A reminder to eat your spinach
The green leaves hold a special place in our meals
It’s easy-peasy to use spinach in multiple ways. Wash spinach leaves (well), steam quickly in a pressure cooker, whirr in a blender, and you’re ready to go spinning with spinach in a dozen different ways. Great as a simple nourishing soup, use it with a base of vegetable stock or homemade chicken broth. A dash of cream or even a ladleful of milk will transform the leaves into a comforting, creamy concoction — perfect for a chilly evening. Nota bene: Go easy on the salt as spinach has a naturally high salt content. Make up for that with a few cracks of pepper.
Another great combo for spinach is cottage cheese or paneer. Wholemeal flour combining wheat, chickpeas flour, and handfuls of goodness from the millets family — combine with roughly chopped spinach, whole coriander seeds, ajwain (caraway or bishop’s weed), and minced green chillies — season before kneading into a dough. And you have a very satisfying take on chapattis or parathas.
At its simplest, my treatment of the shiny leaves is stir-fried with minced garlic, and tossed with olive oil. It makes for an excellent side with just about any kind of food. Spinach ricotta ravioli is another must-try. The leafy wonder of the vegetable world combines well with tofu, eggs, and even the humble potato. If in experimental mode, try making pesto.
Spinach lasagna and also a salad of baby spinach with lightly roasted pine nuts completes my dossier on spinach.
Now that everyone’s hungry, let’s decode what muscle-bound cartoon character Popeye saw in the leafy greens. Iron, vitamins and minerals are obvious takeaways. Spinach is also rich in potassium, fibre, protein, and calcium, among others. All of these contribute towards optimal bone, skin, hair and dental health.
As always, moderation is key. People with kidney disease should not overload on spinach because of its rich potassium content, nor should anybody prescribed with blood-thinning medication.
harveena@khaleejtimes.com