Thursday's Tree Spinach Our Daily Dinner

Thursday's Tree Spinach

chuckieb 9 years ago
Good Morning Everyone!
Yet another thing I'd never heard of.....and I like spinach...but would I try tree spinach? Hmmm.......
Tree spinach, also known as Chaya, is a fast-growing leafy perennial shrub that is believed to have originated in the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico.It has succulent stems which exude a milky sap when cut. It can grow to be 6 meters tall, but is usually pruned to about 2 m for easier leaf harvest. It is a popular leaf vegetable in Mexican and Central American cuisines, similar to spinach. The leaves must be cooked before being eaten, as the raw leaves are toxic.
Young chaya leaves and the thick, tender stem tips are cut and boiled as a spinach. It is a tasty vegetable, and is exceptionally high in protein, calcium, iron, and vitamin A.In fact, levels of chaya leaf nutrients are two- to threefold greater than any other land-based leafy green vegetable.Chaya leaves have a possible antidiabetic effect.
Traditionally leaves are immersed and simmered for 20 minutes and then served with oil or butter. Cooking for 20 minutes or more will render the leaves safe to eat. The stock or liquid the leaves are cooked in can also safely be consumed as the cyanide is volatilized as hydrogen cyanide (HCN) during cooking. Cooking in aluminum cookware can result in a toxic broth, causing diarrhea.
Okay....I pass....mention cyanide or toxic broth in relation to a vegetable and I'm out. :)
Well....it's another frosty one in the Nation's Capital today! Again a -26C/-14F morning. I'm getting a lot of action at the bird feeders that's for sure. Went out with an extra bucket of seed late yesterday afternoon just to give the turkeys one more meal before they headed up into the trees for the night.
I have a fun picture to share this morning. I've mentioned before my girlfriend who owns the Flower Shop. My girlfriend's son-in-law participated last week in the annual "Polar Bear Dip" here in Ottawa. Basically you jump in freezing cold icy waters and raise money for Charities, this year being Children's Cancer. Her son-in-law is very active in Spartan races (thus the head gear) which is a group that runs crazy obstacle courses and again raises money for charities in doing so. I think it's pretty cool. (Pun-pun) :)
Think I'm going to make Michelle's
Bacon Gouda Patties
for our dinner this evening along with a broccoli slaw. Yes, you heard me correctly. :) As long as I don't see those curly heads and they just cut up the stems, I will eat it. :)
Am also planning on making a batch of
Cabbage Rolls
in anticipation of Benjamin's visit in one month's time! YAY!
Thoughts going out to Tina.
Wishing everyone a grand day.
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MissouriFarmWife 9 years ago said:

No tree spinach, thank you. I can just see someone unfamiliar with it chopping up a nice cyanide laced salad for lunch. Although rhubarb leaves can't be eaten and yet the stems are good, esp. in pie unadulterated by strawberries, according to my HB.

Polar Bear jumps? Brrrrrr!

Janet, have you ever attempted broccoli cheese soup, with the little curly parts finely diced into unrecognizable green thingies? I love it, haven't made it, but have had it at various restaurants. Wonderful way to sneak it into your diet.

We had the bacon from the pork this morning for breakfast. I assume it has the nitrites in it because bacon just does. My freezer is stuffed - if anyone gives us another deer or wild boar, we may have to get a second one. LOL.

The fat is in the freezer and I will have to read up on how to render it into lard. The neighbor I bought it from said to use the crock pot and do a bit at a time, so that sounds like a plan! Thought about making lard based soap but the thought of using lye is not in my best interests. Hobby Lobby (LOVE IT) supposedly has 9 pound blocks of soap-stuff that you can melt and add what you like, so that may be the best way to go. I have to desire to make homemade soaps using lye - no way - not in my new kitchen - we would have to have an outdoor area set up and the entire process is SCARY.

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chuckieb 9 years ago said:

Congrats on the 70 lbs. of pork Karen! I've never rendered lard myself. And if I did do so, the first thing I'd be making was homemade suet for my birds. :) We don't get Schwanns soups here I don't believe. Lori has a recipe for a homemade baked potato soup that I have been meaning to try but haven't yet.
Loaded Baked Potato Soup
Yes, I have tried, or maybe just smelled....:) broccoli cheese soups. And my Mom used to try hide it by pouring some awful cheese sauce over it but broccoli is broccoli is broccoli. And it's the little green curly parts that are kryptonite to me I'm sure. :)
I've made homemade soap with lye a couple of times. It was scary, neat, but scary.

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Good4U 9 years ago said:

No tree spinach for me either! I will eat spinach but, I am not a really big fan of it and it has to be baby spinach not the Older Grinchy tasting bitter stuff. LOL we have a “Polar Bear Plunge” here as well and they do everything for charity too! Love the spartan hat and the look on his face and the whole pic makes me feel cold! BRRR! You would never catch me doing that:) I remember when you first bought broccoli slaw and I am glad you don't mind eating it now:) How long will Ben be visiting for in February?

Karen, I was curious as to how you would render fat and found this interesting site.http://www.myhumblekitchen.com/2011/02/how-render-lard-the-right-way-snow-white/
I have never made homemade soup and never had the desire to either especially if it involves using lye.

Tina, Thinking of you. HUGS)))

We ended out having chicken last night. Tonight it will be Wiener Schnitzel My Way
with broccoli and hollandaise sauce with baked potatoes.

Wishing everyone a pleasant day!

