Chard has been cultivated for at least 2,000 years and has been consumed by man since at least the ancient Greeks. The ancient Greeks and Romans honored chard for its medicinal properties.
Swiss chard isn't native to Switzerland, but the Swiss botanist Koch determined the scientific name of this plant in the 19th century and since then, its name has honored his homeland. The actual homeland of chard lies farther south, in the Mediterranean region, and in fact, the Greek philosopher, Aristotle wrote about chard in the fourth century B.C.
Chard got its common name from another Mediterranean vegetable, cardoon, a celery-like plant with thick stalks that resemble those of chard. The French got the two confused and called them both "carde."
Chard has shiny green ribbed leaves, with stems that range from white to yellow and red depending on the cultivar. It is an attractive ornamental that adds color to many dishes. A chard plant can grow 1 to 2 feet tall.
The leaves can be used as a fresh salad or cooked like spinach. The stalks are cut up and cooked in a variety of dishes. Although chard is a close relative to the beet, it has a small, inedible root. Do not cook chard in an aluminum pot since the oxalates in it will react with the metal and cause the pot to discolor.
Swiss chard is an excellent source of vitamin K, vitamin A, vitamin C and such minerals as calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium as well as fiber. Chard is a cruciferous vegetable, meaning that it is high in antioxidants and thus proclaimed to possess cancer-fighting properties. It is naturally high in sodium, with one cup containing 313 mg of sodium, which is very high for vegetables.
Chard is more popular in Europe; American cooks have only modestly embraced it, tending to prefer spinach instead. In the United States, the leaves are valued while European cooks value the stalks to the point of discarding the leaves or feeding them to animals.
Chard is extremely perishable, so keep refrigerator storage time to a minimum. Store unwashed leaves in plastic bags in the crisper for two or three days. The stalks can be stored longer if separated from the leaves. If you have large batches of chard, you can blanch the leaves and freeze them.
Source: Kurt Nolte is an agriculture agent with the Yuma County Cooperative Extension. He can be reached at knolte@cals.arizona.edu or 726-3904.
