When it is 12 degrees the first week of March, you have to wonder whether spring will ever come. Though the grass might be brown and the ground still hard, there is green to be found in East Central Illinois.
With just under eight and a half weeks until the start of the Market at the Square in Urbana, trays of seedlings are sprouting and thriving in the greenhouses on several area farms.
Though most of these plants won’t be ready until May or June, there is one local greenhouse crop that is ready now. As he has for the last several years, Jon Chernis of Blue Moon Farm has overwintered spinach. Pickings from these plants have been showing up at Strawberry Fields and Common Ground Food Coop throughout the winter on a somewhat sporadic basis; sometimes it has simply been too cold to harvest the plants without damaging them. However, as we head into warmer days Chernis says the crop is beginning to take off and should be in good supply.
Blue Moon’s organic spinach is the perfect cure for the winter blues. Pit it against its plastic boxed cousin from California and you can’t help but taste the difference. But taste isn’t the only difference. Even if spinach from California were to have been kept at 39 degrees since it was picked — and likely it hasn’t due to transporting and warehousing — it will have just over half its folate after eight days. If it was stored at 50 degrees, that loss might occur in six days, and at storage temperatures around 68 degrees, the loss will take only four days, according to a 2005 Penn State study. Additionally, non-organic, fresh spinach regularly makes the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen list of pesticide-laden foods to avoid.
As with most really great produce, the less you do to Blue Moon spinach, the better it will be.
Steam-Sauteed Blue Moon Spinach
- ½ pound Blue Moon spinach
- 1 T olive oil
- 1 clove thinly sliced garlic (do not mince or it might burn)
- Pinch of salt
Rinse spinach. (Blue Moon’s spinach doesn’t really need rinsing because it is already washed. But, it is necessary to have the spinach leaves wet for the recipe to work.) Heat a heavy, lidded 3-quart skillet or 6-quart Dutch oven over moderate heat. Add 1 T of olive oil. Add garlic. When you can just start to smell the garlic, add the spinach and salt, and stir briskly until the leaves are coated. Yes, it will sputter as you have just thrown water on a small amount of very hot oil. This is exactly what you want. Place a lid on the pan and shut off the heat and let the sputtering-steaming go on for three to five minutes. Check seasoning. Serve immediately.
Local Food Tip of the Week:
If the warmer temperatures forecast for later this week have you jonesing for fresh tomatoes, start your own with these directions from Horticulture Magazine. Note that of the tomato varieties listed in the article, only Glacier gets consistent marks for flavor and texture.