Salad greens that have a strong mix of flavors are great for pairing with fruit, toasted nuts and your favorite cheese. Fresh apples, cherries (dried or fresh), or pears will add sweetness while toasted hazelnuts, walnuts or pecans add some richness to the salad. Feta, blue cheese, or goat cheese would pair well with any of these flavors.

Storing Greens

All the greens will do best stored in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator. Both the Swiss card and kale are generally stemmed before using. Swiss chard stems are edible so save them for another use. Use chard stems as you would celery. Kale stems, however, don’t make for great eating. If you want to save kale stems, they can be used in vegetable stocks or to flavor any cooking liquid for grains. Red Russian kale is perfect for cooking, whether it is sautéing, grilling, and baking. Swiss chard is similar to spinach and can be used interchangeably.

Using Greens

For any of you feeling overwhelmed with greens, both kale and Swiss chard can be frozen well for winter cooking. To freeze greens, they will need to be blanched and shocked. Put on a big pot of salted boiling water and get a large bowl of ice water ready. With a sharp knife, cut out the stem from each leaf, discarding the stem or save for use in stock. Stack several leaves, roll into a cigar shape and coarsely chop. When water comes to boil, add greens and cook for 1mintue. If working with a lot of greens, blanch in smaller batches. With a slotted spoon or strainer, remove greens and put immediately into ice bath. This stops the cooking process and keeps the bright green color. Drain well, squeeze out any excess liquid, and store in Ziploc bags, pushing out all air and sealing tightly. Frozen greens will keep for several months, making a great addition to winter soups, stews, quiches, or pasta dishes.