an ode to popeye

there is a story about a little boy who, after watching popeye cartoons, wanted to grow huge muscles and begged his mother for some spinach. she gave into the request, went to store, and bought the canned popeye variety. well that little boy ate that canned spinach, retched, and swore the green stuff off for life. the moral to the story? canned spinach stinks, try the real stuff!!

buying into a CSA, especially in the winter, you tend to get several 'repeat' items. so it is with spinach this winter. but i am not complaining. it is quite a visually appealing and flavorful leafy green! this is not the conventional, dull, flat leaved mushy bagged variety many people are familiar with. the leaf is shiny, dark green, and has texture, almost crumpled* as if you can see the moisture and goodness just below the surface.  (*That would be crumpled in a very stylish manner, not slovenly or unattractive.)

we had a quick pasta dinner tonight with, you guess it, spinach!! then scampered off to a presentation at the library about what else(?) food! here's the meal in a zip...spinach was prepared with the trifecta - olive oil, garlic, & red pepper flakes. then tossed with spaghetti.
Salad, of course. switched the beets out for some black eyed peas. i like beets but it is good to take a day off:: if you've had several days of beets in a row, even a slice or two, you know what i mean ; ) that tender tasty salad green mix that i have been RAVING about; i seriously think they get better each night! ((v. happy with this salad mix)) a few little cheddar slivers, radish, carrots, and a balsamic topping...delightful!

and that talk we went to was informative. The author of American Wasteland, Jonathan Bloom, spoke about food waste. Here are some figures (I took notes): 40% of our (American's) food gets wasted, that's 160 billion pounds, equalling $240 Billion, and at home, about a quarter of our food goes in the trash. Craziness, but believable, yes/ Bloom said that if only 2% of this waste was redistributed, we could end hunger (I guess in America, but imagine if he meant the world?!). He also spoke briefly about food recovery and gleaning projects which is basically saving those undesirables, like bruised fruits and veggies, from being thrown away and then redirecting it to charitable organizations. (Think a cleaner dumpster-less version of dumpster diving). Talk about a lot to chew on!