Silverbeet — season, tips, and recipes in New Zealand
Silverbeet is a vegetables available in New Zealand during January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December, peaking in May, June, July, August. This page is a practical guide for home cooks: when to buy silverbeet, how to pick a good one, how to store it, what it goes well with, three original recipes, and detailed nutrition information.
A NZ garden staple. Virtually indestructible, produces leaves for months from a single planting.
How to pick a good one
Firm crunchy stems, bright green leaves. Rainbow silverbeet (coloured stems) tastes the same.
How to store it
Fridge in damp tea towel, up to a week.
Goes well with
garlic: Garlic's savoury depth amplifies silverbeet's earthy flavour. The combination is more reliable than silverbeet alone.
lemon: Acid cuts silverbeet's slight bitterness and makes the flavour cleaner. A squeeze after cooking makes a significant difference.
pine nuts: A Sicilian combination: pine nuts' richness and silverbeet's bitterness create a balance that's more interesting than either alone.
raisins: Sweet and bitter is a reliable contrast. Raisins with silverbeet is Sicilian in origin (agrodolce) and produces something that doesn't taste like either ingredient but better than both.
nutmeg: Nutmeg with dark leafy greens is an Italian technique. A small amount adds warmth and depth to silverbeet's slightly mineral flavour.
Recipes
Silverbeet & Ricotta Cannelloni
Comfort food. Worth the assembly.
Ingredients: 500g silverbeet, 250g ricotta, 1 egg, 12 cannelloni tubes, 500ml tomato sauce, 100g mozzarella
Method: Wilt and chop silverbeet. Mix with ricotta and egg. Fill tubes. Lay in dish. Cover with tomato sauce. Top with mozzarella. Bake 180C for 30 min.
Sautéed Silverbeet with Garlic & Lemon
Side dish. 5 minutes.
Ingredients: 1 bunch silverbeet, 2 cloves garlic, 1 tbsp olive oil, squeeze lemon, pinch chilli, salt
Method: Separate stems and leaves. Slice stems, chop leaves. Fry stems in oil 2 min. Add garlic, chilli. Add leaves, wilt. Squeeze lemon. Salt.
Silverbeet & Cheese Pie
Old-school. Feeds a crowd.
Ingredients: 1 bunch silverbeet, 200g cheese (grated), 3 eggs, 1 onion, 2 sheets puff pastry, salt, pepper
Method: Wilt and chop silverbeet. Mix with cheese, eggs, cooked onion. Line pie dish with pastry. Fill. Top with pastry. Seal edges. Brush with egg. Bake 190C for 35 min.
Nutrition
One cup of cooked silverbeet provides 700% of your daily vitamin K, 120% of your vitamin A, and 50% of your vitamin C. Also provides 22% of your daily iron and 38% of your magnesium. About 35 calories. The coloured stems in rainbow varieties contain the same nutrients as white stems, plus additional anthocyanins.