Shop Smart, Prep Smart: Chard

Shop Smart
Look for chard with crisp-looking stems and leaves (not wilted), free of brown/black areas.

Prep Smart
Since a small amount of dirt will often remain, it is best to let the chard soak in a large bowl of cool water, swirling the leaves around so that any debris fall to the bottom of the bowl. Then gently rinse the leaves and stems under cool running water. The leaves should be separated from the stems, as the stems take longer to cook are are typically added earlier in the cooking process.

Read the newspaper article that I wrote which featured this info and an excellent recipe using chard (Austin’s Black Bean Soup).

Separate the leaves from the stems, since they have different cooking times.

Timaree Hagenburger, a plant-based registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN), certified exercise physiologist with a master’s degree in public health, has over 20 years of experience as a nutrition professor. She is a sought after speaker, media personality and author, who works with private clients, and in corporate wellness, has contributed to several cookbooks and published her own cookbook, The Foodie Bar Way: One Meal, Lots of Options, Everyone’s Happy (www.foodiebars.com)! Timaree is also the founder of an incredible online membership community, The Foodie Bar Way of Life, that makes loving the food (and living a life) that loves us back… simple, satisfying, sustainable AND FUN! You can contact her about working with her through 1:1 dietitian nutrition coaching, for hands-on cooking instruction and to inquire about arranging a speaking engagement.