Perpetual Spinach

I harvested the first of my Perpetual Spinach a couple of days ago. I grow this variety of Spinach (which is somewhat similar to Swiss Chard) because it is more tolerant of dry soils. I find that the traditional types of spinach always bolt before I get much of a crop. In the UK we have had an exceptionally dry Spring and the soil is really parched, so this year the Perpetual Spinach is even more relevant than normal.

Chard on the left, Perpetual Spinach on the right

Anyway, I judged that the time was right to take the first few leaves from my young plants. They look bright green, almost yellow, in contrast to the much darker green Swiss Chard. And the individual leaves are much bigger than most types of spinach. You can eat small leaves raw if you like, but the big ones need cooking.

Bright green Perpetual Spinach next to the grey-green "Duncan" cabbages

Jane doesn't like Spinach, so I only picked enough for one serving.

This may look like a lot, but when you cook it it shrinks a LOT. The leaves in my picture went down to about two tablespoonsful. Of course, when I say "cook" what I actually mean is "wilt". Here's a recipe for you...

Preparation:

• Remove and discard the stalks from the spinach leaves
• Wash the leaves thoroughly, and tear them into smallish pieces
• Put the wet leaves into a big saucepan, along with about 1 tablespoonful of water
• Heat the pan very gently until the spinach has wilted (it goes very dark green)
• Don't heat the pan too fiercely or the spinach will turn brown and go bitter
• When the spinach is thoroughly wilted (5 mins?) drain it in a colander and then squeeze it very firmly with the back of a spoon to extract as much moisture as possible.

Serving suggestion:

Serve the warm spinach with a poached egg on top, seasoned with lots of freshly-ground black pepper, and accompanied by some buttered toast.