When Spinach Bolts

Spinach is always included on lists of the top 5/10/100 healthiest foods and we always grow it in our garden. My computer tells me that it is 54 degrees in Snohomish, Washington -at midday mind you- only a few days past the summer equinox, and a week before the Fourth of July. Both of my daughters (loudly) wish they lived some place else, and are working towards achieving that goal, but my son absolutely loves the climate and weather of the Puget Sound area. On days like today, he declares it to be the PERFECT weather. Spinach loves it here, too, and June is peak spinach season in our garden. We have been eating LOTS of spinach in our salads, and I made Spinach with Thai Peanut Sauce (click here) the other night (which I LOVE!!). Sooner or later, even with cool temperatures, the spinach will bolt, signalling the end of its season, and that it's time for me to make creamed spinach and crepes. I made Spinach Crepes (click here) a few days ago and served them with chicken-fried cubed beef steaks and gravy made from the pan drippings. It was great. Spinach Crepes may not sound that inviting, but they really are fantastic. And if I freeze quantities of spinach now, we can also have them this winter. They make a great vegetarian meal when served with rice pilaf and a vegetable such as roasted beets or baked butternut squash, they can be made lactose-free by using soy or almond milk and omitting the cheese, and/or omnivorous when serving steak alongside. Making the crepe batter in the morning or the night before, allows me to walk in the door in the evening and rather effortlessly have dinner on the table within the hour. And I can't help but feel quite smug knowing I cooked a 32 cup bowl full of torn spinach, one of the healthiest foods, and my family ate it all by noon the next day. Sure, gravy made with steak pan drippings is on a completely different list of foods than spinach, but never mind that part -this is just the thing to do when spinach bolts.

Talking About Food

"When I'm talking about food I am talking about life." -Nigella Lawson



We had a fabulous long weekend over the Memorial Day holiday with family and lots of good food...four went to the Mariners vs. Yankees game Friday night, five played a rousing round of the boardgame LIFE on Saturday night, and nine were here for a cookout on Sunday...grilled pork chops in an Italian marinade, goat ribs and a salmon fillet cooked over the fire-pit...a rustic cherry jam tart, gelato in coffee mugs with an assortment of tasty embellishments, and a ridiculously easy and incredibly yummy Apricot-Pineapple Icebox Pie...Nutella cupcakes (click here) from The Quince Tree blog...My Baja-style Shrimp Meatball Tacos (click here)...Eggs Benedict for breakfast one morning, and 15-Grain pancakes the next...a huge Caesar Salad, my Grandma Leona's Baked Beans (click here), an amazing potato salad with lots of diced celery and Zucchini Relish made by The Soup Queen, and a radish salad I made out of The Victory Garden Cookbook...our first spinach from the garden this season...ten Pekin ducklings and seven little rabbits to raise...several bottles of good wine, mojitos in wide-mouth Mason pint jars and orange Fanta for the teens...mangos to make Mango Chutney with...and since Monday was National Cheeseburger Day, we had (Duh!) Cheeseburgers! I hope you also had a relaxed and enjoyable food-filled weekend.

Sheep, Spinach and Strawberries 2011

The sheep are once again in the orchard, their own little bit of heaven here on earth...



...the spinach is growing and very soon we will have daily garden salads...



...and the strawberry blossoms promise an abundance of fruit. I can hardly wait!



The seasons change, and here we are almost full circle again.

Thai Noodles with Peanut Sauce

I love Thai foods and Thai cooking. Years ago I took a series of cooking classes at PCC Natural Markets, where one of the classes was Thai cooking taught by a lovely woman named Eng Tie Ang. I bought her little cookbook at the end of class, and have used it many times over the years. Her recipes are very straightforward and make it very easy for any home cook to successfully make authentic Thai foods. This cookbook though rather small, has allowed me to easily make many complete family 'Thai-night' meals and The Spicy Fried Ginger Beef recipe is one of my husband's absolute favorites. I adore Thai Peanut Sauce and after learning how easy it is to make, I also learned that the rest of my family is not quite as enamored with it as I am, and though I'm happy to eat most of the entire batch by myself, it is probably not in my best interest. I was overjoyed to discover, that I could make Thai Peanut Sauce, package it in individual servings, and freeze it. It is most traditionally served with satays (and would probably be really good with meatballs, too) but I love it best with spinach and tofu. Yesterday, I came inside to find my daughter making herself noodles with tofu and some stir-fried vegetables for lunch, and she had made more than enough for two. I defrosted some frozen spinach cubes from last summer, a frozen container of Thai Peanut Sauce, and within five minutes I was in Thai noodle heaven.

