Swiss chard

[Guest guest]

Hi everybody,

 

Does anyone in this group eat raw Swiss chard? Yesterday I saw what

looked like baby chard at my local co-op. The leaves were about a

third of the size of regular chard and it looked nice and fresh so I

bought a bunch.

 

When I got home and ate a few leaves (it tasted good!), the back of

my throat started burning - a sensation that lasted a good hour.

Later that evening, I put a few pieces into my salad, thinking that

it would not have such an effect if it were mixed with other greens.

Wrong. It still caused the burning sensation.

 

I figured the burning was due to oxalic acid. Since the chard looked

too good to throw out and waste, I reluctantly boiled it. I had read

that cooking in plenty of water destroys most of the oxalic acid.

Sure enough - it no longer caused the burning (and tasted yummy).

 

I'm wondering if all Swiss chard has this effect when eaten raw - or

did I just happen to get some that was particularly high in it? It's

not something I normally eat.

 

Jan