Three Things to do With … Spinach Stems
I know: you toss yours away without thinking of them. And now you’re thinking, “Oh jeez, here Cheryl goes again with some random thing no sane human has ever thought. Doesn’t she know we’re already struggling to find things to do with the actual spinach LEAVES we bring home from the CSA every week?”
Well, I do know, and fair enough. But still: if we do throw away edible parts of plants, we’re wasting food. And as a mom I have to tell you that that is Very Bad.
But don’t worry – I’m here to help. Just save the stems from greens as you take off the leaves to cook them, and store them in the crisper. They’ll last a couple of weeks, and then you can come back over from The Dark Side of Food Wastage with me by giving one of these a try:
1. Stir-fry them along with the leaves in Garlic Water Spinach (read the comments and decide what amount of olive oil sounds right to you).
2. Make “testine de spinaci” in the traditional Venetian Jewish way, cooked with olive oil and water and finished with vinegar, about as thrifty and easy as you can imagine.
3. Put them in a beautiful curry like this one.
What do you do with yours? And don’t you feel better already?
Image from mossagrow.com, Creative Commons license.
