Tuesday 5 July 2016

Spinach.



This isn't actually Spinach; it's Perpetual Spinach, which is a type of Chard. Even so I always refer to it as Spinach, and I grow lots.

Unlike the 'real thing', this gorgeous leafy vegetable has a substantial consistency somewhere between real Spinach and Swiss Chard. One still requires quite a large picking for a meal.

For me it has three great virtues. It is very good for you, it tastes wonderful, and (best of all) it is rather like eating green vegetable SILK.




I wash, take off the longer stems, and steam for about 8 mins.The perfect accompaniment for a simple Pork chop. What could be easier!

Nice.




34 comments:

  1. Grow lots of it here as well - delicious.

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  2. Dish sounds great!. Nice to see the leafy veggies grown in your garden.They look very fresh...

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    1. From garden to table in about 30 minutes.

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  3. http://lovelygreyday.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/veg-box-tales-chickpea-saute.html Okay a bit more complicated but this points you in the direction of a wonderful Yottam Ottolenghi recipe with chard. It's one of my favourites. x

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    1. I like the idea of Yog and Olive Oil as a dressing. I'll certainly use that.

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  4. The simpler fresh veggies are cooked the better they taste. Do your spinach have a slightly bitter taste? I like dandelion leaves because of their bitter taste.
    Greetings Maria x

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    1. Only very slightly so. AS I said above they taste rather like green silk.

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  5. I agree with you, I prefer it too. It's easier to grow than "the real thing" and it tastes better. Yours looks very healthy!

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    1. I believe it tolerates hot weather better too.

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  6. I tried to grow this spinach but it bolted because the weather turned hot, so I gave up thinking that it was not suitable to grow in France, but since you do then perhaps we can!

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    1. It seems to do OK here. Keep picking it, even if you give it to the hens.

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  7. I think we call it here "New Zeland spinach",not sure i have to look in our shop.

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    1. NZ Spinach usually has much smaller leaves. Very good though.

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  8. Delicious Cro .... and, your photographs could grace any cookery magazine..... very professional !! I will have to tackle the globe artichokes later !! XXXX

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    1. I've just planted a new Globe Artichoke plant and it has given me just one very small head, which I ate yesterday.

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  9. Unlike Vera I grow it because it doesn't go to seed, unlike "proper" spinach which (when I grow it) always does. It over winters and there is a good spring crop to gather before it DOES go to seed. Just keep picking, the chickens, goats and rabbits love it too.

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    1. Ordinary Spinach both goes to seed and suffers from the heat, this is much better.

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  10. It looks beautiful when freshly picked, but I always think that it looks unappetising when cooked. I'm not keen on what I call "slimy" veg., much prefer mine to be al dente, and feel the same way about pasta.

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    1. What you call slimy I probably call silky. I love it.

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  11. Perpetual spinach is an asset in the veggie garden because, well, it's perpetual! Mine is still hanging in despite the chook helping herself. I must start more seedlings off, soon. I like to have it and silverbeet (chard) on the go, always.

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    1. I like to have a good selection of green leafy vegs in the garden at all times.

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  12. Green vegetable silk is a great way to describe it. I'm picking chard for dinner tonight.

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    1. I love Chard too, but only grow the ordinary green one. My plants are about 2 inches high at the moment.

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  13. I grew it once. I felt like a real gardener, it kept coming and coming. I preferred the growing of it to the eating

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  14. I've added this green vegetable to my list for the farmers market. One of the farm stands specializes in all sorts of leafy greens. They are bound to have it.

    I don't think I have had a pork chop this century. Maybe it is about time?

    Best wishes.

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    1. We eat quite a lot of Pork, I think it must be France's favourite meat.

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    2. Funny, I use ham quite a bit, but pork chops seem across another border. Must get myself a visa and cross on over to some chops.

      Tomorrow is farmers market day. i've got my list.

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  15. I have always found it easier to grow than spinach somehow Cro - and the more you cut it the more it comes again - another good factor. Your simple meal looks delicious.

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    1. It's a 'dig for victory' type veg. A must for all gardens.

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  16. Lots ready to plant out, my wife loves any cooked greens like that.

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    1. Me too Kev. All my winter stuff is now planted.

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  17. I've never tried chard and I only use spinach 'in things'. I grew an abundance of kale last year but apart from making an abundance of kale chips (delicious but a faff) I didn't develop a taste for it. Unfortunately your description of eating green vegetable silk was the final lid its culinary coffin for me.

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