A couple of weeks ago I cut and took a bag full of chard in to the office. I had extra, and thought I'd see if there were any takers. Most of them looked at me like I had two heads, but one woman took all of the leaves. I had several colors. I told her several ways to use it.

I paused in her office door today to ask if she'd had an occasion to try the chard. Her face broke into a huge smile.

"We'd never eaten chard before, but I steamed it in a pan with a little water and put lemon juice on it and WE LOVE IT! It's so much better than spinach!"

I often steam it, but I prefer it with vinegar.

Enthusiasm for a new food is always nice. :) And the fact that chard is easy to grow is good news for her--I'll take some more in tomorrow, but I'm willing to bet she'll get some bedding plants or seed. I cooked up a big pan of it last night and have it as leftovers for a couple of days. (One of my favorite recipes: I cut up lamb into bite-sized pieces and brown it in olive oil, add garlic, some herb and allspice, add pine nuts and when it's cooked, put a big heap of cut up chard and cover it with a lid until it's wilted and give it a good stir to combine the flavors. Serve this over rice with big dollops of good yogurt.)

SRS