It is so hot here in Arkansas every summer that salad greens of most any kind are out of the question. Except for malabar spinach. We've got a big trellis of the stuff, and it's beautiful. As far as I'm concerned it is nasty. I made us a lovely salad and it slims in your month..yeak. Anybody cooked any of it, I know I should just try some stemaed or something . Does New Zealand spinach do this slimmy thing? Hope everyone is having a fine day and that my slime post hasn't grossed anybody out. Even though I was complaining about our heat it's only about 80 degrees today after a nice rain last night. :} Sherry

-- sherry (chickadee259@yahoo.com), July 13, 2001

Answers

When we lived in GA, I grew Malabar spinach and I too think it is really nasty! I was able to grow lettuce for most of the summer there though. Once it got hot out, I covered it with row cover and it did really well.

-- Cindy in NY (cjpopeck@worldnet.att.net), July 14, 2001.

Malabar spinach is NOT a raw salad green! It is for cooking! Saute it in butter or margerine with garlic or chopped onions! Here in S Fl it has always withered in our intense summer heat, we've only gotten a few leaves at a time for stirfried refrigerator cleanout!

-- Mitzi Giles (Egiles2@prodigy.net), July 15, 2001.

oh, i must be odd.. i like the stuff raw, well only the small new leaves but then again i was raised eating okra,boiled,eeeww! i lay an old hog wire tomato cage on its side and plant along both sides. the vine goes nuts,covers the cage & since i have been harvesting since it is 6 in. high there are mondo side shoots w/ new 50 cent sized leaves to harvest. by the end of the season it looks like an odd topiary experiment.

-- bj pepper (pepper.pepper@excite.com), July 16, 2001.

Malabar spinach can be cooked into a delicious soup. Fry some chopped onions and chopped malabar spinach in a few spoonful of oil. Then add some water and boil for a few minutes. Add several spoonfuls of previously cooked legumes (lentil or split peas). Flavor it with grated ginger, granulated garlic, salt and black pepper.

-- Bala Rathinasabapathi (rrsabapathi@hotmail.com), March 15, 2002.