Fresh spinach shines in hearty penne beef. Cindy Hval photo.

The only spinach I knew as a child came from a small white carton in the deep freezer. Mom would dump the frozen leaves into a pot of boiling water and serve them with lemon juice. I liked the tart juice; the slimy spinach, I hated.

Flash forward 40 years.

I toss a handful of fresh spinach into the slow-cooker and take a deep breath as the fragrance of basil and oregano fills my kitchen. “Yum! Tomato spinach soup!” Sam, 14, shouts when he arrives home from school.

What happened to my loathing of Popeye’s favorite vegetable? Simple. As a young adult I cautiously sampled spinach salad at a local restaurant. I figured anything with bacon in it couldn’t be that bad. It wasn’t! Fresh spinach proved to be delicious. More here. Cindy Hval, SR

Name a food you hated as a child, but love as an adult.

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