I’m sure you know it makes you strong & healthy, but did you know spinach was already known in the 12th Century as the “captain of leafy greens?”
Originating in Asia, and making its way onto European tables through Spanish trade routes, spinach is a reliable vegetable, staying with us through Winter and Spring when many others are struggling to keep up.
Raw or cooked, it’s also a great way to get healthy greens into your diet if you’re not really into more the structurally robust varieties of leafy greens like silverbeet and kale.
Because fresh spinach is fragile and loses its nutritional punch rather rapidly, consider blanching and freezing it, if you’re not sure it’ll get used before it starts to wilt. It freezes well and can be a handy addition to cooked dishes like Indian curry or quiches when thawed.
Happy Fair Food Feasting!
These tasty morsels of fine food facts are just tidbits about our growers Wayne, Tash and Joe, and the organic produce from Foothills Organics in Colac, and Peninsula Fresh Organics in Baxter.
Our weekly member recipe
Palak Paneer
with homemade paneer
(serves: 2, time: 2 hours)
Ingredients
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1 litre full cream milk
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1 tsp lemon juice
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1 spinach bunch
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1 Tbsp vegetable oil
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1 tsp cumin seeds
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1 ½ tsp ginger, crushed
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3 cloves garlic, crushed
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1 small onion, finely chopped
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½ can chopped tomatoes
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Salt to taste
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1 tsp dried fenugreek leaves
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Pinch garam masala
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1 Tbsp thickened cream
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Brown rice to serve
Method
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Pour the milk into a saucepan on high heat. When boiled, add lemon juice. Once the milk curdles (separates) take off heat & leave for 5 mins.
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Carefully drain the contents into a cotton cloth or tea towel & squeeze out excess water.
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Shape into a cube & place something heavy on the bundle to help the paneer set in one solid piece for an hour or two (four hours is preferable).
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Clean spinach & remove stalks. Blanch in hot water for a few minutes & squeeze out excess water. Puree in a food processor.
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In a frying pan, fry the oil, onion, ginger, garlic & cumin until browned.
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Add tomatoes, cook them down, and then add spinach puree. Season with salt and add cubed paneer pieces.
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Serve with fenugreek, garam masala and cream (optional). Serve hot on a bed of brown rice.
Hints & Tips
You may wish to partially blend or not blend the spinach at all for a more traditionally rustic version of this dish.
If you can, make the paneer the night before so it has time to bind into a single piece overnight in the fridge. If you love paneer as much as we do, you may want to make a large quantity and keep it in the fridge for other occasions, as it takes a little while to make.
You can order these and other ingredients from our webstore.
P.s. If you liked this story and you think a friend would like it too, share the Fair Food love and pass it on! |
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