“What are you cooking?” my Ed asked when I told him I was testing my recipe for the Courier.
“Spinach,” I answered. “It’s good for you and will make you pretty. If that doesn’t happen, you’ll still be healthy and can still critique the dish.”
Well, I don’t think either of us is any prettier, but I do know the dish was nourishing and tasty.
Spinach has always had a good reputation, and nutritional charts justify that. It is high in calcium, potassium, vitamin A, riboflavin, niacin and ascorbic acid. A cup of cooked and drained fresh spinach has 167 mg of calcium, 4 mg of iron, and 50 mg of ascorbic acid – the latter about equal to the recommended daily allowance (RDA).
Spinach is available fresh, canned and frozen. It can be cooked and served as a side dish, used in casseroles, and, for what I think is the best use, eaten raw in a salad requiring only a bit of dressing.
In addition to the food value, all of these (fresh, canned and frozen) are good for the dieter. A cup of the fresh raw spinach has only 15 calories. A cup of fresh spinach that has been cooked and drained has 40 calories, and a cup of cooked and drained frozen spinach has 45.
Most supermarkets now have a section for the plastic bags of pre-washed greens for salads, and that is where you’ll find the spinach. You’ll also see the unwashed spinach in plastic bags, and sometimes it will be loose on the counter for you to weigh. Home gardeners can grow spinach, but must do so in either spring or fall; it doesn’t like our hot South Carolina summers.
Spinach is a quickly prepared dish, so it will take you only a few minutes after church this weekend to have it ready for … Sunday Dinner.
Herbed Spinach
2 slices bacon, cut crosswise into slivers
2 pounds fresh spinach, washed
½ teaspoon fresh rosemary leaves
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
½ cup coarsely chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
In a large skillet, cook the bacon until barely crisp, then remove with a slotted spoon. Pour off the drippings, leaving 1 tablespoon in pan.
Add the onions, spinach, parsley, rosemary, salt and pepper. Cover and cook 6 to 10 minutes until spinach is wilted, stirring a couple of times. Remove cover, stir in lemon juice and put into serving dish. Sprinkle with the bacon pieces. Serves 4-6.
(Note: Salt with a light hand; the spinach doesn’t require much.)
Quick Cooked Spinach
About 2 pounds fresh spinach, washed (shaking water from leaves)
1 teaspoon salt for each pound of spinach
Pepper to taste
Sprinkling of either lemon juice or melted butter
(Optional: sliced hard-cooked eggs or grated yolk for garnish)
In a large skillet, place spinach and sprinkle with salt. Cover tightly and cook in the water that clings to the leaves for 6 to 10 minutes until tender and wilted. Add pepper and butter or juice. Place on serving dish and garnish with egg.