Sunday, June 21, 2009

What is this?!

On Friday Steven bought 1/2 kilo (about 1 lbs.) what he thought was spinach. He bought this so-called spinach from his favorite vegetable stand ironically ran by a Bulgarian family. Upon further inspection...this is not spinach! At least it is no spinach that we have ever seen. The leaves are thick and crunchy. The underside is velvety. We sautéed some with garlic and oil for dinner tonight. Given we don't know what this is, we though some heat would help. So far we both feeling fine...

Any ideas what this stuff is?

Leaves are about 2in./5cm wide & 3in./7cm tall.

Underside (backside) of leaf

5 comments:

Renazzle said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Renazzle said...

I had to edit-
Ok, this is New Zealand Spinach. (Tetragonia tetragonioides)

From what I read, it isn't even in the same family as Spinach (Spinacia oleracea).

It is ok to eat raw or cooked, and it is as good for you as regular spinach is.

(Just in case you were wondering who this is, it is Renee) :D

Diane Kappa said...

Thanks Renee! Good thing it is Ok to eat since i have been eating lots of it. :)

marlene7038 said...

Diane,
You never mentioned how the Spinach look-a-like tasted?

Diane Kappa said...

The "spinach" tastes bitter. It is OK if you saute it, but eating a "spinach" salad is not the same.