What do you say about spinach? This green seems to be universally loved, its success easily measured by its appearance as a ‘side dish’ on most menus, along with fine green beans and rocket salad. In some ways this is good news as spinach is both delicious and also very good for you, as Popeye taught us so well. Where spinach has suffered, perhaps, is that it is often tacked onto a meal as the token healthy element – probably a sad heap of microwaved green.
The challenge with spinach is to come up with recipes and ideas that are a little more unusual and give some new life to this familiar ingredient. Spinach is usually bought as baby spinach, pre-washed in plastic bags. What is less commonly found in supermarkets is the large-leafed spinach, almost akin to chard. This is the spinach I’m using in the recipes as it has far more flavour and better structure than its ubiquitous baby sibling. You should be able to find the large variety at most good greengrocers.
