What is chard, how to eat it correctly and how it can be useful

The German name mangold stuck to it, although it was known as “Roman cabbage”, and as “Jerusalem artichoke”, and as “grass stem”. An inexperienced person is unlikely to distinguish its tops from beet tops, but the differences are still significant. Let's tell you what chard is, what its benefits and harms are, how it is grown and eaten.

What is chard

At first glance it looks like spinach. Indeed, there are family ties: both of them are from the amaranth family, but these are distant relatives. In fact, the vegetable is directly related to Swiss chard and is a subspecies of it.

Appearance

If beets have sweet and healthy root vegetables, chard does not have them, and the leaves and stems that form tall rosettes are used for food.. The plant is biennial, and in the first year its rosette is not so lush. But the next time she amazes with her curliness.

The leaves are usually large - up to 30 cm, heart-shaped or elongated, with a smooth or pimply surface and wavy edges. Depending on the variety, they come in different colors and shades: dark or emerald green, yellow, purple, red, pink. The veins on the leaves contrast with the background, for example, red, yellow or silver veins can be seen on a green leaf.

The petioles are juicy, fleshy, up to 25 cm high, up to 5 cm thick. Their color is also colorful: milky white, light green, yellow, orange, burgundy (the photo shows a rich range of colors). The stems can grow up to 2 m.The flowers of the plant are inconspicuous, small, collected in leafy inflorescences.

Summer residents often decorate their plots with this vegetable: By planting varieties correctly, you can achieve a shading transition of color and thus decorate your garden area.

Composition and beneficial properties

The vegetable contains many vitamins, amino acids, and minerals. It is especially enriched with vitamin K: 100 g of the product contains 830 mcg, while the daily requirement for an adult is 90 mcg. This vitamin is involved in protein synthesis and affects kidney health and metabolism.

Important! People prescribed anticoagulants are advised to selectively eat foods high in vitamin K, as it affects blood coagulation.

Vitamin A also accounts for a significant share: 306 mcg, or 34% of the daily value.

Main minerals:

• potassium – 379 mg (15% daily value);
• magnesium – 81 mg (20% daily value);
• iron – 1.2 mg (10% daily value);
• manganese – 0.37 mg (19% daily value).

B vitamins:

• thiamine – 0.04 mg (3% daily value);
• riboflavin – 0.09 mg (5% daily value);
• pantothenic acid – 0.17 mg (3% daily value);
• pyridoxine – 0.1 mg (5% daily value);
• folate (B9) – 14 mcg (4% daily value).

This product is classified as low-calorie (19 kcal).

In 100 g of chard:

• proteins – 1.8 g;
• carbohydrates – 3.74 g;
• fat – 0.3 g;
• water – 92.66 g.

The vegetable cleanses the blood and improves its clotting, reduces blood pressure, has a beneficial effect on the cardiovascular system, prevents osteoporosis and sclerosis, and strengthens the immune system. It is recommended for anemia and diabetes.

Contraindications

Chard can be harmful to people suffering from high blood viscosity, varicose veins or thrombophlebitis, as the vegetable thickens the blood. Patients with kidney or gallstones should also exclude it from the diet, since the oxalic acid salts (oxalates) present in it crystallize, clogging the kidney ducts.

Because of the oxalates, chard should be used with caution by people with gout and rheumatoid arthritis.

Popular varieties

Chard comes in two forms: leaf and stem.

Swiss chard (or chard) is characterized by rapid leaf growth after cutting. Its stems are tender and thin. This vegetable ripens within a month and a half after germination. Popular varieties of chard include Spinach, Green Leaf and Winter. They are frost-resistant, have a lush but short leaf rosette.

The stem (petiole) type has powerful “stringy” petioles. This type of chard is ready to eat three months after germination. Stem varieties include Ruby, Bulls Blood, Scarlet, Garnet, and Vulcan. Their stems are bright red, purple and even purple. There are petiole varieties with white and green stems: Emerald, Malachite, Mirage, Swiss.

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Growing and care

The vegetable is easy to care for, but there are still some rules for growing it.

In the open ground

Sowing in open ground is carried out in three stages. This allows you to provide the table with healthy greens from mid-summer until the first frost.

