First small harvest

Some time ago I planted some New Zealand Spinach seeds and as I said in a previous post, these seeds are something that I have had years ago and then when I moved to the Cape, I could not find them - until a few weeks ago.

Anyway, they are growing really well and today I decided to pick some to cook.

This type of spinach is full of vitamins and is a really healthy veg to grow.
The plant is a perennial and grows easily from cuttings - it does not look like normal spinach as the leaves are small and quite fleshy, but it tastes like spinach.

Unlike other types of spinach, this one must be blanched in hot water that is just simmering for about three minutes, then drained and immediately rinsed in cold water.
It must be cooked like this and not eaten raw.

It is said that Captain Cook found it growing wild on the sea shores and harvested it to take on board his ship where it was cooked and given to his men to prevent scurvy - some people call it sea spinach as it grows along many shores and is picked by the locals to cook and eat.

For myself, once I have blanched it and rinsed it, I toss a little butter into the pan , stir and serve.