Note: Availability fluctuates throughout the year, please understand the described items below are educational. To confirm availability please inquire with us directly.
Popeye popularized spinach, but it’s too bad he didn’t eat it fresh! Spinach can have either small, smooth, flat leaves or slightly crinkled broad leaves. Tender, sweet crisp leaves with solid jade green colouring that cook quickly. Raw spinach has a mild, slightly sweet taste, while its flavour strengthens and becomes more acidic when cooked.
Although used as a richly salad green, this vegetable belongs to the same family (Chenopodiaceae) as chard and beets. It shares a similar taste profile with these two other vegetables: the bitterness of beet greens, derived from the oxalic acid, and the slightly salty flavour of chard.
HOW TO CHOOSE
Available throughout the year because they are grown in so many different areas of the world. BC’s local peak season runs from mid April through early June and from September through October, when it is the freshest.
When selecting spinach, choose fresh and tender leaves and stalks that are vibrant deep green and crisp, as well as smell good and look beautiful. Smaller leaves and thinner stems are more tender. Indications of decay are limp and damaged looking greens, leaves with yellow spots and blemishes, or a slimy coating.
It is best to buy the more delicate greens just before you are going to use them to ensure freshness. If planning to cook, buy at least two since they wilt down.
STORAGE
Store unwashed to reduce spoilage due to moisture. When you bring the spinach home, the removal of any rubber banding or ties is a step towards keeping the greens fresh longer. Any greens that are damaged, discoloured or wilted should be discarded. If roots are still present, search for insects, remove, and then loosely wrap the roots in damp paper towel, packed in an open plastic bag in the refrigerator crisper where it will keep fresh for about five days. It is best, however, to store all greens for the shortest time possible to ensure freshness.
Helpful Hints
- Store spinach far away from ethylene gas producing fruits – like apples and bananas. Ethylene gas may cause premature ripening and the leaves will become spotted – the first signs of decay.
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Cooked spinach will not store well.
Trim off the roots and separate the leaves. After discarding any yellow or damaged leaves, wash the good greens. Spinach, whether bunched or prepackaged, should be washed very well since the leaves and stems tend to collect sand and soil, creating a gritty texture, since the plant grows close to the ground. Place the spinach in a sink of cold water and swish the leaves around with your hands as this will allow any dirt to become dislodged and settle to the bottom of the sink. Remove the leaves from the water, drain and refill the sink with clean water and repeat this process until no dirt remains in the water (usually two to three times will do the trick).
For cooking
Any excess water will serve to help cook the spinach. Cut away any overly thick stems to ensure for more even cooking.
For salads
Dry well – in either a salad spinner or by shaking it in a colander. Remove any long or tough stems by holding the leaf at its base and stripping away the stems with your hands or use a knife. Be sure to use the supple stems, since they have all the sugar that make spinach taste so good! Leave the spinach leaves whole or tear into bite size pieces.
To Perk Up
If the greens are looking a little soggy from age, put it in your freezer for a minute to perk it up.
HOW TO ENJOY
Extremely delicious and versatile; great raw, stir-fried, steamed, or baked, spinach can be every cook’s dream vegetable.
Quick & Easy Serving Ideas
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Spinach salads, often available as baby spinach, are a classic refreshing meal or side dish
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Mix together with other more mild salad greens to create an enhanced flavour and a colourful dimension. It can be used fresh or ever so briefly warmed. Pair with strawberries and thin slices of red onion
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Dressing can simply be the zest and juice of one lemon, a gracious tablespoon of honey, teaspoon of raspberry vinegar, salt and pepper. Whisk in walnut oil until you have a nice emulsion. The strawberries will marinateand enhance the flavour of the dressing. Scrumptious!
