Shalimar was nice enough to share her Thanksgiving cooking from the garden experience with LAGG:

"I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving and nutritious meals.

"For my family's Thanksgiving, I modified the traditional saag paneer by adding lima beans instead of paneer (Indian cheese). I blanched the malabar spinach before putting in the blender. And added red chiles and nasturtium from the garden too." 

One gardener said she was unable to acquire a taste for malabar spinach because, "It is slimy."

Shalimar offered this advice:

"As I was stirring the blended spinach in the pan, I noticed it was slimy and knew that bottom would never burn. It was like magic and fun. When it cooled down, the slime disappeared. We enjoyed the spinach dish at Thanksgiving dinner. It retained the color and flavor without any slime. So, it may be heat has something to do with it. I added tender green stems and fruit seeds to the dish as well.

"More cooking suggestions:

• If you are cooking lentils, add a handful of leaves last.
• If you are cooking spinach by itself, as soon as you notice slime, add either a little coconut milk or regular dairy milk. That eliminates the slime and leaves a good sauce.
• Of course, I add garlic, ginger, turmeric and red and black pepper to taste.

"I am thinking of adding a little bit of fava bean flour to thicken it for my next batch."