Making Thai Peanut Sauce (click here) when you don't have any in the freezer is actually super easy. Tofu can be purchased already seasoned and cooked, but I prefer to simply fry cubes of firm tofu (after blotting with paper towels) for this. With some cooked spinach (fresh, or frozen and defrosted), soba, udon or even spaghetti noodles, and cooked tofu (or cooked chicken breast or shrimp), Thai Peanut Sauce makes an interesting, quick and easy weeknight dinner.

Spinach Crepes

Hooray, the garlic is ready! We grow and store the garlic we grow-enough to ALMOST make it through the year. We have been buying it this past month and I am very excited about the fresh garlic -just look at those beauties!

The Montmorency cherries need to be picked -one of the chores on my list today. It is a tiny tree but there will probably be enough for a pie, or to dehydrate and use in making more granola -tough choice. I will be happy when it produces enough for all my cherry desires.

The beets are also ready to begin harvesting. We adore beets -pickled, roasted and honey-glazed and it is a real joy to be eating them now.

The spinach is bolting which signals the end of its season. This is when I pick it all and make creamed spinach and crepes. I will make it in the winter with the spinach I've frozen and it will be just as good then as it is now. The onion thinnings substitute nicely for the yellow onions in the following recipe. It has a very humble appearance but this really is delicious.

Spinach Crepes

Adapted from The New Laurel's Kitchen by Laurel Robertson, Carol Flinders and Brian Ruppenthal
Crepes

Blend in blender on low speed:

2 c. milk or soy milk

3/4 c. each whole wheat flour and all purpose flour
4 eggs
1 t. salt
Refrigerate 1 hour to over night. You can halve the recipe but leftover crepes will get slathered with jam or wrapped around whatever is in the fridge and tend to disappear around my house.

To cook crepes, heat a nonstick griddle to 325 degrees and spread 1/4 c. batter with the back of ladle in a spiral to make a thin round. Cook just till dries on first side and browns a bit on second. When all are cooked, make the creamed spinach.

Creamed Spinach
Heat in your largest skillet:
3 T. butter or oil
Cook till softened but not browned:
1/2 c. mushrooms, chopped small (optional)
1/2 onion, chopped small or 3/4 c. onion thinnings or leeks, sliced 1/4 inch
Whisk in and bring to a boil:
1 c. milk or soy milk
Add:
3 quarts (a large colander full) washed and chopped spinach. It cooks down a lot, so add as much spinach as your pan will hold, cook a bit then add more as it cooks down, until it is all in.
1/4 - 1/2 t. salt
black or white pepper
2-4 T. shredded Parmesan cheese (optional, but highly recommended)
a bit more milk if necessary

Fill crepes with creamed spinach and serve topped with brown gravy -my family feels this part is important, no matter how highly processed it might be. Serve with roasted or honey-glazed beets in the summer, or butternut squash and rice pilaf in the winter.

Spinach and Thai Peanut Sauce

"If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something." -Steven Wright

"It is a rule of nature that taking a day off on a farm sets a person back at least a week." -Jane Hamilton

Returning from a few days off from the farm, garden and home cooking, I'm pondering these truths. Freezing spinach (I should have had this done a week ago), and weeding in the garden (which is never really done) are my first tasks to tackle in a somewhat futile attempt to reestablish the tenuous feeling of being on top of things here.

Freezing chopped spinach in ice cube trays like this, makes individual portions to defrost and use in winter. To freeze, plunge washed spinach into boiling water then return water to a boil. Immediately drain and place in cold water. Drain and put in cold water again. Squeeze dry, chop and fit into ice cube tray. Place in freezer overnight then remove cubes from tray to store in labeled freezer bags. Remind teens to eat it. Some of their favorite ways to use frozen spinach are in soups, as a filling for omelets or crepes -and with rice and Thai peanut sauce. I like to keep frozen portions of this peanut sauce and spinach on hand in the freezer.

Thai Peanut Sauce

Heat:

2 T. vegetable oil or 2 t. chili oil

Add:

3-4 garlic cloves, minced

Add:

3/4 c. water

14 oz. can lite coconut milk

1 c. smooth PB

2 T. brown sugar

1/2 t. salt

juice of one lime (or lemon juice)

2 Thai chilies, finely chopped (optional, if using chili oil and you don't want it really spicy)

Bring to a simmer. Cook 5-10 minutes, stirring frequently. This sauce can be frozen in 1/2 c. quantities and then defrosted for a quick meal of peanut sauce, spinach and rice or soba noodles.