As a chef, even I have a hard time identifying all the lettuce varieties showing up at the markets and farm stands this time of year. Their seasonal showy good looks call on you to load your cart full, but thoughts of having to wash all those lettuces and actually work them into meals, especially if you're an iceberg lettuce person at heart, can dash your enthusiasm faster than you can say, "Please pass the store-bought cole slaw."

Even so, eating some of the lively greens will help pump up your culinary courage to venture beyond the familiar and enjoy even more varieties of leafy good stuff.

Identifying at least some of the varieties will help too. Earthbound Farm raises 100 varieties of certified organic salads, fruits and vegetables, and they are available in 74 percent of America's supermarkets. The company's Web site, www.ebfarm.com, has an excellent Salad Greens ID Chart on its home page. The site offers lots of recipe ideas too.

Did you know?

• In general, the larger the leaf, the sweeter the green. From Bibb to Boston and Green or Red Leaf to Romaine; these form the basis of many a great salad.
  
  
• The darker the leaf's color, the more nutritional value it contains. For example, dark green parsley is a good source of calcium; cilantro contains fiber; romaine has eight times as much beta-carotene and twice the amount of calcium and potassium as iceberg lettuce.

Shopping and storing
When shopping for greens, look for the liveliest, freshest greens you can find. This means no slimy edges and as few brown spots and wilted leaves as you can get away with. Your greens should come home from the market still crisp. The outer leaves of a head of lettuce are generally more nutrient rich than the inner, more yellow leaves. Unfortunately, they also tend to be more beat up, bruised and bug eaten than the inner leaves. Try to salvage as much of them as you can when washing.

It's best to clean your lettuces and greens as soon as you get them home. This also has the advantage of making them ready to use whenever you need them. Place lettuces in a sink full of icy cold water to revive them. Make sure bath time is no longer than 5 minutes or they'll get too soggy. Rinse stem ends thoroughly. This is where all of the dirt and sand will collect. Some ends will need to be trimmed if they're dried out. Next, run them through a salad spinner and lay them out on a cloth to dry while you finish putting away the rest of the groceries.

My mother always wraps a damp paper towel around cleaned lettuces before she stores them in the fridge, often in the very same (rinsed and dried) plastic bag she brings them home in. This is a great idea and helps to keep the lettuces crisp. Some greens such as basil and cilantro store best in a glass filled with water like a bouquet of flowers. Place a plastic bag loosely over the bouquet and store in the refrigerator. All greens should be eaten as soon as possible.

Grilled greens
Not all greens should end up in traditional salads. Many of the bitter greens benefit from sautéing, grilling and even braising to bring out their best. So far, I haven't been able to talk my brother-in-law, who believes everything worth eating should be prepared on a Weber Kettle grill, to cook up my favorite grilled lettuces, Radicchio and its close cousin, Traviso, but I'm still working on him.

To enjoy delicious grilled greens, toss clean greens with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and place them on the coolest part of the grill. Cook, turning often, until the outer leaves are a bit crispy and the inner leaves are wilted through. Eat as is or sprinkle with a little vinegar such as champagne, red wine or even balsamic. Tip: It's best to cut heads of radicchio into quarters and to leave heads of Traviso whole.

Fresh beet greens, unless harvested very young, should not be eaten on a fresh salad. Their bitter taste and tough texture is better suited to sautéing. Take a bunch of fresh beet greens and rinse them in a cold water bath. Dry them most of the way. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a sauté pan. When the oil is hot but not smoking, add the damp greens and fresh cracked black pepper and kosher salt to taste. Leave them in the pan, stirring once or twice for 3 to 4 minutes. When they're wilted but still look good enough to eat, remove them from the pan.

Last night, I served grilled beat greens as a side dish with grilled salmon. Just before serving, I added a bit of Kikkoman's Lemon Infused Ponzu Sauce to the top of each. Delicious!

kd@chefkathleen.com