Turning Green

I love it when spring gets into full swing! I scored the produce mother lode at the produce stand last week! I don't rely on the produce stand as much in the winter, but spring, summer, and fall they're awesome!

Anyhow, I managed to spend $20 there and score enough food that I could put off the regular grocery shopping for a week. If they sold bread and dairy I could probably put off going to the grocery store altogether.

Anyhow, I picked up more cauliflower and Brussels sprouts because soon it will be too warm to roast them. And the carrots were amazing! I also got some mushrooms and watercress for a tofu recipe (already had tofu in the fridge), lemons, onions, tomatoes, and orange bell peppers (I prefer red, but they were $1 more per pound).

But the big score was the spinach. I usually but a pound of spinach at the grocery store each week. It's $5.99, sometimes $4.99 when it's on special, for a plastic container of pre-washed spinach. I got a 2½ pound bad of pre-washed spinach for $5!

I was so excited to get a good deal on the spinach I only briefly considered how in the heck the 2 of us would manage to eat all of it before it goes bad. So far we've been adding some to soups and then there's the obvious salad. If I had cheese and enough eggs I could make the quiche/frittata I love. But so far, the best use for the spinach has been to wilt it.

I don't remember what made me think I'd like wilted spinach. I usually can't eat slippery stuff like that, but I'm glad I tried it because it's yummy! And healthy!

I started with this Rachel Ray recipe for wilted spinach with garlic and oil, cut the recipe in half since it's just the 2 of us, added a ¼ onion, chopped with the garlic, and topped the finished dish with toasted pecans and flax seeds. (I would have used almonds, but I was out, and I happen to have some flax seeds.)

I've made this a few times now and as long as I eat it while it's hot, I don't have any issues with the slippery factor. And the nuts help give it some texture. But if it gets cold, I cannot eat it.

Scoob likes it too, which is good because it's so easy to make. I think I need to stop at the produce stand for another bag.