It’s always interesting when you visit the Burge Organic Farm booth at the Saturday morning Peachtree Road Farmers Market. Will you be lured over by the smell as farm manager Cory Mosser and his helpers custom roast peppers in the summer heat? Will someone be riding the bicycle-powered pea sheller? Or will he just have some vegetable that you simply won’t find at any other booth?
Mosser confesses that he’s always looking for something unusual to grow. “I like growing weird things, and I’m always willing to try new stuff. Like when I grew sugar cane up here a few years ago. That didn’t work out. But, for everything that doesn’t work out, something does,” he said.
One of the things that worked out was Okinawa spinach, a vegetable he’s been bringing to market since the end of June. This is his second year offering it. Burge Organic Farm is in Mansfield, about an hour east of Atlanta on I-20.
“It’s a great hot weather green, and we are always looking for those. When it gets really hot, we pick our last lettuce. Arugula will take some heat, but I wanted a spinach substitute. I’ve tried a few like Malabar spinach, but didn’t fall in love. It turns out that Okinawa spinach is great. It has a great texture and flavor combination and it explodes in the heat. Not many things do that,” said Mosser.
Okinawa spinach is colorful. The leaves are dark green on the top and purple on the bottom. It’s a perennial herb in milder climates. But here in the Atlanta area, Mosser takes cuttings in the fall, keeps them going through the winter and then plants them out in the summer.
What he sells are the tender shoots. “You never know if there’s a market when you try new things. But, when we sold it last summer, people kept coming back and asking for it. I planted twice as much this year,” Mosser said.
Those tender shoots can also go home with you and become the start of your own Okinawa spinach crop. They’ll root in water or sand. Once planted, they’ll take off, growing with abandon in full sun or even partial shade.
Mosser says the leaves are a bit succulent. He suggests a good way to use it raw is to marinate it like kale for a fresh salad, chopping the leaves finely and adding a dressing with some acid. He really likes Okinawa spinach cooked in a dish where he tosses the leaves with sweet potato greens and tops them with a hot dressing of bacon drippings, maple syrup and cider vinegar. He mixes those three ingredients together in a small saucepan, brings it to a boil and then pours it over the chopped greens. Or use the leaves when mixing up a green smoothie.
Okinawa spinach will stay fresh for about a week in your refrigerator, or put it in a glass of water and it will keep on your counter. It will also start to root and you can raise your own Okinawa spinach crop.
At local farmers markets
Cooking demos:
4-8 p.m. Thursday, July 25. Chef Seth Freedman of Forage and Flame offers demos throughout the market. East Atlanta Village Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.farmeav.com
9 a.m. Saturday, July 27. Chef Mary Moore, Cook’s Warehouse, working with Malabar spinach. Morningside Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.morningsidemarket.com
10 a.m. Saturday, July 27. Chef Todd Richards, The Shed. Peachtree Road Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.peachtreeroadfarmersmarket.com
11 a.m. Saturday, July 27. Chef Nathan Rajotte, Meehan’s Atlantic Station. Green Market at Piedmont Park, Atlanta. www.piedmontpark.org
11 a.m. Sunday, July 28. Chef Tyler Williams, Woodfire Grill. Grant Park Farmers Market, Atlanta. www.grantparkmarket.org
For sale
Vegetables, fruit and nuts: arugula, Asian greens, Asian pears, beets, blackberries, blueberries, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chard, collards, corn, cucumbers, dandelion, eggplant, fennel, garlic, green beans, herbs, kale, leeks, lettuce, Malabar spinach, melons, mushrooms, Okinawa spinach, okra, onions, pecans, peaches, peppers, potatoes, radishes, sorrel, spinach, spring onions, squash blossoms, summer squash, sweet potato greens, tomatoes, turnips
From local reports
Tyler Williams’ Okinawa Spinach with Corn Grits
Hands on: 20 minutes
Total time: 2 hours, 15 minutes
Serves: 6 cups
William uses Anson Mills grits, available by mail order. The grits are milled weekly and delivered fresh to Star Provisions as well. Williams also garnished the dish with housemade “corn nuts” and slices of cream-steeped shallot. If you don’t have Okinawa spinach, this recipe will work with any similar green, including spinach, Malabar spinach or even kale.
Williams will be doing the chef demo at the Grant Park Farmers Market, Sunday, July 28 at 11 a.m.
3 cups water plus more for cooking spinach
1/2 cup grits
1 teaspoon salt plus more for cooking spinach and seasoning
6 shallots, peeled
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cups heavy cream
1 head garlic, cut in half
4 sprigs thyme
16 cups loosely packed Okinawa spinach leaves (about 12 ounces)
1/4 cup raw corn kernels
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon lime juice
In a large saucepan, bring 3 cups of water to a boil. Add grits and 1 teaspoon salt. Stirring often, cook grits for 2 hours.
While grits are cooking, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Toss shallots with olive oil and bake until soft and slightly caramelized, about 15 minutes. Move shallots and oil to a medium saucepan and add cream, garlic and thyme. Bring mixture to a boil, remove from heat, cover and let mixture sit one hour. If desired, remove some shallots and reserve them for garnishing the dish. Strain the remaining liquid through a fine mesh serve, discarding the solids. Set aside.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Have a bowl of ice water nearby. Add Okinawa spinach leaves to boiling water and cook for 10 seconds. Immediately move the leaves to the ice water and allow to cool. Squeeze the leaves to remove all the moisture. Set aside.
When ready to serve, add the reserved cooked spinach and roasted shallot cream to the grits. Stir together, add corn, butter and lime juice and season to taste. Serve immediately.
Per 1/2-cup serving: 215 calories (percent of calories from fat, 77), 3 grams protein, 10 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 19 grams fat (11 grams saturated), 60 milligrams cholesterol, 226 milligrams sodium.
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