chard

A beet family vegetable with crinkly green leaves and celery like stalks. Stalks can very from a light silvery to deep red color. Red chard = rhubarb chard = ruby chard, with green leaves and red stalks, is slightly more tender and flavorful than white chard = green chard, with white stalks and green leaves, but the two are interchangeable in most recipes.

Ingredient

Season: June - August

How to select: Available year round but true harvest is summer. Look for crisp stalks.

How to store: Store in the refrigerator in plastic for 3 days.

How to prepare: braise, saute, steam. Swiss chard is used much like spinach, except that it has an appealing beet-like flavor and a heavier texture, which requires longer cooking. Many cooks simply saute it in olive oil and serve it as a side dish.

Matches well with: lemon, peppers, saffron

Substitutions: beet greens OR spinach OR turnip greens OR bok choy OR escarole OR mustard greens