"popeye" news and stories

I was one of those kids that actually loved spinach. Mom always served the canned stuff when I was a kid and I couldn't get enough of it. I never understood the cliche that kids hate to eat spinach. Is that really true? And while I'm asking questions, why do green veggies (spinach, green beans, etc) get cold really quickly?

Today is Spinach Day. About.com has a ton of great recipes, including Amaretto Spinach Salad, Beef and Spinach Deep Dish Pizza, Lemony Chicken Soup with Spinach, Creamed Spinach, and Spinach Pie.

Oh, and here's the history of Popeye.

With all the concern about this month's E. coli outbreak caused by fresh spinach, I have been operating under the assumption that one should avoid all spinach both cooked and raw. Given my meat intake, avoiding Popeye's favorite veggie in all its forms is no big deal for me.

I was ordering dinner at one of my favorite Chinese restaurants the other night when I found myself craving some greens to go with my short ribs. Without a second thought, I asked the waiter for a side of baby spinach with garlic. As he returned to the kitchen it dawned on me that I had ordered greens that might be harboring E. coli. Rather than change my order, I threw caution to the wind. The bright green baby spinach leaves studded through with tiny pieces of garlic and sitting atop a shallow pool of their cooking liquid were delicious.

As I walked home I was more than a little concerned that I might fall ill with cramps and perhaps worse. As you may now have guessed nothing of the sort occurred. The reason, as I just learned from an article in The Boston Globe this morning is that cooking destroys E. coli in spinach. So eat your greens with gusto, as long as they're cooked, that is.

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