EATS YUR SPINACH

Ever wonder why Popeye's muscles are on his

forearms? Well, I have. I've always been more the Olive Oyl body-type, on top anyway.

When I was a kid, the only spinach I knew was Popeye style, from the can, with a little vinegar on it. Rule #1-NEVER buy canned spinach. Buy the freshest BABY spinach possible. Inspect package, read sale date, dig to the back if you must. Buy it the day you make your salad, use it from the bag for 2 or 3 days max. That leads to Rule #2- STEAM the rest to eat as a side with a little lemon and bacon crunchies or to HIDE in casseroles. More on that another day!

Many weeks, I make a wonderful spinach salad to take in my lunch. As you make your salad for the family dinner, make several small batches in their own lunch-sized containers to grab straight from the fridge. Don't add the dressing until it's time to eat each day.

Here is my list of ingredients that I like to add to a spinach salad. Not ALL at once, just whatever I am in the mood for, or have available.

• FRESH BABY SPINACH...not the field mix. I think the purple stuff in it gets old too fast.


• AVOCADO SLICES...not too hard, not too soft


• PINK GRAPEFRUIT SECTIONS...OK, I like to buy the expensive jar in the fresh produce section, but sometimes I'm good and dig my own grapefruit sections out. Do you have serrated grapefruit spoons? If not, stop. Get online, well, you are online, but search for some, and order them now. Life is too short to cut each little section with a knife. Years ago, my Mother, coincidentally, ended up with the same stainless pattern as mine. It's discontinued now, but for years, I'd always check for bargain bonanzas in our pattern at the Oneida outlet when I was in San Marcos. Serving pieces, extra place settings, butter knives, garnish forks, those were easy, and fun Christmas or birthday gifts to share with Mother. Serrated fruit spoons, what we were both short of, were the rarest, but now and then I'd unearth a few! I found a few online from time to time, and had to pay dearly for them. I always suspected that more than a few were tossed in the garbage along with the empty grapefruit half, as little boys "helped" clear the table...or maybe they are still buried in the sandbox. Well, after Mother passed, and Daddy's house burned, Landon salvaged the set of stainless, and it cleaned up perfectly, one of the few things to survive the fire. So, come on over to my house for grapefruit and memories ANY time! You know, the serrated spoons don't have to match your set, just get some!!! They are also perfect for ice cream. Oh yeah, ingredients...


• SLICED STRAWBERRIES


• TOASTED WALNUTS OR ALMOND SLICES...so much better when toasted...or even carmelized!


• THINLY SLICED PURPLE ONION...doesn't take much


• RASPBERRIES


• RED APPLE CHUNKS OR SLICES. Have you EVER tasted HONEYCRISP APPLES? They are huge, they are beautiful, they are great in a salad, they are expensive, they are worth it. I wait expectantly every fall to see the first ones hit the market!! Just this week, I had a wonderful interlude at the honeycrisp display at HEB. I had selected one or two from their little protective cardboard nests, when the guy on the other side of the display pulled up the most beautiful specimen of apple ever seen by human eyes. He just stood there staring, as did I. It was shiny and bright red, perfectly formed. Finally, he said, "This apple should be in the Movies." I agreed. It was just one of those fleeting, romantic grocery experiences that one doesn't soon forget. Look, I know some of you still have small children, and don't get to have these kind of breakthrough moments in the produce aisle, but trust me, someday your little ones will grow up, become contributing members of society, and pay their own auto insurance. For now, just love them, plop them into the grocery cart, and persevere. I actually kind of miss having them help me grocery shop from time to time. Really.


• BACON CRUNCHES...not bacon bits, yuck. But if you ever fry bacon, save extras to crumble on salads or on steamed spinach as a side. This opens another whole can of worms, so to speak. I guess that term should not be on a menu site, but here's the deal. I love bacon. Is that a genetic predisposition? I love it, but I don't like to smell like bacon smoke all day and I don't like to deal with the grease. I actually love the microwave ready kinds. Both kinds...the kind that is in its own little cooking pouch and takes a few minutes, but especially the kind that is totally cooked and just needs 30-40 seconds. All of the guys in my family think it's the grossest stuff ever invented. Well, that's just tough. Actually, they think ANYthing cooked in the microwave is the grossest stuff ever. Here's the trick. Cook stuff in the microwave, and then, right at the last minute, pop it into its respective pan/container and onto the stovetop or into the oven and act like it was there the whole time. Then they LIKE it. Shhhh....


• SLICED HARD-BOILED EGG or a little of your favorite FETA CHEESE if you want!


• Only add dressing right before you eat. I use a mixture of RED WINE VINEGAR, SUGAR, AND A LITTLE OLIVE OIL, but you may have a secret favorite dressing that you can share with us in a comment!