Chard is realllly good - and comes with all sorts of colors for the stem. We grow it in the summer and use it anywhere you'd use spinach. It's much more tender than kale, so will cook faster, but it'll be fine for what you're making. Sounds good to me.
I made a dish last week with chard from my CSA box (which is "local" from WA to Alaska
) in which the uncooked chard was mixed into hot pasta which had a sauteed onion, pepper and garlic with it. I added the cut up chard and a little more olive oil, and the heat of pasta was enough to wilt the chard perfectly.
PS - love your kitties. I had 2 siamese, but one died last spring. We're looking for another.