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Raw Swiss chard with broad green leaves and thick white stalks.

Swiss chard

Swiss chard is a leafy crop with broad edible leaves and thick stalks that can be white, red, pink, orange or yellow.

What you eat
Leaves and thick stalks
Stalk colours
White, red, pink, orange or yellow

Types and forms

Fordhook Giant

Characteristics
White stalks and puckered leaves

Bright Lights

Characteristics
A mixture including red, yellow and orange stalks
Fordhook GiantBright Lights
CharacteristicsWhite stalks and puckered leavesA mixture including red, yellow and orange stalks

Try it in the kitchen

Thick chard stalks take longer to cook than the leaves. Prepare the stalks and leaves separately, then bring them together with olive oil and lemon on the plate.

For Campania’s pizza con la jeta, enclose stalk chard in bread dough: a local alternative to pizza di scarola.

Choose leaves and stalks together

Choose broad-rib chard when you want both leaves and substantial stalks. Named varieties can help you find a particular stalk colour; the examples here illustrate the range rather than covering every cultivar.

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