Produce Briefs...
Maui Onions
Two characteristics set the Maui onion apart from other yellow onions: the high sugar and high moisture content of its flesh.
Rainbow Swiss Chard
Rainbow chard, also known a 5-color silverbeet, is a tender chard variety with multi-colored stalks of yellow, white, orange pink and red.
Seasons/Availability
Rainbow Swiss Chard has a peak growing season during the summer months and can be found at the market year-round.
Description/Taste
Rainbow chard, also known a 5-color silverbeet, is a tender chard variety with multi-colored stalks of yellow, white, orange pink and red. Its matching colored veins extend upward and out into its green fan-shaped leaves. Rainbow chard has an assertive texture and its flavor is earthy and mildly salty and sweet.
Applications
Swiss chard leaves are hearty enough to be braised in soups and stews. They also make a good wrapper in applications as dolmadas or terrines. Swiss chard may be substituted for regular spinach in a classic hot artichoke dip preparation. The stems can be cooked separately in a creamy gratin.
Ethnic/Cultural Info
Portugal and Spain use a strong oil to saute chard and add pine nuts, garlic and even raisins. In Nice, stalks are cooked in a bouillon thickened with an oil-based roux and seasoned with garlic and mashed anchovies. Italians pack chard into fat tortelli or add pureed chard to pasta dough and gnocchi.
Geography/History
As its genus, Beta vulgaris, suggests, chard is, in fact, a beet that has been chosen for leaf production at the expense of root formation. Unlike traditional beets, chard's roots are small and inedible. The word "Swiss" was used to distinguish chard from French charde or chardon by nineteenth century seed catalogues publishers and the name simply stuck.
Featured Restaurants
Restaurants currently purchasing this product as an ingredient for their menu.
Recipe Ideas
Recipes that include Rainbow Swiss Chard. One
is easiest, three is harder.
Rainbow Swiss Chard has a peak growing season during the summer months and can be found at the market year-round.
Description/Taste
Rainbow chard, also known a 5-color silverbeet, is a tender chard variety with multi-colored stalks of yellow, white, orange pink and red. Its matching colored veins extend upward and out into its green fan-shaped leaves. Rainbow chard has an assertive texture and its flavor is earthy and mildly salty and sweet.
Applications
Swiss chard leaves are hearty enough to be braised in soups and stews. They also make a good wrapper in applications as dolmadas or terrines. Swiss chard may be substituted for regular spinach in a classic hot artichoke dip preparation. The stems can be cooked separately in a creamy gratin.
Ethnic/Cultural Info
Portugal and Spain use a strong oil to saute chard and add pine nuts, garlic and even raisins. In Nice, stalks are cooked in a bouillon thickened with an oil-based roux and seasoned with garlic and mashed anchovies. Italians pack chard into fat tortelli or add pureed chard to pasta dough and gnocchi.
Geography/History
As its genus, Beta vulgaris, suggests, chard is, in fact, a beet that has been chosen for leaf production at the expense of root formation. Unlike traditional beets, chard's roots are small and inedible. The word "Swiss" was used to distinguish chard from French charde or chardon by nineteenth century seed catalogues publishers and the name simply stuck.
Featured Restaurants
Restaurants currently purchasing this product as an ingredient for their menu.
| Brockton Villa Restaurant | San Diego CA | 858-454-7393 |
| Roy's San Diego | San Diego CA | 619-239-7697 |
| The Glass Door | San Diego CA | 619-544-0164 |
| UCSD Food & Nutrition Department Hillcrest | San Diego CA | 619-543-2764 |
| Crab Catcher La Jolla | San Diego CA | 858-454-9587 |
| Solace & the Moonlight Lounge | Encinitas CA | 760-753-2433 |
| Leroy's Kitchen & Lounge | Coronado CA | 619-522-6890 |
| Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club | Rancho Santa Fe CA | 858-756-1582 |
| Flavor Del Mar | Del Mar CA | 858-755-3663 |
| Burlap | San Diego CA | 858 369 5700 |
| Beaumont's | San Diego CA | 858-459-0474 |
| Lauberge Del Mar | Del Mar CA | 858-259-1515 |
| JRDN Restaurant | San Diego CA | 858-270-5736 |
| Marine Room | San Diego CA | 858-551-4676 |
| The Village at 631 | San Diego CA | 619-255-9405 |
Recipe Ideas
Recipes that include Rainbow Swiss Chard. One
is easiest, three is harder.
