SILVER BEET / SWISS CHARD
May 10th, 2012 → 1:00 am @ Shanti
“Vitamins and minerals in fresh food”
SWISS CHARD / SILVERBEET
Silverbeet is not spinach, as mentioned in the article “Spinach” on page 28. This leafy vegetable is tall, crinkly and crisp and the colour is a very dark green. The name silverBEET, comes from the family it belongs to, the beets.
Young leaves can be harvested and eaten raw, but most of us eat them when more mature and then steam them or use them in stir-fries. The stalks are cooked a little longer, but the leaves only seconds, as we loose too much of the nutritional value when heated too long. Today we have multi-coloured varieties and they are a nice addition in your garden as decorative plants. Some edible plants do well, amongst your regular garden plants, because when plants are grown, mixed in with others, rather than in a commercial situation, they usually do better and don’t get the insects and other nasties. Also grow coloured lettuces as decorative plants you can eat.
Silverbeet is high in anti-oxidants, omega-3 fatty acids, welcomed by vegetarians and low in calories, so a good vegetable for weight watchers, like some others already written up.
Vitamins: K massive, A very high and also β-carotene, C high, E, B6, B2, B9, B3.
Minerals: Iron, Magnesium, Copper, Manganese, Sodium, Potassium, Phosphorous, Calcium and Zinc all good and some Selenium.
So we see from he above statistics that this is another beauty. Grow and eat silverbeet often and do yourself a favour. Your brain loves Vit K (Alzheimer’s disease).
