It is now secret that I LOVE my greens and I am often teased at home for trying to sneak these into everything I cook. We are lucky enough to have most of these greens available all year and I make sure to add them into my weekly organic veggie box from Wild Organics.

CHARD

Also called, swiss chard, spinach, rainbow chard or bright lights.

Chard, also confusingly called spinach in SA, is in the same family as beetroot, in fact the greens of beetroot can easily be passed as chard. 

WHY GOOD FOR YOU

Chard packs a nutritional punch as it is is rich in Vitamin A, C, E and K. It is a good source of Magnesium and contains various anti-inflamatory plant chemicals including betalin, which counters inflammation, protects the liver and have anticancer properties. 

Chard, like most kale varieties, is an organic box staple and a good veggie to master as it is available all year round. Rainbow chard is available late autumn and winter. 

The no1 rule to enjoying chard is to wash it really well, as there is nothing quite as unappealing as biting into a mouthful of sand.

HOW TO BUY 

The stems and leaves should feel firm to the touch. 

HOW TO STORE

Store in the fridge, unwashed. Chard can happily sit in the fridge for 5-7days. 

HOW TO PREP  

Pull the leaves from the stalks, reserving the stalks. Fill a big bowl with water, place the leaves in the water and swirl around roughly, drain in a colander and repeat until no more sand is left at the bottom of the bowl. Spin the leaves in a salad spinner* until dry. Stack a few leaves together, roll into a cylinder (think cigar) and cut into ribbons. Repeat with all the leaves. 

TOP TIP: reserve all the water for the garden.

For the stalks, cut the ends of the stalks (the browny bits) and wash in running water, rubbing your fingers over the stalks. Place on clean tea towel and dry. 

HOW TO COOK 

Stalks and leaves cook at different times, so always chop stalks into smaller pieces. 

Washed chard can be added directly to soups, stews or curries at the end of the cooking time, the heat will cook the chard. 

To sauté chard, heat oil to a pan over medium heat, you can add a few slivers of garlic as well, first add the chopped chard stems cooking for a few minutes until soft, add the leaves, assuming the leaves are still wet from being washed, if not add a tablespoon of water, cover with a lid to create steam and cook for 5/8. If there is a lot of liquid in the pan, drain the leaves or whack up the temperature, stirring continually until all the moisture is gone. Season well with olive oil, salt & pepper. 

 RECIPES LINKS 

Chard, Tomato & Chickpea Curry 

Middle Eastern Lentils w Chard & Tahini 

Tuscan Bean Soup w Rainbow Chard 

KALE

We all know ‘kale is having a moment’ a rather long one if I am perfectly honest, but it still has a bit of a reputation for being difficult to cook and hard to like, Kale is part of the brassica family and grown all year round. 

WHY GOOD FOR YOU

Kale is a superfood full of Vitamin A, B6, C, K and folate. It is rich in cruciferous glucosinolates (like broccoli) which can fight precancerous cells. 

Kale can be used interchangeably with chard, baby spinach or bok choy. 

There are 4 main types of kale, they vary more in texture than in flavour. 

  • Tuscan kale, also known as, Italian, black kale or cavolo nero,  has the darkest and flattest leaves making it the easiest to work . It has the least dirt of all the kale, you can simply strip the leaves from the stems and wash quickly with running water and dry. 
  • Flat leaf kale, also called collard greens, has very large leaves and somewhat in the middle of a cabbage and a kale. It is easy to clean but needs quite a bit of cooking as the leaves are quite thick.
  • Curly kale is really curly and quite bitter, it is my least favourite kale to eat raw. You don’t need to cut the leaves, just strip from the stems and wash as you would chard above in plenty water. 
  • Russian kale has clean ‘oak like’ leaves and the mildest flavour of all the kale. 

HOW TO BUY 

The stems and leaves should feel firm to the touch. 

HOW TO STORE

Kale can be prepped ahead (see below) and stored in a sealed container. Kale is pretty forgiving in the fridge and can last a good week (and a half). 

HOW TO PREP

Whether it’s curly kale, red russian, flat leaf  or tuscan (aka cavalo nero or black kale) kale is easy to prepare. The first rule is to slice or strip the leaves from the stalky ribs, the stalks are edible, but most of the time I put the stalks in compost to be honest.

Fill a big bowl with water, place the leaves in the water and swirl around roughly, drain in a colander and repeat until no more sand is left at the bottom of the bowl. TOP TIP: reserve all the water for the garden. Spin the leaves in a salad spinner* until dry. 

HOW TO COOK

Kale can be eaten raw, I prefer tuscan kale to bitter curly kale. Slice the kale very very thin when eating raw. 

The ribs are pretty woody but totally edible they would need to be cooked separately from the leaves and I find briefly boiling them in salted water the best way to cook them.

To sauté chard, heat oil to a pan over medium heat, first add the chopped chard stems cooking for a few minutes and then add the leaves, cover with a lid to create steam and cook for 5/8 minutes if the leaves are still wet, if not add a tablespoon of water. If there is a lot of liquid in the pan, drain the leaves or whack up the temperature, stirring continually until all the moisture is gone. Season well with salt & pepper. 

 RECIPE LINKS

Lentil & Tomato Soup w Ginger & Kale

Kale & Toasted Crouton Salad w Pine NutsÂ