1. Home
  2. Fruit and Vegetable Gardening
  3. swiss chard
  4. Page 2

swiss chard

You should try cilantro pesto, when the cilantro is in flower. Yummy!

Reply to
Billy
Loading thread data ...

no

the kind i used to eat

D
Reply to
David Hare-Scott

Maybe it wasn't the preparation. Silverbeet can get very strong and metallic in flavour if it is too old, typically such leaves are dark coloured and thick. You need to keep the leaves coming so you can cut them at a good size but young.

D
Reply to
David Hare-Scott

"Dirt chunks" should have been a dead giveaway.

Reply to
Farm1

No. White stems - prolly contibutes to why we call it 'silver' beet.

Reply to
Farm1

I left out an 'm'. It's 'umbellifera'. Think 'carrot' family - carrot, parsnip, Queen Anne's lace etc.

Reply to
Farm1

No, I shouldn't. Find a damp basement with a washing machine in it, dig around behind the washing machine until you find a lost, moldering sock, make pesto with it, and you'll have an idea of what I would taste...

This is not a matter of "how it's prepared", this is a matter of "cilantro tastes (to me, and a bunch of other people with the same genetic 'switch' thrown) the way moldy socks smell" - so pesto would be a waste of perfectly good nuts, oil, garlic cheese and lemon (or whatever you put in _your_ pesto other than leaves). I have basil and sorrel and nasturtiums that will make a pesto that does _not_ taste like moldy socks smell.

Other sources liken the taste to the smell of bedbugs, which I've so far avoided having the delightful-I'm-sure experience of smelling in person.

Reply to
Ecnerwal

I didn't like cilantro on my first introduction to them either, but now it is hard for me not to get enough cilantro, and japapenos into my salsa, refried beans, or guacamole, yum, yum, yum.

Pesto here is normally basil (best in flower), garlic (not enough to drown out the basil), and extra virgin olive oil with Parmesan, Romano, or Asagio on the side to taste.

Reply to
Billy

Well, there is "chacun à son goût", or "de gustibus et coloribus non est disputandum". Still, I use them in salads, as a vegetable side dish, in stews, or part of a stir fry.

They are very healthy as you can see.

Reply to
Billy

I thought 'silver' came from the way water beads on the leaves.

D
Reply to
David Hare-Scott

Who knows how it got it's name int he real world. But I have noticed that the stems do have a silvery/pearly look to them.

Reply to
Farm1

I thought about that and I've dismissed it as merely being lack of experience on the part of the eater :-))

I was thinking about this issue as I went about my chores after posting here this morning. I tried to think of a vegetable of which I didn't like the taste. There really wasn't one veg I could name IF and I do mean if, it was harvested at optimum time and well prepared. All, overly big, tired and poorly or unimaginatively cooked veg can, and most often are, hideous.

If I had been asked in my 20s if I liked silver beet, or Broad Beans (Fava beans in USian) I'd have said no. Then I discovered how to both harvest them and cook and present them. I could also have said that I'm not overly fond of Brussel Sprouts but very young and tender ones are a delight - ditto swedes and turnips. But all of these must be young and cooked by a compatent cook. I even like chillies if prepared so as not to blow my brains out (what few I still possess).

Himself (my SO) used to say that he hated green beans. After putting up with that crap comment for decades, I finally decided to ignore his wishes and plant them. He has now discovered that when picked young and steamed so they don't go a grey colour, they are actually well worth eating. Maybe not on his I want to eat then 5 timfes a week list, but certainly soemthing he eats and doesn't whinge aobut when he sees them on his plate.

There is a British cook/lifestyle bloke called Hugh Fearley-Whittingstall who does wonderful TV progs about his life, his recipes and his caff/small holding and he set out a challenge competition between himself and the chef at his caff, to serve cauliflower in an exciting way so they could potentially servie it to the customers of the caff. His shows are brilliant because he is always managing to convert people to the love of veg after they vow and declare that they will not, have not and could not possibly ever eat 'x'.

Out of the hearing of the chef, he said to camera that he absolutely loathed Cauliflower cheese since he'd been forced to suffer it at boarding school and that he would never ever serve it at his caff.

Of course the chef chose to make what he called 'Cheesy cauliflower' to serve up to Hugh for his tasting. Hugh was very rude about it till he tasted it, he gave it the thumbs up and agreed to serve it to customers.

Reply to
Farm1

I'm out in the country, and I've had dealings with McEvoy ranch just outside of town.

We use a lot of olive oil in our cooking here, but I'm a big believer in that food should itself bring a desirable flavour to the dish. i personally just didn't find that with the Italian white-ribbed chard - though I do have seed for some other varieties, since I don't write off a veggie after just one type doesn't tickle my fancy.

Reply to
Sean Straw

Culinary use Southern United States Collard greens are a staple vegetable of Southern U.S. cuisine. They are often prepared with other similar green leaf vegetables, such as kale, turnip greens, spinach, and mustard greens in "mixed greens". They are generally eaten year-round in the South. Typical seasonings when cooking collards can consist of smoked and salted meats (ham hocks, smoked turkey drumsticks, pork neckbones, fatback or other fatty meat), diced onions, vinegar, salt, and black, white, or crushed red pepper. Traditionally, collards are eaten on New Year's Day, along with black-eyed peas or field peas and cornbread, to ensure wealth in the coming year, as the leaves resemble folding money.[citation needed] Cornbread is used to soak up the "pot liquor", a nutrient-rich collard broth. Collard greens may also be thinly sliced and fermented to make collard kraut, which is often cooked with flat dumplings.

Reply to
Billy

Fresh veggies can be amazing, old, limp, shriveled veggies, not so much.

Reply to
Billy

i'll likely do that if we have extra. diced and added to pickled beets or three bean salad. if we have a huge amount then i'll try canning whole stalks in a small batch for gifts.

we like to use the beets and three bean salad as a topping for salads, larger pieces don't work so well for that application.

songbird

Reply to
songbird

Farm1 wrote: ...

ah, ok, yes, we have gobs of queen-annes-lace here. i have to continually weed it or we will be overrun. it flowers a little later than the alfalfa.

it's funny because i was thinking "umbrella" when i first read what you wrote.

songbird

Reply to
songbird

...

i like all of them. my own cooking times in the past i've used them. now i don't cook as much so have to limit my plantings to what will be used or it is a waste of space and effort.

with okra, chard and turnips i'm hoping to widen the cooking palette, but i think she's already determined she won't like the turnips. i have a good chance with the chard. okra, doubtful, it might be too much like black pepper. we'll see.

we lost cabbage this past year, she won't cook with it any longer other than saurkraut. :( to me that is about the whole point of veggie soup...

songbird

Reply to
songbird

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.