Oh so easy

Among the easiest vegetables to grow in our vegetable garden are blettes (Swiss chard). I plant the seeds and they grow. I do tend to plant the seeds too close together when I plant in the ground. I'm afraid they won't all sprout or something. So when they all come up, thinning and transplanting are in order. But aside from that, these things just grow.

Sauteed chard leaves (without the stems) ready to be added to the final dish.

They can get close to two feet tall, which is way past time to pick them, but they're still good. And I can pick each leaf independently, which means that the plant stays in the ground and puts up new leaves for later harvests. It's the leaf that keeps on giving. Like rhubarb. Except, unlike rhubarb, the stems are good to eat.

In fact, some people eat only the stems. But we like the leaves, too. I normally separate the leaves from the stems and we use them differently. For example, the leaves you see here were lightly sauteed in olive oil, then added to a dish of spicy chick peas for a variation of espinacas con garbanzos (thanks to this guy for the inspiration). Ken used the stems the next day to make a gratin, a simple dish of the cooked stems with a béchamel sauce and some cheese browned in the oven.

Blettes are often used just like you would use spinach. But the leaves are tenderer than spinach, and their flavor is milder and sweeter. The stems aren't tough or stringy when cooked, but are tender and tasty.

Many people around where we live include blettes in their annual garden. This is the second time for me, but I see them becoming an annual staple for us, too.