It’s hard for me to resist buying spinach at the farmers’ market this time of year. The bunches are plush, and the leaves and stems, pale pink at the base, are tender. I’d almost forgotten what mature spinach tastes like, since I’d gotten into the habit of buying the bagged baby spinach that you don’t have to stem; at my Iranian market they sell three-pound bags at a very good price. But fresh, locally grown bunch spinach is definitely worth revisiting, even if it does require more prep time. Ever since reading this article about the loss of nutrients and susceptibility to contamination that can occur when greens and lettuces are bagged, I’ve become a little less enamored with bagged baby spinach, despite the convenience.

Of course, even with some loss of nutrients, there are still plenty left to go around in bagged spinach. It’s very high in beta carotene, vitamin K (1000 percent of the daily recommended value in a cup of cooked spinach), iron, vitamins A and C, manganese, folate, magnesium, calcium, potassium, vitamins B2 and B6, tryptophan and dietary fiber. So this week I worked with both types, choosing the bunch spinach for recipes that did not require stemming, like stir-fries, and the bagged for dishes that did.

Indian Tofu With Spinach

My curry guru, Raghavan Iyer, author of “660 Curries,” describes paneer, the firm Indian cheese, as “fresh, firm and chewy” and “not unlike a block of extra-firm tofu,” and says you can substitute tofu for it in a pinch. I’ve taken him at his word and used tofu instead of cheese in this classic Indian dish.

3/4 pound firm tofu, cut into 1-inch cubes

2 tablespoons canola oil

1/2 cup coarsely chopped shallot or red onion