Hello Rootabaga subscribers,
Welcome to a green heavy week of Rootabaga! One of the best parts of working with local food suppliers is that it allows us to have a close relationship with the farmers working hard to grow our food. For this week, it means being given a heads up that there is a surplus of harvested spinach. By having a direct relationship with Nova Scotian farmers, we are able to support them by buying more spinach so that less food goes to waste, and they support us in return by lowering the price. I doubt that this happens in larger supply chains, and if it does, the benefits certainly aren’t going to small-scale farms or individual consumers. This is all to say that this week we are all getting a hardy bag of delicious spring spinach! Keep reading for two ways to use spinach, one for dinner and one for breakfast. But first let’s get into the bags, this week the small share has:
Spinach – Noggins Corner Farm, spray-free
Green Cabbage – Noggins Corner Farm, conventionally-grown
Carrots – Noggins Corner Farm sourced from PEI, conventionally-grown
Onions – Noggins Corner Farm, conventionally-grown
Ambrosia Apples – Noggins Corner Farm, conventionally-grown
Russet Potatoes – Noggins Corner Farm, conventionally-grown
Mini cucumbers – Den Haan Greenhouses, conventionally-grown
The large share has everything above, as well as:
3lbs of ambrosia apples instead of 2lb
3 mini cucumbers instead of 2
1lb of spinach instead of ⅔ lb
Greenhouse peppers – Stokdijk Greenhouses, conventionally-grown
Before we get into the spinach recipes, I want to share the easiest way to wash spinach or leafy greens in general. Maybe many of you already know this, but I didn’t before working in the food industry. The easiest method is to fill a clean sink with cold water, enough for the greens to be submerged and that debris can fall to the bottom of the sink. Put all your spinach in and swish it around, all the sandy soil will come off as well as any dirt (or little insects on spray-free varieties). It’s much quicker and more effective than washing leaf by leaf. Afterwards, either lay the spinach out on a dish towel to air dry before using or storing in an airtight plastic bag or container, or use a salad spinner if preferred.
On to spinach, two ways! For an easy and delicious dinner, try steamed spinach with pan-fried Afishionado Haddock Fillets, and roasted sweet or russet potatoes. For the spinach, all you need to do is place it in a steamer basket over a pot of boiling water until bright green or wilted. Alternatively if you don’t have a steamer basket, I have had success with putting ½ a centimeter of water in a frying pan over medium heat and steaming the spinach that way. It’s not as prone to overcooking as boiled spinach and more of the nutrients are retained instead of lost in the water. Once cooked, remove from heat and top with salted butter and a dash of vinegar! It doesn’t get any simpler and it’s a delicious side, especially when made with high quality greens.
The second way I’d recommend enjoying your spinach is in a bacon and egg breakfast skillet. Here are the ingredients you’ll need though they can be modified to suit your taste:
Snowy River Double Smoked Bacon
2 Canaan Land Pastured Eggs
1 small-medium russet potato or a small sweet potato
Lots of spinach!
Cheese of choice (optional)
Method:
- Cut the potato into small cubes, 1 centimeter or less in size so that it can cook in time with the bacon in the skillet. Remove the thick part of the stems and chop the spinach.
- Cut the bacon (thick slices work best, such as the Snowy RIver bacon listed above) into bite sized pieces.
- Heat a skillet over medium heat with some butter, sautee the potatoes and bacon until cooked. Crack 2 eggs over the potato and bacon, scramble the eggs and season with salt and pepper. Add the cheese if using. Finish the skillet off with spinach. Place a lid on the skillet for a minute to steam the spinach and serve!
This is a satisfying and hardy twist on the classic omellete or bacon and eggs. This is a great weekend breakfast or breakfast-for-dinner meal. Try it with russet or sweet potatoes to see which you like better. To save time to make it quicker in the mornings, you can cut the potato ahead of time and store it in the fridge so it’s ready to throw in the pan. If using a regular potato, cover the raw potato in water to stop it from browning. Sweet potatoes can be cut ahead of time without issue.
I hope you enjoy your extra servings of spinach this week. As always, thank you for subscribing to our Rootabaga produce subscription, which gives us the opportunity to work directly with and support our local farmers.
Have a great week!
Robin