ALL ABOUT FOOD:Organic greens delivered to your door

Farmer’s market regulars can’t have helped noticing the gorgeous abundance of greens appearing at the new Devon’s Organics stand.

Their color and vibrancy grab your attention and beckon you to the stall. Once there, you will encounter Ira Auerbach, a transplanted New Yorker, who has spent a good part of his life promoting healthy organic food.

As a teenager, he worked in his father’s business delivering Hebrew National smoked-meat products — all the while espousing vegetarianism.

Eventually, he was able to open a health food store and an organic home delivery business on Long Island. Four years ago, after a divorce, and during the first blizzard of the season, he took a leap of faith and decided to realize his long-term dream of moving to California, where the surf was up and crops grew all year round.

The delivery business is in his blood, so it was natural for him to begin his California odyssey by starting Devon’s Organics, a home delivery service for organic produce. Although he himself is not a farmer, he has developed relationships with local organic farmers whose knowledge and products he trusts. Auerbach has very high standards for everything he sells.

His prices are lower than those of the health food markets, such as Mother’s and Wild Oats, and his produce is fresher and of the highest quality. In addition, his delivery service is absolutely FREE!

In order to keep customers happy, he will try to find anything you request, if he doesn’t carry the product himself. He also guarantees everything he delivers to you.

He has now expanded into the farmers’ markets four days a week, keeping himself extremely busy. This is in response to his feeling that people really like to shop and see what’s available.

We agree, especially at the Laguna market where shopping is not just a chore, but a pleasurable experience.

While talking to the knowledgeable Auerbach — who loves to schmooze with his customers — he shared some of his agricultural acumen and vegetable verities.

He believes that, “the healthier the plant, the healthier the person.”

Organic vegetables contain more minerals than conventionally grown produce, and the plants themselves are hardier — and, obviously — not saturated with chemicals.

He thinks that the food chain, over time, is gradually being poisoned. Auerbach also points out that our refrigerators are actually large dehydrators, so it is important to store produce with some moisture in covered containers or plastic bags.

Herbs, however, don’t keep well if they are too wet. His rule of thumb is that greens are best if eaten no more than 10 days after picking.

Of course, if you buy them in the grocery store there is no way of knowing how old they are. In general, it’s a good idea not to keep anything more than a week.

Last week at the farmers’ markets, Devon’s Organics had a lovely display of greens, including red and green chard, collards, Chinese spinach (totsoi), dandelion greens and green and black kale for cooking.

Then, there was arugula, watercress, red, green and butter lettuces and romaine for salad, as well as a selection of herbs. Everything looked “maahvahlous.”

For those of you who are puzzled by the vast variety of cooking greens out there and don’t know what to do with them, we offer the following:

Please note that young, tender leaves can be lightly sautéed or even used in salads, while older, tougher leaves require simmering or steaming for 20 to 30 minutes.

In the old south, they liked their greens long-simmered with the addition of pork fat. More contemporary cooks prefer not to cook the tougher leaves to death. They prefer them with some tooth.