Sea beet

Beta vulgaris subsp. maritima · Leafy green

40 pairings

Sea beet (Beta vulgaris subsp. maritima) is the wild ancestor of beetroot, chard, sugar beet and the fodder beets — a sprawling coastal perennial whose thick, glossy, faintly salty leaves are foraged and cooked much like spinach. Robust and earthy with a mineral, briny edge, it is one of the most useful wild greens of European shorelines.

Picking a good onedrag

Glossy, fleshy, deep greenYellow, limp, slimy at the stem

Kitchen freshThe all-rounder: wilt in oil with garlic, or boil and drain.Everyday best

LeafGreen, the gloss gone matt

The leaf in handSofter, still lifts its own weight

Cut stemsCut ends drying, stalks still spring back

Smell at the leafGreen and neutral, almost nothing

What to look for, from glossy, fleshy, deep green to yellow, limp, slimy at the stem.

Keeping ittap a band

A domestic fridge holds it about 4× longer than the counter.

Humidity

95-98%

Near-saturated: a damp cloth or a lidded box. The 95-98% is chard's published range, borrowed for its wild parent; bare fridge air limps a bunch inside a day.

Airflow

Vented, never sealed

A perforated bag or a loose wrap, never sealed — shut tight the leaves sweat and soft rot starts at the cut stems and the packed middle of the bunch.

Preparing