A person’s daily menu should consist of fresh fruits, vegetables, as well as greens. A healthy product is spinach.
In this article we will take a detailed look at what kind of greens is, how best to use it fresh, boiled and dried, what dishes you can do with it.
Let's provide an opportunity to see how this plant looks in the photo, and get acquainted with its brief description. Is there an age limit for its use? What other products does it look like? Find out further in our article.
Briefly about the plant
Spinach affects not only the number of its beneficial properties, but also methods of cooking. Spinach (lat. Spinacia oleracea) - is an annual herb with oval leaves that are eaten. It belongs to the Amaranth family. The leaf surface varies from smooth to rough., the sheet itself is curved, it may look like sorrel. The smell is neutral. Spinach grows to a height of 50 cm. It sprouts quickly and is unpretentious to care. Russia was introduced about 200 years ago, its homeland is considered to be the Middle East, namely Persia.
A photo
In the photo below you can see how fresh green spinach looks like:
What foods are similar in taste?
Spinach has a pronounced herbal flavor., he reminds sorrel, but in him there is no sourness. By itself, this plant does not apply to any spices or to astringent products. The taste of spinach is revealed when cooking it with meat, fish, in soups and salads; It goes well with eggs and is suitable as an ingredient for filling pies.
How to use fresh leaves for food?
Remember that fresh spinach is stored for a short time and quickly loses its properties.
Most often it is added to salads, juice or smoothie is made. For cosmetic purposes, you can wipe the face with fresh juice for its elasticity and firmness. During heat treatment, spinach largely loses its antioxidant properties, for which it is so famous.
Do I need to somehow handle before cooking?
Rinse leaves thoroughly before drinking.. Yellow, weak or sluggish leaves should be separated and discarded. Cut the stems - they are not very pleasant to the taste, leave only round leaves. Even if the packaging says that the product is ready for use, it should still be washed. Washed under running water in a separate container, allowed to dry. Boiling water is undesirable. You can keep dried spinach in the refrigerator for no more than a day, otherwise it will begin to form harmful nitrogen-acid salts.
How often can you eat and how much to eat per day?
Spinach is an excellent low-calorie product for daily consumption, rich in protein and fiber. He is a record holder in iron content: 100 grams of leaves contain a full quarter of the daily norm. Regular consumption of spinach reduces the risk of hypertension, insomnia, heart attack and retinal dystrophy. You can consume up to 300 grams per day. spinach
Are the stems edible?
Fresh stems are too hard and not so pleasant to the taste, unlike the leaves. However, they can be consumed by adding to a juicer and making juice. Useful properties are the same as in the leaves.
When is it better to eat?
It does not matter much when eating spinach, however fresh juice is better not to eat on an empty stomach due to the action of oxalic acid. This juice is better to drink at least after breakfast. Spinach is good in stew with vegetables for dinner, as it is not burdensome to the stomach.
Age restrictions
Spinach is useful for older people with limitations: due to the content of oxalic acid, it should be used with caution in case of kidney and gallbladder diseases. Otherwise, you can provoke the formation of kidney stones. Spinach is contraindicated in cases of duodenal ulcers, gout and rheumatism. Due to the high content of vitamin K (more than 4 (!) Recommended Daily Allowances), spinach is not recommended for people with poor blood clotting and those who use anticoagulants.
For kids you can add spinach to your diet from 7-8 months in the form of mashed potatoes and smoothies no more than 50 grams. Give it no more than 2 times a week. Many manufacturers of baby food, such as HiPP, sell ready-made cereals and mashed potatoes with spinach. When cooking spinach dishes on their own, it is advisable to add milk or cream in order to neutralize oxalic acid. From 2 years you can give spinach in salads, mashed potatoes, omelets.
Using frozen vegetable
Most often, frozen spinach is sold in the form of washers. You can defrost in a natural way (suitable more for omelets or dough), and you can throw spinach pucks into a cooking soup or frying pan, where meat, fish or mushrooms are stewed.
Cooked
After the fresh spinach has been separated from the stems and bad leaves, washed and cut, it can be steamed or stewed in a little water. When boiling or stewing, one part of the spinach is reduced in volume by about two thirds. It is advisable to add spinach at the very end of cookingIn order not to overdo it with heat treatment and leave more useful properties, while giving enough of oxalic acid to collapse. Usually, cooking or stewing takes less than 10 minutes.
You can not heat the remaining spinach again, because then there is a harmful conversion of nitrates into nitrites and nitrosamines.
Application of dried leaves
Dried spinach can be used in soups, stews, or as a medicinal plant. Dried spinach preserves all the vitamins and minerals. To dry the leaves, they need to choose the most young and fresh, because the old completely lose their beneficial properties. Washed leaves should be laid out on a wire rack, then sent to the oven for a couple of hours at 50 aboutC. After drying, chop and shift into a sealed bag.
In what form is it better to use this vegetable?
Of course, there is nothing better than young spinach outlets that have been plucked from the garden. However, if there is no such possibility, then dried leaves are great for cooking. Frozen washers are more convenient for long-term storage in urban environments, moreover, they retain their bright green color much better. Braised or boiled spinach with the addition of milk or cream is suitable for such properties as a low content of oxalic acid.
Where to add - combinations with other dishes
Spinach is great for meat, especially fat, contributing to its easier assimilation. According to its taste properties, it goes well with an egg, for example, in omelets, baking, salads, casseroles.
Spinach's remarkable feature is that it preserves its green color during heat treatment: you get not only emerald smoothies, but also bright soups (vegetable, mushroom, meat or fish), green sauces (especially harmoniously with horseradish and mustard) and contrasting combinations of green / red on pizza surface. You can use bright spinach juice even to make unusual green ice cream yourself and even dough cream.
We offer you to watch a useful video on how spinach can be cooked:
As seen, This leaf vegetable is extremely healthy and nutritious.and what's more, it is universal in the kitchen. Nutritional properties of spinach allow us to call it a real well of health!
