What does Swiss Chard taste like?

Question

I am trying to lose weight and need to get in my veggies, I don't really like a lot of veggies and am getting bored with carrots, celery, cucumbers and tomatoes. I have thought about trying swiss chard, I saw some recipes for it, and the recipes sound yummy. My only concern is that the flavor of the swiss chard is going to be bad. I thought it seemed to be like beets when I smelled it one time at the grocery store, basically I just want to know if that was the veggie that tastes like beets?

Also, do you eat the stalk at all? Or just the leaves?

Answer 1

Its hard to explain, But I think it has a nice flavor.
I take the swisschard and cut thee bottoms off, Then I clean it and cut it up. Meanwhile put about 2 Tablespoons of Olive oil in a pot cut up garlic. When the swisschard is all clean and ready. Start putting your cut up garlic in the hot oil, I put 2 cloves you can add as much as you like. when it has cooked for about 5Min's.Take your wet swisschard and put that in, add about 1/4th cup of water or chicken stock and salt to taste. Put a cover on it and cook until soft maybe 20Min's or more. When it is done and you put it in a bowl add grated Italian cheese and enjoy. If you don't like vegetables try what we do with the kids, cook string beans after the are done add a little Italian dressing, it enhances the flavor and they love it. Try different veggies with dressing that you like. (low fat) You can also freeze any leftovers for another day.

Answer 2

You'll love it -- it's actually fairly sweet! (Doesn't taste anything like beets; my wife can't tolerate beets but she loves chard.) And yes, you can eat the stalks as well as the leaves.

You can find Swiss chard in several colors these days; my grocer sells it in bunches where the stems are white, yellow and red. The red is the sweetest, but they're all good. Try just cooking it in the barest-possible amount of olive oil, with a little garlic to season, and then cover to steam. It doesn't take long to cook, just a few minutes over high heat.

Answer 3

Swiss chard is yummy. My whole family pigs out on this when it starts getting of a size in my garden to pick every year.

There are many varieties of Swiss Chard. The red one that you are acquainted with was bred to look like beets, and tastes somewhat like them. The Swiss Chard that we especially like is the one bred to grow like spinach. It has reallly green folded (and bumpy) leaves.

My youngest daughter and myself are always fighting over the stalks...think bok choy with more flavour.

Swiss Chard can also be used raw in salads, but is best picked while it's still small for this purpose. The spinach seeming Swiss Chard usually grows as high as 3 feet tall in my garden, with leaves that try to compete with ferns for size (being 2 ft long). We always harvest just the outer leaves from several plants to make a meal for all seven of us to eat. Washed and cut into pieces for ease of cooking, then steamed for only 5 minutes and served with garlic butter drizzle...yummmmm!

Answer 4

Spring Swiss Chard is sweeter. A cross between beat greens and spinach. It grows up till the first frost. It is delicious with Rice Vinegar. Steam it.

Answer 5

If you don't eat a lot of vegetables, it will taste somewhat as indicated in the negative answers, e.g., bitter or nasty.

But, cooked right, not mushy, it can taste good if you add a little bit of salt, and sprinkle on some vinegar. Start with rainbow chard if avaiable (orange/reddish color), because it's really good looking and you will want to eat it.

Answer 6

It tastes like SPINICH.

We used to have both fresh from the garden when I was growing up and my sister and I could never tell the difference.

My wife loves spinich, if I can't get it, I substitute Swiss Chard, she either never knows the difference or doesn't care.

I always cut stalks off, leaves it much more tender and we're not that poor........

Aside from salads, Swiss Chard and spinich both make lovely cream soups and are excellent in stews and curries....

Answer 7

It is yummy. I cook it like Spinach or Kale. It's milder than kale but not as mild as spinach. Depending on how mature the leaves are whether I eat the stems. If they are I just cut them out of the center when I'm cleaning & chopping it for cooking.
PS Wash it good, all greens tend to be sandy.

Answer 8

it is bitter if you eat it raw, but if you steam it, or stir-fry it, it will pretty much absorb the flavor of whatever you're cooking it in. It has a mild taste, similar to spinach. You can eat the stalk and the leaves, but I prefer the leaves only.

Answer 9

I don't care for it much. I like beets a lot, and there is no similarity. To me, it tastes a bit like spinach, but not as good.

Answer 10

chard is nasty and bitter