One of the world's healthiest vegetables

The broccoli and cauliflower have all been harvested, along with the carrots.  We're finishing up the last of those veggies in our refrigerator crisper.  One vegetable that is just starting to come in strong is Swiss Chard.  It is one of the world's healthiest vegetable and is chock full of nutrients.  Not only is it nutritious, but it is absolutely gorgeous growing in the garden.  Just look at the pictures below!:

Swiss Chard

If you look at the leaves, they are somewhat thick, shiny, and resemble beets or spinach leaves.  This is because they are all in the same family.  The ribs are brightly colored and the veins in the leaves contrast against the green leaves.  To be honest, I don't know why they are called Swiss Chard since they didn't originate in Switzerland.  Actually, they are from the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea.

Sunlight filtering through the Swiss Chard leaves

You can tell I have several different varieties of chard growing.  On the far left you can see some chard that is green with white ribs.  Some has red ribs and others have pink ribs.  When the leaves are relatively small, we'll eat the whole thing, ribs and all.  When the plant gets bigger, the ribs get tougher and we'll cut them out and feed them to the cows and goat.

Here is a close-up of the pretty ribs that are all different colors from the bunch of chard I picked for supper tonight.  The leaves/stems were nice and tender and I was able to just snap them off with my hand versus using a knife.

Chard stems/ribs

I brought them inside and Tricia cooked them down in a cast iron skillet with some butter, water, and kosher salt.   The leaves and stems were delicious.

Chard - a delicious, nutritious, beautiful side dish

We've found that Swiss Chard is very similar to kale in that as you pick leaves off the plant, they will grow more and more.  You'll get more and more to harvest as the season goes on.  That's a good thing, because we'll be able to enjoy eating it for a while.