Savoy Spinach
Most folks are familiar with Savoy Cabbage, but perhaps not with Savoy Spinach. "Savoy" typically refers to a curly version, savoy cabbage is the curly cabbage, and as you no doubt have noticed, our spinach also has a lovely curly leaf. I know Nigel has written about the dirty spinach many times in the past, but the CSA is dynamic with new members every year who may not know about this concept of "dirty" spinach. You will notice the spinach is dirtier after we have had a few days of rain and since the leaves are curly they take a bit of washing to get clean. We don't wash them ahead of time because that really degrades the leaves. I have found that it really only takes a couple of rinses to get them sufficiently clean, I typically do this in a large pot of water. I dunk it several times, then pull all of the spinach out and put in a colander. I don't pour it out into the colander because then I am just pouring the dirty water back over it. Dump the dirty water out, rinse the dirt out of the bottom of the pot, fill and add the spinach. Repeat until you have it clean. Nigel's favorite part is the tender bottom portion, he says it is the sweetest part. It does take some work cleaning though, I go back and forth, sometimes I go through the process and sometimes well, I just get lazy. In the end though, I think most of us would agree, farm fresh spinach is far superior to that stuff other people eat out of a big bag from the supermarket. Maybe a little more work, but so very worth it!