I have just been given a lesson in the difference between leaf beet (often known as perpetual spinach even though it is a beet and not a spinach), swiss chard and rainbow chard.  The leaf beet is related to beetroot  and sugar beets.  The leaf beet has been developed for its spinach like leaves, the rainbow chard for its pretty coloured stems and the swiss chard for it wide white stem and smaller leaves.  These plants can be “kept going” for two or three years.  Spinach is an annual plant and, in my opinion, has a more bitter taste than the leaf beets.  Lesson over!  Anyway last night I washed and chopped and cooked some leaf beet to add to the risotto that I was making this morning.  It’s certainly tastier than the frozen spinach I used to buy in the shops.  I also made some gluten free rice pastry for a guest who will eat with us next week.  Its almost impossible to roll so I more or less had to flatten it into the tin.  The second quiche was made with my ordinary pastry which is a doddle to roll.  The filling is sauteed onions and courgette – for which I used the very last, large courgette that was growing in the garden.  Farewell to courgettes until next year.