Spinach Trees

During many months here it is difficult to find a variety of vegetables. Cabbage and cucumbers seem to be available almost year round, but can be expensive. Nigeriens use the leaves of various native plants and trees, such as baobab leaves, to add to sauces.  A few weeks ago, I learned from a friend that the leaves of one of the trees on the compound can be cooked and used like spinach. So, I decided to try it.

According to Wikipedia;
"Cnidoscolus aconitifolius, commonly known as chaya, tree spinach, or spinach tree, is a large, fast-growing and leafy perennial shrub. Chaya is one of the most productive green vegetables. Young Chaya leaves and the thick, tender stem tips are cut and boiled as a spinach. It is a tasty vegetable and is exceptionally high in protein, calcium, iron, and vitamin A. In fact, levels of Chaya leaf nutrients are two- to threefold greater than any other land-based leafy green vegetable."

The kids enjoyed gathering leaves from the several Chaya trees around the compound.

Unfortunately, the leaves cannot be use for fresh because raw chaya leaves are toxic- they release cyanide when eaten.  But, if the leaves are boiled for 5-15 minutes the cyanide is inactivated and the leaves are safe to eat. 

Boiling the out the cyanide!

I put some "spinach" in a tuna quesadilla for lunch. Juliet and I liked it- it doesn’t have a very strong flavor to me. However,  Luke strongly disliked the flavor. Too bad. I guess we will  have to continue with a mostly cabbage and cucumber diet for now...although I think I will continue to experiment a bit with the "spinach tree" to see if there is a better way to serve it.