Rainbow Chard Stalks – don’t throw them away! These brilliantly colored stalks are filled with many of the same vital micronutrients as the leafy parts. Just chop them up, zap them briefly in the microwave, add some tomatoes and make a quick and tasty salad.
It’s such a simple and delicious way to use the beautiful and crunchy leaf stalks. Serve it as a side-dish with any meal, use as a topping for your favorite pita pocket sandwich, or just grab a spoon and polish it off, all by itself… it’s that good!
Just in case you’re keeping track of your caloric intake… Don’t worry, it’s not going to mess with your “calorie-count” for the day! At only 24 cal/serving, it’s actually going to give you a whole lot of bang…
And… it’s perfect for your “root-to-shoot” cooking and eating endeavors – let’s not waste nature’s bounty! Let’s find fun and delectable ways to use the often discarded, but nutrient-rich, stalks and stems of our favorite vegetables.
Chard Leaf Stalks – Rich in nutrients
The colorful Rainbow Chard leaf stalks are not just pretty- they’re also loaded with nutrients. Overall the nutrient profile closely resembles that of the leafy green portions, meaning it’s a “heavyweight” in terms of nutrient-density. That said, there are, of course, some pretty obvious differences in nutrient content between the stalks and the leaves.
Since the stalks are not green, they obviously don’t have the “green” pigment (mostly chlorophyll) that the leaves have. The red, pink and yellow stalks of Rainbow Chard have a completely different class of pigments, called betalains, . Incidentally, this is the same class of pigments that make beets red.
Interestingly, chard stalks are particularly rich in glutamine, an immune-boosting amino acid which helps our bodies recover from injuries and surgery. Since our bodies can usually make sufficient glutamine for normal functioning, it is not an essential amino acid. However, when we are recovering from illness or injury, we need more glutamine than normal, and we might not be able to make it in sufficient quantities. That is when it becomes conditionally essential, and we may benefit from consuming glutamine-rich foods.
Quick-Fix Salad – Inspired by Maharashtrian Koshimbir
I’ve tinkered with chard stems and stalks through the years and have realized that I don’t especially care for eating them raw. Yes, they were juicy and crunchy, but I didn’t really like the taste very much. So I tried cooking them briefly, just a couple of min in the microwave. That seemed to do the trick – they softened a little and tasted much better. Also, to my great surprise, it actually reminded me of cucumbers!
Well… Let’s just say it was a pretty easy step from there to the creation of this quick-fix salad recipe. Maharashtrian folks routinely make a delicious salad with cucumbers and tomato. This widely loved Kaakadi-Tomato Koshimbir (Ko-shim-bir – pronounce the “i” in “bir” as in bid ) does not need any fancy or exotic ingredients – just a few common pantry staples. How could I possibly go wrong with this inspired adaptation, essentially just replacing the cucumber with semi-cooked chard stalks?!
And so… This is the backdrop to how I started using Rainbow Chard stalks and tomatoes to make a tasty salad.
This is now one of my go-to recipes for “what to do with Chard stalks”. I do make other things with these stalks too, such as a spicy, palate-tickling Indian-style pickle… but that’s a post for another day.
Special Diets
This tasty salad, made with partially cooked rainbow chard stalks and tomatoes, is vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and soy-free. If you wish, you can make it nut-free by replacing crushed roasted peanuts with sunflower seeds or chopped pumpkin seeds.
If you like this style of salad, called Koshimbir in Maharashtra, perhaps you might also like to try another one that is similar and just as delicious:
- Maharashtrian Beetroot Koshimbir – with beetroot and tomatoes
So… the next time you buy that gorgeous looking bunch of Rainbow Chard, use those pretty stalks and add a little extra pizzazz to your meal!
Do leave a review and star rating – much appreciated!
Enjoy!
