when cooking swiss chard do you discard the thick stems or eat them?

Answer 1

You should cut out the stem using a knife, the stem is way too tough and just tastes terrible.

Answer 2

You can eat them and thanks for asking the question, It made me look up the info and I found out swiss chard has a ton of nutritional value

Tips for Preparing Swiss Chard:

Wash the chard well to remove any sand or soil that may be hidden in the leaves. One way to do this is to immerse pieces of cut chard in a bowl of cool water, swirling them around to remove any dirt and then quickly rinsing them with cool running water.

Trim the bottom end of the stalk. If you find the stalks to be more fibrous than desired, make incisions near the base of the stalk and peel away the fibers, like you would do with celery.

Do not cook chard in an aluminum pot since the oxalates contained in the chard will react with the metal and cause the pot to discolor. Since the stalks are thicker in texture, they will take longer to cook than the leaves, so their cooking should be started a few minutes earlier. Chard is one of the vegetables that we recommend quick boiling (as opposed to steaming or healthy saut�) since this helps to free the oxalic acids it contains and makes the chard less bitter and more sweet.

Answer 3

I will cut off the thickest parts near the base and save them to add to the pot when I make stock. If they are not too big, I'll slice them and cook them with the leaves.

Answer 4

http://allrecipes.com/