The first stage is spring. The exact landing time depends on the region.If the conditions are favorable, then it is permissible to sow the seeds in open ground as early as mid-April, having previously soaked them. If the ground is still frozen, then it is better to wait until May and sow dry seeds.

The second stage is summer. To get a rich harvest by the beginning of winter, you need to sow the soaked seeds in July. They are sown in place after already harvested onions, potatoes or strawberries, but not after beets and not next to spinach.

The third stage is late autumn. Dry seeds are sown in October-November. The harvest from this sowing grows the following spring.

The soil for planting chard must be fertile. To do this, you need 1 sq. in advance. m of soil, add up to 5 kg of humus, saltpeter, superphosphate, potassium sulfate - 20 g of each fertilizer.

Chard requires regular watering and occasional fertilizing. Since leaves and petioles are capable of accumulating nitrates, it is better not to feed it with nitrogen fertilizers. Many gardeners admit that they do not feed chard at all, but it grows well. The harvest is harvested after 40-70 days after germination. One plant produces up to 1 kg of harvest per year.

From plants planted in May, seeds are collected in September. They are well dried and stored until next spring for sowing. If the region has harsh winters, then in late autumn it is better to dig up the plant with its roots, place it in boxes with soil and send it to a cellar or greenhouse for growing.

In the greenhouse

To winterize a plant in a greenhouse, you need to prepare the containers where it will be located. Suitable containers (this could be boxes) need to be treated with a solution of potassium permanganate, drainage should be considered, and sand should be added. The soil for planting must be fertilized with organic matter.

For forcing greenery, rhizomes of healthy plants are suitable, which are placed close to each other (bridge planting method) and sprinkled with soil. The rhizomes must be kept in the dark for a week. Water with water at room temperature, but without fanaticism: too much watering can lead to rotting of the roots.

When planting, the temperature in the greenhouse should be 9-11 degrees, when the first shoots appear, it must be increased to 14-18 and maintained at this level. During the winter months, feeding should be regular, once a month.

After 20-25 days you can harvest the green harvest.

On the windowsill

If you don’t have a summer house, and you haven’t heard of such a vegetable in the nearest supermarket, it doesn’t matter. Since the plant does not require special care, it will grow well in a city apartment. To do this, you will need wide window sills, flower pots or neat boxes, soil and plant seeds.

Chard in the apartment also serves a decorative function. If you approach its cultivation with imagination, you can achieve an excellent effect by combining the colors of leaves and petioles with each other. To do this, use different plant varieties, for example, White Silver and Lucullus, or purchase the Rainbow variety. The best time for planting is mid-February.

The soil requirements are to prepare a mixture of humus and turf soil in equal parts with the addition of half a share of river sand. You also need to take care of drainage.

Seeds should be sown in warm, moist soil to a depth of 2-2.5 cm. Water with cool, settled water regularly, but not abundantly, every two days, and if the apartment is hot and dry, then every other day. In an unheated apartment, seed pots should be tightly covered with film.Once a month, feed with an infusion of eggshells or wood ash.

The optimal temperature for chard growth is 14-18 degrees.

Application of chard

The leaves and stems of chard are useful to eat in any season, and for this you need to know what can be prepared from it and take care of how to preserve the vegetable.

In cooking

Chard is eaten raw, boiled, fried, stewed and baked. It goes well with other ingredients, successfully replaces cabbage in borscht and cabbage rolls, can be used instead of grape leaves in dolma, and is suitable for vegetable and meat casseroles.

We present you several recipes for chard dishes.

Provençal omelette

Ingredients:

• 200 g chard leaves;
• 4 tbsp. l. olive oil;
• a mixture of Provencal herbs;
• 1 onion;
• 5 eggs;
• 2 tbsp. l. milk;
• salt and ground black pepper to taste;
• 1 sprig of parsley.

Preparation:

1. Blanch the chard leaves in hot water for two minutes. Then drain the water, rinse with cold water, and chop finely.
2. Cut the onion into thin half rings and fry in a frying pan with oil.
3. Squeeze the chard leaves, add to the onion and simmer until soft.
4. Beat the eggs with milk, add salt and pepper, add Provençal herbs and pour into the frying pan.
5. After a minute, turn the omelette over and fry the other side.

