A kilogram of Tesco Frozen Leaf Spinach costs just 99p as of Jan 2010. I am feindishly fond of spinach, and find that this quantity provides about two generous servings of 'spinach as a side dish' for two adults. Unlike the 'ready chopped' frozen spinach you can buy, that once defrosted and cooked fall apart into wodges of tiny green flakes that basically have the texture of used tea-leaves this product gives you a result much more like fresh, cooked spinach.

This type of spinach is one of my favourite convenience foods - and despite my not having a freezer, I find it lasts three to four of days in the bottom of my fridge although of course it will have defrosted after about the first 24 hours. The bags are not watertight however, and as the spinach is frozen with water, quite a bit of liquid accumulates at the bottom of the thawed-out bag and this tends to leak down into the vegetable compartment of the fridge and make a heck of a mess - unless you put the whole packet into a bowl.

The great advantages of buying spinach frozen from the supermarket are that you avoid the problem of soggy / disintegrating leaves that occurs when spinach has been kept in a poly bag too long. Also there's no grit to wash off - this may seem like a very lazy point to be mentioning, but our stupid kitchen sink surround from Ikea is frankly not very waterproof, and washing things like loose green leaves, which have a big surface area for the water to 'bounce' off, makes a terrible mess of the water-damaged woodwork, so I try to keep that sort of thing to a minimum.

Defrosting the spinach in the fridge also gives its own advantage. This spinach consists of whole leaves frozen with water and compressed into largeish ice-cube shaped briquette-like locks, each about 3cm long. When you put these straight into boiling water to cook the spinach, while the leaves on the outside defrost straight away the interior of the ice-brick remains frozen - even in a pan brought back to a simmering boil - for a surprisingly long time. Defrosting the briquettes beforehand, or, if only partially defrosted (or even completely frozen), putting them to stand in boiling water from the kettle for about five to ten minutes before you begin cooking the spinach ensures they thaw out all the way through and gives a better result.

The spinach is excellent on its own and, if a little defrosted beforehand can be added to other (e.g. Indian) dishes just as it is.