its leaves, which may be green or red. New
Zealand spinach is a relative of the succulent
ice plant (also eaten!), Tetragonia
tetragonioides, productive in hot weather but
thick-leaved and best when cooked. Water
spinach is an Asian relative of the sweet
potato, Ipomoea aquatica, with elongated
leaves and crunchy, hollow stems that are
good at taking up sauce.
Chard Chard is the name given to varieties of
the beet, Beta vulgaris, that have been
selected for thick, meaty leaf stalks
(subspecies cicla) rather than their roots. The
beet is a distant relative of spinach, and its
leaves — including ordinary, thin-midribbed
beet greens — also contain oxalates. Chard
stalks and leaf veins can be colored brilliant
yellow, orange, and crimson by the same
betain pigments that color the roots, which are
water-soluble and stain cooking liquids and
sauces. Some of the recently revived colored