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mommyluvs2cook 9 years ago said:

Morning! I can't imagine that tree spinach would be so fantastic tasting that it would be worth the risk of getting sick over. I pass as well :) I've never heard of raising money for charities by jumping in ice cold water! Whatever does it I guess! Hilarious picture though :) Enjoy your bacon gouda patties tonight, yum, I need to pick up some gouda to make them soon! I wonder if they would be good with ground chicken? I'm on a ground chicken kick lately, can't get enough! Lol, so you like the flavor of broccoli but not the way it looks? Yum on cabbage rolls as well.

I am so jealous of your pork filled freezer Karen! I know nothing about lard and making soaps and stuff. Sounds neat though, let us know what you decide. Hobby Lobby rules!

Tina, sending you and Olivia gently ((hugs))

Drinking my second cup of coffee right now. Michael is about to make some juice in the juicer. I told him to throw some spinach in with everything, just to see how it goes :) The pesto chicken turned out pretty good last night. Made my long beans to go along with it and they were delicious! It got almost freezing last night and we were debating if we should cover the garden plants or not, and we didn't and they all seem fine today. My broccoli is almost ready to pick. Bri has play practice tonight, and Michael said he would take her while I cook dinner. Not sure what dinner is yet though :) Hope everyone has a great day!!

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mommyluvs2cook 9 years ago said:

Okay, I took out shrimp, now what? :)

SP Hi Joce!!!

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Good4U 9 years ago said:

Hi, Michelle:) Here are a few of Keni's shrimp recipes that might inspire you.?
Tempura Style Curry Shrimp Over Spinach And Apple Slaw
Green Tandoori Shrimp
Citrus Shrimp And Chilies
Chipotle Grilled Shrimp
Easy Creamy Cajun Shrimp

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mommyluvs2cook 9 years ago said:

Thanks for the links Joce! I have been eyeballing that Green Tandoori Shrimp for a while now, but go figure I am out of cilantro!

I went to pull out my red spinach to saute up some for lunch and I go to unwrap it from the the wrapping and all of the sudden I'm holding these huge foreign leaves! What did I buy?! I started going on line to investigate and found they look exactly like leaves from a Dasheen Bush. Google Dasheen Bush to see them. I found a bunch of recipes just chopping them up and cooking them with some ham, I'm guessing kind of like collard greens. Now after our conversation about the spinach being poisonous if you don't cook it for a certain amount of time, I'm hoping I don't have it labeled wrong. I'm going to cook them tomorrow and see what happens....I doubt the market would sell anything poisonous!

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chuckieb 9 years ago said:

LOL @ "Older, Grinchy tasting bitter stuff" Joce! I just took a closer look at the bag of broccoli slaw I bought and they've stashed some broccoli heads in there! OF ALL THE NERVE! :) I will carefully have to pick them out of my portion. Shudder! Benjamin arrives Feb. 8 and heads back Feb.20th so we will have a decent amount of time with him! :)
YUM on Wiener Schnitzel.
No Michelle. I don't like the way broccoli looks, tastes or smells. :) But....I tried some broccoli slaw last year that was made with just the stalks and because it was served raw I guess, I couldn't smell that horrid broccoli Grinchy smell (LOL and nodding to Joce). And even raw, the curly parts of broccoli give me the heebies.To be honest, I'm not even sure why I bought the bag of broccoli slaw. I think it's because I'm feeling a little guilty for not making Jim much broccoli ever since Benjamin left. :) Never heard of Hobby Lobby but it sounds fun. LOL...as soon as you mentioned about huge foreign leaves I immediately thought of tree spinach. LOLOLOL. I doubt the market would sell anything poisonous either. I did google it and it says that another name for Dasheen is Callaloo and it is commonly used in Trinidad.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Callaloo

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Good4U 9 years ago said:

LOL I call most things I don't like to eat, Grinchy:) Glad Ben will be able to spend a good amount of time here with you:)
I don't think your market would sell anything poisonous to you, Michelle. It does have odd looking leaves. LOL It will probably taste like spinach:) Take a pic of it to show us what it looks like before you cook it, if you get a chance.
LOL Janet, I think you have a very severe case of Broccolitis:) I am not found of broccoli stem. I only really like the top florets, curly things, as you would call it. Nice avatar pic of your yummy looking cabbage rolls.

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Good4U 9 years ago said:

I just found out. Sosuemes (Lindy) reicipes are no longer on GR, and she has her own site with her recipes. For anyone interested http://www.lindysez.com/

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laurieg 9 years ago said:

Hey everyone
Dinner was beef stew and bread. It is freezing here. They delayed the start of beccas school.
I think I mentioned that Kinder Morgan is trying to put a gas pipeline right behind my house and rip out all the conservation land. We set up some opposition and Frank organized a meeting at the library we have a state rep. Coming and the local news picked it up not sure if the library is going to hold all the people. And now the Town Selectman who previously didn't want to take a stand are meeting the Monday before our meeting are now posting on the Wilmington News page that they will be voting. Fingers crossed that we can save our conservation land as well as our water supply!

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kimmer 9 years ago said:

Sleep Sweet All............as always.......... Tina and Olivia........ with hugs and love..............as always...................

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MissouriFarmWife 9 years ago said:

Joce - I will probably render some lard soon, because my freezer has zilch - zero - no room for anything. Both the freezer and refrigerator freezer are bursting at the seams. Wayne’s buddy may get another wild boar for us -- yipe! No room.

Tina, thinking of you.

Not going to use lye to make soap, but may get the stuff from Hobby Lobby that already has lye in it and use that. For those who are not familiar with the store, Hobby Lobby is a HUGE craft store where you can buy everything from needlepoint to toy trains. I really enjoyed traipsing thru it and searching for crafty stuff. The store is quite large and has a zillion different items.

Hi to all.

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