Spinach! Oh The Horror!

Written by Ruby A. Iadeluca

My lunch today was disappointing. And I knew it would be. That’s why it was the last frozen entrée in the freezer at work. It was pasta with ricotta (yum) and spinach….

I’m an adult; which means that I’ve had many dishes that have had spinach in them.

Okay. I suppose I’ve really only enjoyed one spinach-y item: Spinach Gnocchi (little potato dumplings with blended spinach in them). And those are very, very good.

However, today, when I slid the plastic encased plate out of its cardboard box I noticed that the spinach wasn’t smaller pieces blended into the ricotta as the picture on the box suggested, but rather, it was A LOT of whole leaves and big pieces.

 

My first thought was that this isn’t going to be good for my smile. I’m going to be fishing green things out of my teeth all day.

 

My second thought was of my first experience with spinach. My mom had never cooked spinach at home to go with any meal (bless her heart). I was a spinach virgin. So the "first time" for me was in school. Kindergarten I believe. We all sat down in our little plastic chairs with our little plastic trays in front of us. The warm pile of limp dark green spinach in the corner pocket was met with a general consensus of “Eeew!” and “Ick!” It smelled horrid! So why I ever decided to poke my fork into the pile of mush and hook a dab around one tine and then put it in my mouth is beyond me. I instantly gagged and heaved and have regretted that move ever since!

From that point on, I’ve never ever wanted to experiment with spinach again. And today was no exception. I tried to be a big girl and not pick every single piece out of my microwaved lunch, but I sure as heck pulled out as many green pieces as I could! I also ate the meal as fast as possible before anyone could walk into my office and see all the green stuff in my teeth. There was so much spinach left in the plastic tray - I swear there was more green stuff than ricotta and pasta - that I decided I’d better take it back to the lunch room garbage rather than throwing it away in the can under my desk. I certainly didn’t want to smell it all afternoon.

Needless to say, I won’t be buying that particular frozen meal anymore! I’d much rather go hungry or snack on my spare stash of stale saltines than attempt to eat spinach ever, ever again.