If you like spinach, you will adore chard. The flavor is mild yet earthy and sweet with slightly bitter undertones. Chard is very popular among Mediterranean cooks but the first varieties have been traced back to Sicily. In the US the leaves are valued while European cooks value the stalks to the point of discarding the leaves or feeding them to animals. Chard can be harvested while the leaves are young and tender or after maturity when larger have slightly tougher stems.
Chard is extremely perishable, so keep refrigerator storage time to a minimum.
Store unwashed leaves in plastic bags in the crisper for 2 to 3 days. The stalks can be stored longer if separated from the leaves. Chard packs a huge amount of vitamin A and it is naturally high in sodium. One cup contains 313 mg of sodium, which is very high for vegetables. Chard is also surprisingly high in other minerals as well, i.e., calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium.