Spinach Lettuce Seeds

@row7seeds spinach lettuce trials, a tender delicious variety that is low growing much like spinach

NEW LETTUCE JUST DROPPED! 🥬⬇️

Spinach Lettuce made her market debut today and, needless to say, made quite the splash (aka sold out by 9:52am 😉). This new romaine variety gets its name from its fanning growth pattern that resembles spinach so much so that, when @chefdanbarber first came across it several years ago, he initially thought it was spinach.

He stumbled upon it while visiting Bill Waycott, a lettuce breeder based in the lettuce capital of the world, Salinas, California. Bill had set out to develop a lettuce that maintained all the qualities we love in romaine (crispy, juicy, delicious) while increasing its nutritional value. When romaine grows, it shoots up in a stalk-like formation, the outer leaves wrapping around the inner forming those extra desirable, extra crunchy romaine hearts. The only problem is, the sun can’t reach the inner hearts thus lowering the nutritional content of those leaves. Sun exposure = more photosynthesis = more phytonutrients. With Spinach Lettuce, that fanning growth pattern ensures even the inner-most leaves get plenty of sun. Extra nutrition by design!

The best part? More sun also equals more flavor! When Dan first tried the lettuce that fateful day in sunny CA, he said he was expecting the crispness of romaine and instead “tasted something more sponge-like-succulent and multi-layered. The muscled texture gave way to the flavor: rich, pleasantly bitter, deeply delicious. It was the platonic ideal of what romaine could taste like.”

Dan and his seed company, @row7seeds, began working with Bill to further develop and create a seed stock for this new lettuce. He then partnered with @norwichmeadowsfarm to grow it for commercial consumption which led us to the official unveiling at market today!

Norwich Meadows Farms will continue to have spinach lettuce on offer so stop by and give it a whirl!

burnt lettuce
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we really love something about the slightly burnt taste of lettuce you get when you cook it over a hot flame so that it caramelizes just the outer layers, but the inner layers are still fresh and crunchy. craving that tonight, we made a super simple weeknight meal, highlighting the excellent produce we’re seeing at the @unsqgreenmarket market right now! first, we made a vinaigrette to play around with some of our goodies from @nomaprojects- highlighting their ‘kyoto secret peaso’ (made w split peas and kaznuri), nordic shoyu and just a touch of mushroom garum. we blended those ingredients with @kosterina olive oil, red wine vinegar, @row7seeds sweet garleek and shallots. we then brushed the dressing on @row7seeds spinach lettuce and seared it quickly on an extremely hot pan to caramelize the surface. we then stuffed the inner leaves with a slaw made from badger flame beets, hakurei turnips, lacto-fermented @regalisfoods white asparagus we made earlier this summer, toasted sesame and raw garleek, mixed with the same vinaigrette. topped with slices of fried sweet garleek and more toasted sesame for some additional textures. plated on some really cool plates from @connormcginnstudios. all fresh produce was from @norwichmeadowsfarm and tasting 🤤😋!

The Fresh Frontier

#spinachlettuce @row7seeds @baldorfood