Crossword Genius

Vegetable - cooked top until solid (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

chard

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'vegetable' is the definition.
(I know that chard is a type of leaf vegetable)

'cooked top until solid' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'solid' could be 'hard' (associated in meaning) and 'hard' is found in the answer.
A single letter 'c' remains which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for chard that I've seen before include "Vegetable; Somerset town" , "Kind of (Swiss?) beet with edible leaves" , "Beet with edible leaves and stalks" , "Leaf stalks from a kind of beet" , "Variety of beet with edible white leaf stalks" .)

I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.
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