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.
Grow lots of it here as well - delicious.
ReplyDeleteLovely grub.
DeleteDish sounds great!. Nice to see the leafy veggies grown in your garden.They look very fresh...
ReplyDeleteFrom garden to table in about 30 minutes.
Deletehttp://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
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of Yog and Olive Oil as a dressing. I'll certainly use that.
DeleteThe 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.
ReplyDeleteGreetings Maria x
Only very slightly so. AS I said above they taste rather like green silk.
DeleteI agree with you, I prefer it too. It's easier to grow than "the real thing" and it tastes better. Yours looks very healthy!
ReplyDeleteI believe it tolerates hot weather better too.
DeleteI 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!
ReplyDeleteIt seems to do OK here. Keep picking it, even if you give it to the hens.
DeleteI think we call it here "New Zeland spinach",not sure i have to look in our shop.
ReplyDeleteNZ Spinach usually has much smaller leaves. Very good though.
DeleteDelicious Cro .... and, your photographs could grace any cookery magazine..... very professional !! I will have to tackle the globe artichokes later !! XXXX
ReplyDeleteI've just planted a new Globe Artichoke plant and it has given me just one very small head, which I ate yesterday.
DeleteUnlike 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.
ReplyDeleteOrdinary Spinach both goes to seed and suffers from the heat, this is much better.
DeleteIt 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.
ReplyDeleteWhat you call slimy I probably call silky. I love it.
DeletePerpetual 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.
ReplyDeleteI like to have a good selection of green leafy vegs in the garden at all times.
DeleteGreen vegetable silk is a great way to describe it. I'm picking chard for dinner tonight.
ReplyDeleteI love Chard too, but only grow the ordinary green one. My plants are about 2 inches high at the moment.
DeleteI grew it once. I felt like a real gardener, it kept coming and coming. I preferred the growing of it to the eating
ReplyDeleteCav eats 2 kilos a day!
DeleteI'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.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I have had a pork chop this century. Maybe it is about time?
Best wishes.
We eat quite a lot of Pork, I think it must be France's favourite meat.
DeleteFunny, 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.
DeleteTomorrow is farmers market day. i've got my list.
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.
ReplyDeleteIt's a 'dig for victory' type veg. A must for all gardens.
DeleteLots ready to plant out, my wife loves any cooked greens like that.
ReplyDeleteMe too Kev. All my winter stuff is now planted.
DeleteI'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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