Eat a rainbow

Little One and I zipped over to the co-op after school today, to grab food for the weekend. He looks forward to it, since he knows that every single employee will ask if he got his free fruit. (In an effort to encourage good eating habits and help moms by entertaining kids, they give each kid a serving of the fruit of their choice. By the time your kid has reduced an apple to brown mush, you're more than halfway done with your shopping. Brilliant. And it sure beats sampling Cheetos at Costco.)

He also knows that I'm game for new foods, especially in the produce section. While I'm debating which kind of mushroom to bag, he's tugging at my sleeve, asking if we can have the rainbow stuff. I look over to where he's pointing. Believe it or not, he's clamoring for greens! Rainbow chard, to be exact.

I usually cut the stems off greens, but these were so pretty--red, pink, yellow and white--I couldn't bring myself to discard them. So I chopped them up and sauteed them with some garlic until they were tender, adding the leaves later to wilt them. A drizzle of balsamic vinegar, and they're done, and absolutely gorgeous.

They say that kids are more likely to eat vegetables if they are involved in growing them. I think that must hold true to gathering them (even at the market). You see, there were no leftovers.