boiled stems and sauté until the moisture evaporates.
- Add the leaves cut into strips. Continue sautéing. The leaves will greatly decrease in volume.
- Beat the eggs with a whisk, add salt and freshly ground pepper. Pour the egg mixture into the pan with the chard.
- Fry the omelette over medium heat, covered, stirring occasionally. When the omelet is almost cooked, sprinkle with grated Parmesan.
- Remove the finished omelette from the heat and serve.
Also check out where you can also use the leaves of this crop collected from the garden.
Chard dishes are quick to prepare and thin, exquisite taste. Those who are still unfamiliar with this variety of beets should definitely try it - there is no doubt that it will decorate the family table.
Let's eat not only tasty, but also healthy!
Chard (leaf) is more of a vegetable than a green - a large plant up to 60-70 cm high. Chard is very beautiful - it decorates a vegetable garden and even a flower garden, the red-petioled varieties with carved leaves are especially beautiful.
Chard grows best, developing a beautiful rosette, in fertile and loose, non-acidic soils with sufficient moisture. The brightly colored petioles and elegant leaves of chard invariably attract attention and are good decoration garden For compact leaf varieties For chard, the recommended distance between plants is about 25 cm, for petiole varieties with large leaves - twice as much.
For decorative purposes, gardeners grow various varieties of chard, among which the following varieties stand out:
- green petiolate (with green petioles and leaves, semi-erect or semi-spread rosette);
- silver-petiolate (with silver-white petioles, wavy or corrugated leaves, dark green or yellow-green, straight or semi-erect rosette);
- red-petiolate (with red-crimson or red-violet petioles, dark green leaves with red veins, straight or semi-erect rosette);
- yellow-petiolate (with yellow or orange petioles, dark green leaves with golden veins, semi-erect rosette).
Beneficial properties of chard
Young leaves and petioles are eaten, which contain carbohydrates, nitrogenous substances, organic acids, carotene (up to 6 mg%), vitamins C (up to 60 mg%), B, B2, O, PP, potassium, calcium, phosphorus salts , iron, lithium, etc.
Leaf beet - chard - is rich in vitamins, very pleasant to the taste, and in terms of its productivity it is among the leaders: one plant is able to produce more than 1 kg of selected leaves and petioles.
Chard is highly valued in the early spring, when green vitamin products are still scarce. It is used to prepare salad, vinaigrette, soups, beetroot soups, cold appetizers and main courses - it is stewed in butter and lard, just like spinach. The petioles are boiled in salted water and fried with breadcrumbs in oil. The leaves are fermented separately or together with cabbage. The petioles can be pickled like cucumbers (by cutting them and inserting them to size into jars vertically).
Chard has and medicinal properties. It is very useful to use for diabetes, anemia, kidney stones, high blood pressure. Eating it improves the functioning of the liver and cardiovascular system, promotes the growth of children, stimulates activity lymphatic system and increases the body's resistance to colds. Chard is also recommended for use against radiation sickness. Chard root pulp is good remedy against baldness.
Chard is used in cooking different countries world for preparing a variety of dishes. It's delicious and medicinal plant very useful for obesity, diabetes, kidney stones, anemia. Young leaves and cuttings are used in cooking until they are juicy and hardened.
Chard is successfully used to decorate dishes. For this purpose it tender leaves can replace traditionally used lettuce leaves. We put chard leaves on a dish, and you can put any cold appetizer on top of them.
Chard is widely used in preparing various vitamin dishes in dietary nutrition. It is good for preparing cabbage soup, borscht and, of course, variety of salads. Braised chard is original snack for noodles or as a side dish for meat.
Dangerous properties of chard
Because chard contains vitamin K large quantities than the body needs, it is important to observe moderation in its consumption. After all, even healthy vitamins can cause harm if the correct dosage is not followed.
Thus, an excess of vitamin K can lead to blood viscosity and an increase in platelets. Therefore, it is extremely undesirable to consume foods rich in vitamin K for patients with thrombophlebitis, varicose veins, some types of migraines, and for patients with high cholesterol levels.
Since chard contains oxalic acid, it is recommended, like spinach, to boil it briefly before eating and drain the water in order to get rid of it.
Chard, or Swiss chard, is a popular species in Mediterranean countries. lettuce, which is very often compared to spinach, as it contains many useful substances, vitamins and minerals, while remaining an extremely low-calorie and tasty product.
In RuNet, many people write that chard was bred by breeders from beets so that the root specifically remained small and inedible. The story, to put it mildly, is implausible, because this plant has been known for a very long time. Long before scientists learned to deduce different types, in Sicily there are recipes with chard that are more than several hundred years old.
That is, some are trying to convince us that these are ordinary beets, but even though they are relatives, they are not the same thing. Sugar beets and red beets are also relatives, but that doesn’t mean that one can replace the other, does it?
However, red beet leaves are also very useful thing, only chard has a less bitter taste and is more reminiscent of spinach.
