Why I Love Chard
Bright Lights chard, in which a single seed produces leaves of red, orange, yellow and white, would be a keeper for its color alone. When you add to that its versatility in cooking, ease of cultivation, heat- and cold-tolerance, and long period of harvest – how can you not give it a try? To cook with chard, use it wherever you’d use spinach. The young, tender leaves look and taste great raw in salad, and the bigger, meatier leaves cook in a flash – for soups, quiches, and sautés. The colorful stems make a pretty addition to pasta primavera, too. The chard in this picture was transplanted out in early spring and I harvested leaves as I needed them all season – with a little frost blanket protection, it can last right through winter.