Many of us are scared of leafy greens or simply don’t know what to do with them. I worked for my Mom’s catering company for many years. We used large kale leaves as the foundation for beautiful vegetable and fruit displays. Growing up, I thought large leafy greens were for decoration. Not to eat.

Leafy greens aren’t very expensive and if you arm yourself with a few great recipes, you can make some cheap, very healthy side dishes. As I’ve mentioned before, my favorite book for fabulous vegetable recipes is Perfect Vegetables . If you don’t have this book, go to Amazon and buy it. It has practical recipes and has become my key source for information about vegetables. In the summertime when vegetables abound, I keep Perfect Vegetables on hand in the kitchen to help me make the most of these affordable ingredients.

One of my new favorite ways to cook chard is with red onion and bacon. You saute the bacon until crispy, cook the red onion in the bacon fat, throw in a bit of garlic and fresh thyme and toss in the chard. A friend of mind came for dinner a couple of weeks ago and I served it alongside some meatloaf. The chard disappeared within minutes. The kids even licked their plates – they weren’t afraid!