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Rainbow Chard


Carlovski

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I picked up some rainbow chard at the farmers market at the weekend.

It was beautiful to look at, a mix of bright red, yellow and orange stems.

Is this an actual variety, or was it a mic of several variants, cunningly marketed?

It tasted pretty good too.

I love animals.

They are delicious.

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Rainbow Chard is an actual varietal. The stalks of a single plant are multi-hued, therefore the bouquet you purchased was perfectly natural.

Always good when sauteed with olive oil and garlic finished with a squeeze of lemon. :smile:

Jay

You are what you eat.

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We've had it here in the States for several years. It IS lovely, isn't it? and it still tastes like chard!

But I think it works best as a simple vegetable side -- why bury that brilliant color in a quiche or other pie?

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Yes, I was attracted like a small child to the bright colours.

It was help yourself (Although he also had a lot of ready bagged stuff) so I got to pick the nicest colour selection :biggrin:

He also had some very nice broad beans.

I put some of it in a sort of 'Fritatta Primavera' with some of the broad beans, asparagus and some mushrooms (Not very 'Primavera' I know, but I had some handy!).

I had most of it simply sauted with some oil and Garlic, as mentioned to go with a nice simply baked sea bream (Which I had to clean and descale myself - hadn't done that for a while!)

I love animals.

They are delicious.

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It fades a little, as you might imagine, but not totally--it's not like those purple green beans that turn green with cooking. The red stems make everything reddish.

I like to cook the leaves and stems separately: the leaves get sauteed with garlic and red pepper, while I lightly bread or batter and deep-fry the stems. Lightly battered enough that the color shows through. Good stuff. I love chard.

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I am adding a link here for those who have never seen it.

Bright Lights Chard

I have grown it, sowing directly in the garden in the fall for SE Texas. I positioned it so that the low evening sun would backlight it. It was lovely to sit on the back porch in the evening and enjoy the view.

However, for eating and for really big lush plants, my favorites are still Vulcan (deep red) and an Italian white wide ribbed variety.

Linda LaRose aka "fifi"

"Having spent most of my life searching for truth in the excitement of science, I am now in search of the perfectly seared foie gras without any sweet glop." Linda LaRose

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Rainbow Chard is an actual varietal. The stalks of a single plant are multi-hued, therefore the bouquet you purchased was perfectly natural.

Always good when sauteed with olive oil and garlic finished with a squeeze of lemon. :smile:

I grow this every year - but the plants are not multi-hued. Each plant is single hued, though there is some varigation. So I usually have a couple of yellow, a couple red, a white or two...but not in a single plant. I've used Shephard's Seeds, Renee's Garden Seeds, Territorial Seeds, and some smuggled in from Canada. How come I don't get a rainbow on one plant?

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I tried Rainbow Chard and loved it. I am planning to plant some when fall planting comes around.

I did the leaves with sundried tomatoes and feta, and made a gratin of the colorful stems with heavy cream and parmesan. It made a very pretty and very tasty gratin.

Marcia.

Don't forget what happened to the man who suddenly got everything he wanted...he lived happily ever after. -- Willy Wonka

eGullet foodblog

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Whatever color, isn't chard just one of the best vegetables ever? :wub::wub:

So why is it so hard to get (At least in the uk?)

I don't know of a single supermarket which sells it, odd considering they do sell other, more esoteric, and potentially intimidating vegetables.

The only time I can get it is when the farmers market is in town.

I think they could market the rainbow stuff at kids too.

I love animals.

They are delicious.

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That single colour in the stalk is normal tsquare...variations of shading etc.

Rainbow is a more expensive seed and germination is lower than other varieties of chard which is a factor in finding it easily in markets. Demand usually changes that in time though.

A colourful use for the stalks- blanch real quick-ice bath- quick pickle into the jars.

Julienne all the stalks separate and pack separate for some garnishing next winter.

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We used to grow rainbow chard. I believe it's just like 'easter egg radishes', just a mixture of different varieties. Now we only grow one kind of chard, the Italian, thin-ribbed variety, and our farmers market customers go wild for this chard.

-ch

charderbette1.jpg

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So why is it so hard to get (At least in the uk?)

I don't know of a single supermarket which sells it, odd considering they do sell other, more esoteric, and potentially intimidating vegetables.

The only time I can get it is when the farmers market is in town.

I think they could market the rainbow stuff at kids too.

You know, I hadn't really thought about it beofre, but now that I do, I realize most supermarkets around here (downtown Philadelphia, PA, USA) don't carry it--but nearly every produce stand and fancy supermarkets like Whole Foods have lots of it--it's usually in with the bunches of spinach and kale.

It's almost like, stores/merchants that care about vegetables even a little carry things like this, but most supermarkets don't bother.

BTW the rainbow chard is neat, but I'll buy any of the stuff. I eat it about once a week, more often in the winter.

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Maybe they will come around - in the UK you never used to see squashes for sale for instance.

What we need is Delia Smith to mention them. That normally does the trick. :biggrin:

I love animals.

They are delicious.

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So why is it so hard to get (At least in the uk?)

I suggest growing your own. You can buy organic seeds from HDRA.org.uk - £1.90 for 95. I am currently growing it in my allotment and its as pretty as a flower and incredibly tasty. It takes up little room and should give you leaves to pick from about 6-8 weeks from sewing. Get it in your back garden - you can sew it outside until about August.

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