baby leaves of spinach in a white bowl

The Whole Foods Blog posted an article on Chard a couple of days ago, the title was:

“Spent on Spinach? Try Swiss Chard”.

To which I replied:

“Arrrrrghhh!”

When I say I love Whole Foods, I mean that I love the shopping experience that I get. It is never too crowded, I never wait in long line ups, they have paper bags for when I forget my own and the staff are friendly and happy to answer all my questions that I need in order to make my local choices. I don’t find my local shopping experience as grand when I go to other grocery stores (not to say there aren’t good alternates out there, but Whole Foods is also very close to me, and therefore convenient).

But there are many problems I have with shopping there too (most recently, the capitulation of Whole Foods to Monsanto, but this will be another post). But what I want to address here is a fundamental problem with shopping at large chain grocery stores, no matter which one you choose. It seems quite obvious, but their marketing department cannot possibly keep in step with seasonal produce. The head office is in one place on the North American Continent, and their stores are littered, often thousands of miles apart in very different climates. In the example above, the blog proposes moving from spinach to chard. And my question is: Why would anyone in their right mind do that when chard has finished for the season and spinach is at its best right now?! Those tender baby green leaves of goodness, they make me long to be a herbivore gazelle grazing out on the pasture all day long…

So let’s change Whole Foods blog post to:

Chock full of Chard? Spring Spinach is Here!

This time of year, my recommendation is to eat copious amounts of the tiny leaves in salad form, before they start becoming big and meaty as they will later in the season. The leaves are so tender right now, they are the perfect texture for salad, and will dissolve to almost nothing if cooked. In fact, combine the spinach greens with some finely chopped leak (see this page to learn how to wash), add some toothy crimini mushrooms sliced finely, and you can use the leftover dijon vinaigrette dressing from my last post, and you will find a most delightful and simple spring pleasure. Not a herbivore? Add a hard-boiled egg and/or bacon bits for some smokey crunch and protein.

You can find beautiful baby spinach at the Trout Lake Farmers Market this Saturday from 10am – 2pm. And aren’t you lucky! Here is their fantastic interactive map so you can plan your gathering strategy.

Or grow your own. Spinach is really easy to grow, both out and indoors (sadly, I am an apartment dweller of the no balcony kind). Keep the soil moist, and trim your spinach regularly to promote new growth. It will keep coming back until late fall.