Topic: Beetroot leaves

[Hector]

Had some steamed Chioggia leaves tonight. Absolutely lovely.  Are all Beet leaves as tasty or is this varieties leaves particularly special?

[Ian Pearson]

All are edible. Cheltenham Greentop, as its name suggests, is particularly good for greens. I also like the red leaved varieties Bull's Blood and Mr Mcgregors Favourite

[delboy]

This is a coincidence - my other half's friend asked us yesterday for the beet leaves as and when we harvest..

I labelled her as one of the loony brigade.

Ooops.

[pumkinlover]

I found Chiogga leaves really nice and I grew mangelworzel once , when someone told me it was really for animals I just ate the leaves and they were nice.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Leaf beet is the same thing as beetroot only bred for its leaves; if one has edible leaves, so does the other!

[saddad]

and chard is the same thing again... but bred for the stalks...  :)

[Hector]

Delboy, they are yummy!

[Vinlander]

I have had some beetroot leaves that were better than chard - but it depends on the variety and whether they are young leaves from an early pulling.

I read that the wild version on the seashore is best for leaves and when I tried it it was definitely better than chard - though I suspect that some of that is down to salty soil (which all the beet family prefer).

For cooking I still place true summer spinach as No 1, with New Zealand spinach as 2nd (though the wild kind that grows in the Canary islands is even better) and wild chard 3rd.

I've never tried 'true' winter spinach because I don't feel the need  - the chards volunteer and grow themselves thro' winter.

Incidentally, for baby leaves in salads I'd place NZ spinach in the No 1 position because they have some crunch and texture. It does best under cover - in fact if it is carefully picked it makes quite a good ground cover inbetween the peppers and toms.

Cheers.

[Spudbash]

I agree with lots of what's already been said: I like Chioggia leaves, too.

Sea beet leaves are good in a stir-fry and if you keep letting your chard self-seed, it practically reverts to sea beet!

I do like baby spinach leaves in a salad, but my current leaves are New Zealand spinach, grown in a florist's bucket.

The other one that people might like to try is the leaf beet variety Erbette. It's more tender, after cooking, than other beet leaves I've tried and yet easy to grow (at least, in spring, when I tried it) and large-leaved, so easy to harvest and prepare.

Spudbash  :)