Rainbow Chard Stalks and Tomatoes – A Simple Salad
Equipment
- microwave oven If not available, you can cook the chopped stalks on the stove-top; see Recipe Notes for directions
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup Rainbow Chard Stems and Leaf-stalks – stripped from 5-6 medium large leaves (about 1 bunch) – red, yellow, white stem colors
- 1/2 cup Tomatoes – diced small about 1 medium Roma; any variety of tomatoes OK
- 2 tsp Roasted peanuts – coarsely crushed unsalted; without skin
- 1/2 tsp Cumin Powder
- 2 tbsp Cilantro (fresh coriander leaves) – chopped
- 1/4 tsp Fresh green chillies – finely chopped adjust to desired spiciness
- 1/8 tsp Salt adjust as per taste preference
- 1/2 tsp Sugar
- 1 tsp Lime/Lemon juice
Instructions
- Wash the Chard leaves under running water, carefully washing away any dirt/soil that may be present. They're usually combination of red, yellow, white stemmed Chard.You can use any Chard stems of any color in this recipe.
- Use a knife to strip the stems/leaf stalks from the Rainbow Chard leaves. Set aside the leaves for another purpose.
- Stems and stalks, stripped from the leaves
- Trim the bottom ends of the stalks. Slice the stalks lengthwise, about 1/8 in (1/4 cm) wide, then bunch them together and dice into small cubes.
- In the pictures posted below, I have used red and white stalks. The appearance of the final salad will be a bit different if you also have orange and pink stalks in the mix.
- Transfer the diced stalks to a glass/ceramic bowl, cover with a vented cover, and microwave on Hi 2-3 min. The pieces soften, but still retain a soft crunch – a bit like freshly cut raw cucumber.Note: If not using a microwave oven, see Recipe Notes for stove-top cooking directions.
- Set aside to cool – uncovered. The volume decreases while cooking – it shrinks to about 3/4 of the original volume.
- Meanwhile, prep the remaining ingredients: dice the tomatoes. I typically don't de-seed the tomatoes, but you can if you prefer.Note: The seeds and the juicy pulp around the seeds are quite nutrient-rich. Removing these noticeably decreases the flavor too.
- Rinse, towel-dry (to remove excess moisture) and chop cilantro.
- Wash and finely chop fresh green chillies – remove the seeds if you wish – about 1 inch-(2-3 cm) piece of a medium Serrano pepper. Adjust according to the spiciness of the peppers you use and to suit your taste preferences.
- Add the tomatoes, lime/lemon juice, crushed roasted peanuts and cumin powder to the cooled chard stalks. Carefully place the salt and sugar on top of the dry crushed peanuts.
- Add the cilantro and chopped green chillies on the side, away from the salt and sugar.Set aside, without mixing, until ready to serve. Note: If you mix it too early, it will quickly become soggy and lose its texture, because the salt and sugar will draw out moisture from the chard stems and tomatoes.
- When you're ready to serve the salad, gently mix/toss the salad mixture and serve immediately.Serve as a side-dish with a meal, or use as a topping on your favorite sandwich. Or simply eat it, all by itself!
- Enjoy!
Notes
No microwave oven? No worries!
You can soften the chopped chard stalks in a shallow stainless steel or non-stick frying pan – use a 10 inch (25cm) pan. Note: Do NOT use an un-coated aluminum pan – it can react with the juices in the chopped stalks.- Spread the chopped stalks evenly in a thin layer on the pan – don’t crowd the pieces..
- Splash a little water on top of the stalks, cover and cook for 5-6 min on low heat.
- Set aside, uncovered, to cool to room temperature.
- Use as directed in the recipe.
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Storing Leftovers:
- Ideally, try to consume all of the prepared salad soon after it’s made.
- Refrigerate leftovers in a glass/ceramic lidded container
- consume within 24 hours – it will wilt considerably and lose its crunchy texture because the salt and sugar draw moisture from the chard stalks and tomatoes
- I do not recommend freezing this salad – when thawed, it is soggy and quite unpalatable.
never thought of using stalks this way. looks very nice and nutritious. d description as usual thorough n informative.
Yes, I was just playing with the stalks to see what I could do with them. Just on a whim , I thought I would microwave it and was quite surprised at how it turned out. Not all leaf stalks soften so fast, so I got lucky. Hope you try it sometime.