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Add layers of steamed spinach to your next lasagna recipe
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Spinach can also be creamed. After being cooked, purée and blend with ricotta cheese, cream sauce, or soft tofu. Add herbs, salt, and pepper, and use as a stuffing for lasagna or pasta shells, or toss with pasta or rice. Creamed spinach can, also, be thinned with broth or milk to make soup
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Toss steamed spinach with pressed garlic, fresh lemon juice and olive oil. Sprinkle with a little Parmesan cheese
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Pine nuts are a great addition to cooked spinach
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Stir-frying, braised or sautéing and then served as a side dish or they can be added to pasta and vegetable dishes, like quiche. Don’t overcook spinach, a dry (meaning no water) sauté in a little olive oil for about three to four minutes until it wilts is all it needs to be cooked deliciously!
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Sautéed Spinach: Warm garlic onions and olive oil in pan and sauté until onions are translucent. Add spinach and briefly turn it around in the hot pan until it’s all wilted
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Can be added to stews and soups at the end of the cooking time for texture, color and nutrition. Especially complimentary with beans, pasta, or potatoes, or to a curry dish
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Used on sandwiches in place of lettuce
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Stuff it into a summer squash, tomato or chicken breast
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Make a Spinach dip to be used as an appetizer
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Greek Spanakopita – paired with crumbled feta cheese and wrapped in filo pastry.
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Spinach Pesto: Combine spinach to equal quantities of Basil or Arugula, a couple cloves of garlic, handful of toasted pine nuts, walnuts or pecans, Romano cheese, and a little olive oil. Puree. Use over pasta or as a dip.
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Crustless SpinachPie: Add a couple eggs to flour and spinach, a scrape of fresh nutmeg (or a pinch of dried) and place the tossed ingredients in an oiled casserole dish to cook.
Complimentary Seasonings Fresh lemon juice, vinegar, garlic, dill, parsley, basil, nutmeg, and mushrooms.
Cooking Tips
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Spinach is one of the few vegetables suggested for quick boiling (one minute). This brief process will help to reduce the amount of oxalic acids found in spinach, resulting in a sweeter taste.
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Spinach cooks very quickly, and doesn’t need added water for stir fries or sautés.
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The nutrients are removed when cooked in boiling water. However, when sautéed or steamed, the nutritious juices will be retained. Remember to cook only for a briefly
HEALTH BENEFITS
Dark green leaf vegetables like spinach provide more nutrients than any other food choice. It is rich in potassium, iron, riboflavin, vitamin A, and vitamin C. We all know that spinach provided Popeye with super strength. However, did you notice that he didn’t experience osteoporosis, heart disease, colon cancer, arthritis, and other diseases either? Spinach protected Popeye from lots of illnesses!
Spinach, 1 cup (50g) (raw)
Calories: 6.6
Protein: 0.86g
Carbohydrate: 1.0g
Total Fat: 0.105g
Fibre: 0.810g
*Excellent source of: Vitamin A (2,014 IU)
*Good source of: Vitamin C (8.4mg), and Folate (58mcg)
*Foods that are an “excellent source” of a particular nutrient provide 20% or more of the Recommended Daily Value. Foods that are a “good source” of a particular nutrient provide between 10 and 20% of the Recommended Daily Value.
OF INTEREST
- Ancient Persia (Iran) might be the source of spinach, venturing out to China in the 7th century – possibly being sent by the king of Nepal as a gift. With a far younger European history than many other vegetables, spinach in the 11th century – introduced to Spain by the Moors. In fact, the English used to call spinach “the Spanish vegetable”.
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Spinach was the favourite vegetable of Catherine de Medici, queen of France’s 16th century reigning King Henry II. Being raised in Florence, Italy, she brought her own cooks into the marriage. To this day, dishes prepared on a bed of spinach are coined ‘a la Florentine.’
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There are three different types of spinach generally available:
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Savoy has crisp, grooved curly leaves that have a pliable texture.
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Smooth-leaf has flat, unwrinkled, spade-shaped leaves. Considered semi-savoy due to its springy texture.
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With a sweeter taste, Baby spinach is lovely in salads – mainly due to a reduced intensity of oxalic acid.
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Spinacia oleracea is the scientific name of this leafy vegetable.
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