Superfood Series Part 2: Spinach

Spinach is one of nature's masterpieces. Lightly steamed, raw in salads, or added to soups and stews just before serving; adding spinach to your daily diet will undoubtedly increase your overall health.

Nearly everyone can remember "Popeye the sailor" from the popular cartoon. Popeye gobbled down a can of spinach anytime he wanted to get a quick strength boost. Evidently this came about after an engineer over-estimated the iron content of spinach by a factor of ten! That aside, spinach is full of vital nutrients that can keep us healthy.

Best of all, spinach is accessible in nearly every part of the world. It is easy to grow and harvest, meaning that most people don't need to buy spinach shipped from thousands of miles away. Fresh spinach has the most nutrients, and leafy greens like spinach lose nutrients quickly after picked - so buy local or grow your own, and enjoy spinach at least three times a week!

Spinach is an annual green, meaning that with the exception of rare cases, the plant just lives for one season. The flowering plant has large, dark green leaves - the spinach leaves we eat for both the great taste and nutritional value.

The history of the spinach plant goes back to Ancient Persia - present day Iran. It is thought that the seeds of the plant were introduced into China by Arab traders, where we find the earliest recorded written history of spinach from 640 AD.

In the 1300s spinach first appeared in English history, where it is a popular ingredient in the first English cookbook! In the 1500s the Florence born queen of France insisted that spinach be served in every meal. For this reason, we call dishes made with spinach "Florentine".

For people living in the United States, local spinach can usually be procured since 96% of the spinach consumed is produced domestically. 

Low in Calories
Just 23 calories per 100 grams of spinach - that's a 3 cup salad, full of fiber and iron, under 30 calories!

More Iron than a Hamburger
Gram to gram, quickly cooked spinach contains more iron than ground beef. This means you can skip the beef (and subsequently, the fat) and stick with bright green spinach for your source of iron.

Keep in mind that in order to absorb the maximum amount of iron possible, you'll want to eat something high in vitamin C alongside your spinach. Spinach does have a fair amount of vitamin C, but sliced fresh tomatoes and red bell peppers make nice accompaniments for spinach and provide the body with sufficient vitamin C needed to properly absorb iron.

Nutrition Summary
For 100 grams, or 3 cups, of spinach

• Calories: 23
• Dietary fiber: 2.2 grams
• Protein: 2.2 grams
• Vitamin A: 52% of daily value
• Folate: 49% of daily value
• Vitamin C: 47% of daily value
• Vitamin E: 13% of daily value
• Vitamin K: 460% of daily value
• Calcium: 10% of daily value
• Iron: 22% of daily value

Spinach is one of the easiest greens to add to food you've already prepared. Cooking spinach just briefly, until it wilts, doesn't do much to kill its nutritional value. Cooking spinach very thoroughly will deplete some of the vitamins and minerals. Easy ideas for bumping up your nutritional value of a basic meal with some spinach include:

• Pasta: Add big handfuls of spinach to a pasta dish, just before serving. Stir until wilted and eat! Spinach can also make a simple macaroni and cheese dinner much more healthy - and kids won't balk at fresh spinach as much as they will at canned, so be sure to get the fresh stuff.
• Quick salads: spinach combined with mandarin oranges, strawberries, or just some toasted walnuts makes a wonderful salad. Either eat as a light meal or serve alongside your main course.
• Soup: Just as with pasta, add spinach to soups just before serving. Spinach and other leafy greens can add a lovely texture and a bit of crunch (if not cooked too long) to vegetable soups.

Spinach and Vegetables, with or without Pasta or Rice

Ingredients

• 2 T olive oil or butter
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, diced
• 1 anchovy, diced very fine (omit if vegetarian)
• 6 cups of spinach, baby spinach or chopped large leaves
• 5-10 cherry tomatoes, or 3-4 chopped roma tomatoes
• 5-10 mushrooms, sliced
• 2 cups of chicken broth (vegetable broth if vegetarian)
• 1/2 cup cream
• salt, pepper to taste
• Parmesan cheese, grated to taste

Directions

1. Over medium heat, cook olive oil or butter until hot. Reduce heat to low and add onion, garlic, and anchovies. Cook for 10 minutes, making sure the heat is low enough that the garlic doesn't burn and the mixture cooks slowly.
2. Add mushrooms. Cook for 5 more minutes.
3. Add spinach, tomatoes, and vegetable broth. Cook for 15 minutes.
4. Lastly, add the cream and cook for just 1-2 more minutes. Add salt, pepper and cheese to taste.
5. Enjoy alone, or over fresh pasta or rice!

Cream of Spinach Soup

Ingredients:

• 3 T butter or olive oil
• 1/2 of an onion, diced
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup flour
• 3 cups chicken broth, ham stock, or vegetable broth
• 6 cups spinach
• 1/2 cup cream
• Water or milk, to thin
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Bacon or prosciutto, chopped fine for garnish
• Baby spinach, for garnish

Directions

1. Cook onion in oil or butter until translucent over medium heat
2. Add garlic and flour. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly
3. Gradually whisk in broth until combined
4. Add spinach and bring to boil.
5. Reduce to simmer and whisk in cream.
6. Blend soup in a food processor, blender or a hand-held immersion blender.
7. Return the soup to your pot. Add water or milk as necessary to thin. Add salt and pepper, to taste.
8. Serve with bacon or prosciutto and spinach leaves to garnish. Crusty bread alongside is a wonderful treat!

• Superfood Series Part 1: Papaya
• Superfood Series Part 3: Walnuts
• Superfood Series Part 4: Tomato
• Nopales: A Mexican Superfood

Source for Nutrition information