The tainted spinach has reportedly given way to other greens of the similar species like kale, collard, chard, mizuna and mustard. Washington Post points out that restaurants, chefs, school lunch boxes and diners are chucking out spinach from stews, pies, fries, sandwiches and many dishes not only with green cousins of spinach but also with cabbage, arugula and lettuce.
However, the mild and buttery flavor of spinach cannot be replaced by the bitterness of other greens; yet pushing in cousins of spinach can be a good way of introducing new leaves to the common flavor pot of salads, stews, soups, poached fish, souffle and the popular Village Pie.
E. coli does not leave the Californians with better options. But more than that the phobia of contaminated food is driving the diners to find new flavors in something so common as a lettuce salad or a kale stew.
E. coli has given an opportunity to the chefs to give a different edge to the greens, which were not preferred by the diners in the presence of spinach. Therefore, there is enough reason to try spinach substitutes for even those diners, who do not fall into the region of contaminated spinach.
