ARUGULA

Taste: Pleasantly pungent and peppery

Best in: Salads and sandwiches. Also known as rocket, roquette, rugula, and rucola, the leafy green is a staple of Italian fare and often found in mesclun (young tender greens) salad mixes, where it behaves like a cross between lettuce and herb.

Smart substitutions: Watercress, endive, or young mustard greens

Recipes:
Arugula Salad with Shrimp and Grapes
Chicken-Arugula Focaccia Sandwiches
Tomato Fettuccine with Shrimp and Arugula

BROCCOLI RABE

Taste: Broccoli rabe, a cooking green popular in Italian cuisine, resembles tiny clusters of broccoli florets amidst bunches of leaves. The leaves have a slight bitter flavor.

Best in: The leaves are best cooked or sautéed to bring out the flavor (the stalks are too bitter to eat).

Smart substitutions: Chinese broccoli, dandelion greens, or Swiss chard

Recipes:
Broccoli Rabe and White Bean Soup
Gomiti with Broccoli Rabe, Chickpeas, and Prosciutto
Garlicky Broccoli Rabe

COLLARDS

Taste: A good bit like cabbage—no surprise, since collards are a variety of cabbage

Best in: A variety of world cuisines. Southerners boil collards with bacon or ham hocks; Italians simmer them in bowls of minestra.

Smart substitutions: kale, mustard greens, or turnip greens

Recipes:
Ham, Collard Greens, and Egg Noodle Bowl
Collard Greens with Lima Beans and Smoked Turkey
Sherry-Glazed Salmon with Collard Greens

ENDIVE

Taste: Prickly texture and slightly bitter taste

Best in: Use in salads or stir into soups and bean dishes.

Smart substitution: Escarole, mustard greens, arugula, or spinach

Recipes:
Belgian Endive-and-Apple Salad
Endive Stuffed with Goat Cheese and Walnuts
Braised Fennel and Endive

ESCAROLE

Taste: Like its relative, Belgian endive, it's slightly bitter

Best in: Young, tender leaves are good in raw salads. Because escarole is more delicate than other hearty greens, it doesn't require long cooking—nice if you want supper on the table in a hurry.

Smart substitutions: mustard greens, arugula, or spinach

Recipes:
Escarole Soup with Ginger and Cilantro
Escarole with Bacon and White Beans
Escarole Salad with Melons and Crispy Prosciutto

KALE

Taste: Earthy and cabbage-y, like other cruciferous vegetables

Best in: Kales sturdy leaves are excellent sautéed and added to casseroles.

Smart substitutions: collard greens, Swiss chard, mustard greens, or spinach

Recipes:
Braised Kale with Bacon and Cider
Dijon Chicken Stew with Potatoes and Kale
Spinach and Kale Turnovers

MESCLUN

Taste: Mildly tangy

Best in: A mixture of baby greens, mesclun is good in raw salads.

Smart substitutions: Arugula, romaine, and spinach.

Recipes:
Grilled Chicken Breasts on Mesclun
Mesclun and Romaine Salad with Warm Parmesan Toasts
Mesclun with Grilled Onion, Apple, and Gruyére Cheese

MUSTARD GREENS

Taste: Spicy and peppery; the smaller the leaves, the sharper and hotter the taste

Best in: Stir-fries or sautés. To tone down mustard greens' assertiveness, blanch the leaves in salted water before incorporating them in a recipe.

Smart substitutions: Escarole, kale, Swiss chard, or spinach

Recipes:
Warm Salad of Mustard Greens and Black-Eyed Peas
Winter Greens and Potato Casserole
Greens-and-Cheese Pie (Hortopita)

SPINACH

Taste: Mildly bitter and earthy

Best in: A wide variety of salads and entrées. Be sure to wash thoroughly—spinach, especially more mature leaves, likes to hang onto grit.

Smart substitutions: For cooked dishes, Swiss chard, beet greens, kale, turnip greens, escarole; arugula in salads

Recipes:
Autumn Apple and Spinach Salad
Creamed-Spinach Gratin
Hearty Beef, Pasta, and Spinach Minestrone

SWISS CHARD

Taste: Chard is in the same family as beet, so you may detect some beetlike flavor in the ribs. The leaves taste more like intensely flavored spinach.

Best in: Swiss Chard's hearty leaves are excellent added to cooked dishes such as casseroles, stews, and lasagnas.

Smart substitutions: Beet greens or spinach

Recipes:
Spicy Swiss Chard with Lemon
Swiss Chard Spanakopita Casserole
Ziti with Chard

TURNIP GREENS

Taste: Cooked, they're pleasantly pungent and bitter

Best in: Braises, stews, and sautés. Remove the tough central rib before cooking. Cooks often use a mix of turnip greens and milder greens like spinach or collards to soften the bitter flavor. Avoid cooking turnip greens in an aluminum pot or pan, which can give them an off flavor.

Smart substitutions: mustard greens, collards, kale, Swiss chard, spinach

Recipes:
Turnip Greens
Sicilian-Style Greens over Polenta
Turnip Green and Shiitake Mushroom Calzone with Smoked Cheddar

WATERCRESS

Flavor: Peppery, with a touch of mustard (it's a member of the mustard family)

Best in: Salads, and as a garnish

Smart substitution: Arugula

Recipes:
Broccoli, Orange, and Watercress Salad
Citrus Salad with Shrimp and Watercress
Roasted Potatoes with Tangy Watercress Sauce