Other Greens To Graze On

Spinach? No -- Time to Turn Over Some New Leaves

Feathery, pungent mizuna leaves are often found in mesclun mixes. (By Julia Ewan -- The Washington Post)

Spinach is back in the supermarket, but its recent absence has made some people look at other, lesser-known greens that easily can take its place.

"I'm using this as an opportunity to get my students to try other greens -- ones they wouldn't have tried otherwise," says cooking teacher Mimi Clark of Veggie Gourmet in Fairfax Station.

In her most recent class, "steamed spinach bundles" became "steamed collard bundles." Mache and butter lettuce replaced baby spinach in salads. "I know people like the soft, tender baby spinach leaves, so I try and find greens with similar texture and nutrients," Clark says.

Bagged spinach vanished from stores last month after an outbreak of E. coli poisoning. After investigators traced the contamination to spinach grown in California, the Food and Drug Administration announced that spinach grown in other areas was safe to eat. Last week, bags of Savoy spinach, a large, curly-leaf variety grown in Colorado and Canada, began appearing in Giant supermarkets.

But area cooking teachers and even restaurants are pushing consumers to expand their vegetable horizons beyond Popeye's favorite.

Robyn Webb, owner of A Pinch of Thyme Cooking School in Alexandria, has jettisoned spanakopita (spinach pie) from her curriculum for the time being. Instead, students will learn how to make Tuscan bean soup with kale. "I tell students that cooked kale is fabulous. It's not quite as bitter as collards or mustard greens. And it doesn't shrink as much as spinach."

At the Black Olive, a Greek restaurant in Baltimore's Fells Point, patrons do not even realize that arugula has replaced the spinach in the popular Village Pie entree. "We use watercress, Swiss chard and arugula. Customers don't really notice," says manager Claudio Aspillaga.

The restaurant also has subbed arugula for baby spinach in the mixed greens salad. "Arugula is slightly bitter, so we use a vinaigrette made with a sweet Greek wine similar to port. We add fresh figs and manouri cheese to balance the bitterness," Aspillaga says.

That's the secret, says Webb: "The flavor of many of these greens is stronger than spinach, so you need to counter that with a little sweetness or saltiness." When she sautes kale, she prepares it either Asian style, with sesame oil and soy sauce, or Mediterranean style, with olive oil "and lots of onion and garlic."

Despite the worries over food-borne illness and tainted spinach, Americans apparently intend to keep eating salad. Ninety percent of Americans said they plan to eat as much salad as usual, or even more, in the next month, according to a survey taken Sept. 20 by the NPD Group, a consumer information firm. Only 6 percent said they planned to eat less.

On the other hand, says NPD Vice President Harry Balzer, the food poisoning outbreak has raised concern over E. coli to an all-time high. Nearly 90 percent of Americans said they were aware of and concerned about the deadly bacterium, according to NPD's most recent survey.

"E. coli has always been among the top food-safety concerns of Americans. This outbreak takes that concern to a whole new level," Balzer says.

Former Food section writer Candy Sagon is a frequent contributor.