What is chard? How they eat. Application
Chard is a two year old herbaceous plant families amaranth, is a close relative of the red beet, familiar to us from childhood, but only the petioles and leaves are used for food. Unlike beets, the root of chard does not develop, but remains very small; as a result, all the attention and nutrients accumulate in its leaves.
The plant is quite large, reaching 60-70 cm in height. Fresh leaves bright green in color, while the color of the petioles is usually red, but it can also be white and orange flowers, depending on the variety.
- Red petiole chard;
- Yellow petiole;
- Green petiolate;
- Silver-petiolate.
Chard is also highly productive; in one season, the plant can produce approximately 1 kg of petioles and leaves; it grows quickly and does not require special care.
Swiss chard is especially valued because it can be grown in early spring, when vitamins are still very scarce.
The Italians call this plant "beta", which means "red" in Celtic. There it is succulent leaves appreciated for delicate taste, beauty and nutritional value and are eaten with pleasure both fresh as part of salads, and they prepare the most variety of dishes, from pasta to pies.
They say that even Aristotle mentioned chard in his works, because in ancient times, people living in the territory of modern Greece and Italy used this plant as a medicinal plant.
Today, when it is possible to thoroughly study the products we consume, scientists were surprised to discover how rich this type of salad is in the vitamins and minerals necessary for humans. Chard is in second place after spinach in the ranking of the most healthy vegetables, and now you will understand why. The whole secret is in its composition.
Health benefits of Swiss chard
Recent research has shown that chard leaves contain at least 13 different polyphenolic antioxidants, including kaempferol, a cardioprotective flavonoid also found in broccoli, cabbage, and strawberries. But along with kaempferol, one of the main flavonoids found in chard leaves is syringic acid. Syringic acid has received particular attention in recent research due to its blood sugar regulating properties.
Like beets, chard is a unique source of phytonutrients called betalains, which have the ability to detoxify the body.
Ingredients of chard (100g, boiled without salt):
- Vitamin A – 306 mcg – 38% daily value;
- Vitamin K – 327 mcg – 300% daily value;
- Vitamin C – 18 mg – 22% daily value;
- And also: thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, folic acid, vitamins B5 and B6, choline.
- Magnesium, iron, calcium, manganese, phosphorus, sodium, zinc, potassium, copper, selenium.
Benefits of chard:
- Chard is recommended for diabetes, obesity, anemia, after serious illnesses and also for spring vitamin deficiency.
- Just 1 serving of chard (200 grams) can provide 60% of the daily minimum of magnesium, the most important mineral in the body.
- Research has shown that chard helps regenerate pancreatic cells.
- It has hepatoprotective properties and removes toxins from the body.
- Strengthens the immune system.
- Chard contains a record amount of vitamin K, which, like calcium and magnesium, is necessary for the formation of bone tissue.
- Improves performance of cardio-vascular system.
Contraindications and harm
- Vitamin K
Since chard contains vitamin K, it is much more than the daily requirement required to the human body For normal functioning, it is important to observe moderation in consumption. After all, even the most beneficial vitamins can be harmful if the dosage is not followed.
An excess of vitamin K increases platelets and blood viscosity, and as a result, it is extremely undesirable to consume foods rich in vitamin K for patients with varicose veins, thrombophlebitis, some types of migraines, and people with high cholesterol levels.
- Oxalates
The fact is that oxalic acid tends to crystallize, and therefore products that contain this acid are contraindicated for those who have problems with the kidneys and gall bladder.
If you are absolutely healthy, then adding a few leaves of fresh chard to your salad will not do any harm.
How to select and store chard
Choosing chard is not difficult - the leaves should be bright in color, shiny, juicy and crisp.
Always pay attention that there are no yellow or brown spots. Experienced chefs It is recommended to choose smaller leaves, they are more tender and tastier.
Chard should be washed under cold running water. Soaking leaves is contraindicated because in this way many beneficial substances are lost.
To keep chard leaves fresh longer, place them in plastic bag, and close tightly so that there is no air left inside. Thus, chard can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Leaves should be washed only immediately before use.
If necessary to store a large number of leaves, then they must first be washed, cut, placed in bags and frozen, as is done with spinach.
How to cook chard
The best way to get more benefit and useful substances, this fast cooking. First, lower the petioles into boiling water, cook for 2 minutes, then add the leaves and cook together for another 3. The vada needs to be drained, and the chard can then be used for its intended purpose. You can, for example, add it to an omelette, or pasta, or mix it with pieces of cheese and olives, garlic and olive oil, you will get a wonderful vitamin salad.
Here are some ideas:
- In Italy, boiled chard is used to make vegetarian lasagna.
- Stuffed cabbage rolls in chard leaves
- Chard puff pastries
Chard, a product that certainly deserves more attention, because it is not a previously capricious plant that is so rich in vitamins and useful substances. Perfect option when you want to diversify your family's diet.
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