Chard dolma

Ingredients:

• 8 chard leaves,
• for filling: 250 g minced meat, a quarter cup of rice, 1 egg;
• for frying: half an onion, 2 tomatoes, 1 bell pepper, 1 carrot, 1 clove of garlic, vegetable oil;
• salt, pepper, spices to taste.

Preparation:

1. Rinse and boil the rice.
2. Finely chop the vegetables for frying and fry in oil.
3. Add rice, fried meat and egg to the minced meat, mix, salt and pepper.
4. Wash the chard leaves, dry them, and lightly beat off the thick petioles.
5. Place the filling on each leaf (the amount depends on the size of the leaf), roll the leaves into a roll, bending the side edges, and place in a steamer bowl.
6. Steam for 30 minutes. Serve with sour cream sauce or yogurt.

Vegetable salad

Ingredients:

• 3-4 chard leaves with petioles;
• 2 juicy tomatoes;
• 1 bell pepper;
• fresh dill and parsley;
• 3 tbsp. l. olive oil.

Preparation:

1. Finely chop the leaves.
2. Cut the petioles into 1 cm cubes, fry in a frying pan with butter, add a couple of tablespoons of water and simmer until softened and the water evaporates.
3. Cut the tomatoes into cubes, peppers into half rings, mix with the cooled petioles.
4. Sprinkle the salad with chopped leaves and dill and parsley.

Freezing

When preparing for the winter, it is important to preserve all the beneficial properties of the plant. Therefore, the most effective method is freezing. There are two ways:

1. Leaves and stems should be washed and dried. Cut into pieces large, small or medium, put into bags in portions and place in the freezer.
2. Wash the leaves and petioles, boil in water for two minutes, remove and place in a colander to drain completely. Chop the cooled greens as in the first method, portion them into bags and leave them in the freezer. If necessary, remove a portion and cook without defrosting, that is, put it directly into a frying pan or into soup.

If you want to cook dolma or cabbage rolls in winter, then the washed leaves should be dried and frozen whole.

Marinades and preservation

To pickle chard leaves for winter cabbage rolls, you need to wash them, roll them up, place them in sterile jars and pour over the marinade (water, salt, sugar, vinegar, seasonings).

Fleshy petioles are preserved separately: rinse, cut, put in jars, pour marinade.

An assortment of finely chopped leaves and petioles is one option for canning. Such homemade preparations are added to salads, soups and side dishes.

Medicinal use

Chard is healthy, like any vegetable. Its healing effect is as follows:

• thanks to calcium, magnesium and vitamin K, it has a beneficial effect on the condition of teeth and bones;
• prevents anemia;
• improves blood quality;
• normalizes blood sugar levels thanks to fiber and lilac acid;
• promotes activation of brain cells due to the presence of B vitamins;
• preserves vision - it contains lutein and zeaxanthin;
• strengthens the blood vessels of the heart, as it contains kaempferol;
• has an anti-inflammatory effect.

Folk remedies

For abscesses and burns, you need to boil chard leaves and apply to the problem area, after cooling.

For inflammation and redness of the eyes, crush the fresh leaves and apply compresses to the eyes.

You can try to remove warts with juice obtained from the leaves and stems of the vegetable.

Attention! Freshly squeezed chard juice should not be consumed due to the increased concentration of volatile substances in it. You need to let it settle and only then drink.

It also fights baldness: the roots are burned, honey is added to the resulting ash and rubbed into the scalp.

To rejuvenate the skin, masks are prepared from lightly boiled and crushed stems and leaves.

Conclusion

Chard is a wonderful green vegetable that has not yet managed to conquer all regions of our vast country. Few people have heard of it, even fewer who regularly eat it, but fame precedes it.

A little time will pass, and not a single housewife will imagine her kitchen without this useful assistant, rich in vitamins and minerals, not a single summer resident will miss the opportunity to decorate his plot with lush multi-colored rosettes, and city dwellers will grow rainbow chard in their apartments!