What vegetable is this in my veg box this week? And how the heck is it eaten?

[Callimanco]

My veg box has gone too middle class for me. I thought this was rhubarb when I first spied it in the box but now I am wondering if it's some sort of spinachy thing? Chard? How do I eat it, and what with? It is very pretty...

Last week they sent khol rabi and that was a challenge enough.... still got half of it rotting in the veg drawer

Mooli is just a long radish cum white turnip.

Chard sabzi with rice is really nice. You can add a bit of chana dal for texture. Gran used to make it a lot.

The stalks and leaves are totally different.
The leaves treat like spinach,take a bit longer but is tastier.
I'm cut the stems finely and put in anything just to use them,mostly combined with onions.
I grow them amongst the flowers in the garden,they need no special attention .

@Sgtmajormummy Cima di rapa is not the same as chard. It is what is called collard greens in America or turnip tops elsewhere. We grow it every year and it is high in Vitamin C. This year we have planted the variety quarantina which seemed appropriate but obviously just means it takes forty days. We get the seeds from an Italian organic supplier.

You can cook and eat the stalks like asparagus - boiled the. covered in butter and eaten with bread and cutter. Use tips like spinach.

I just chop the chard stalks and add them earlier. There is a fabulous recipe for beef, chard and chickpea casserole in Yasmin Khan's Zaitoun book. It is a great family favourite.

@MitziK shall we have a lip synch battle? It I win, I can drop your mic?

If I win. Stupid bastard autocorrect trying to bugger up my chances.

Chard is lovely chopped up and put in a stir fry.

@DonLewis No. Mic dropping is an inexcusable offence and a crime against humanity. Well, audio engineers, at any rate. we are still human, even with the all black clothes and generally pissed off expression

As are lip sync battles against music.

But I agree with you about Spanakobita being the best choice.

And the shorts @MitziK. All the roadies, sound engineers, instrument techs that I know (and I seem to know a LOT) all wear shorts. All the time. That's a crime.

But we can enjoy a spinakopita together. That sounds noice.

Kohlrabi makes great coleslaw OP

Ruby chard. There’s a lovely, old Raymond Blanc gruyere and chard tart if you can google it (and get the ingredients!). Lovely stuff.

Roast the stalks separately from the leaves and have with dip

missclimpson You’re quite right! I was confused with the red stalks looking like beetroot leaves.

Use it in a vegetable stir fry. Fry a bit of chopped garlic until golden add roughly chopped chard and any other vegetables: carrots, mushrooms, broccoli, cabbage etc and season with pepper, chilli sauce and soy sauce. You can also add any meat or veg proteins: quorn, tofu and serve with rice or noodle

Just about everything they senD me in my veg box has gone into a stir fry including kohl rabi and they have all been delicious

I tend to make it following a Spanish recipe. Saute almonds in butter until golden, set aside. Saute raisins in butter until plumped up, set aside with the raisins. Brown a sliced up clove of garlic in the butter, then add the cut up chard stalks and some salt, cook until they start to soften, then add the sliced up leaves. Cook until wilted. Add back the almonds and raisins. Done.
For the PP who made it into a pie: there is actually a sweet chard pie that they make in Nice, so it's not as unorthodox as you think!

Fgs. Wish there were an edit function. Set the sauted raisins aside with the almonds.

Indian mooli salad. Peel and grate mooli. Make a dressing with salt, white vinegar. Heat a little oil in a pan. Fry some mustard seeds and cumin seeds until fragrant, and pour the seeds and the oil onto the salad. Mix everything together.

@Sgtmajormummy I must confess to only making the link between quarantina forty days and quarantine when I planted it. 😀

Wish I was neighbours with some of the people who prefer not to get less usual veg. I'd gladly swap you some potatoes I got in mine, they're all I have left and I'm chopping them up and hiding them in food one at a time to get rid of them. I'd love some kohlrabi!

Thank you so much to everyone for all the recipe ideas. I am quite excited about it now! Had the first few tops with my lamb hotpot for lunch (lamb mince in my meat box, lol!)