Cooking Spinach

Image taken from thedailygreen.com

There are a few quick and easy ways to cook spinach. You can either eat spinach by itself as a side dish or raw in a salad, or use it as an ingredient in one of your recipes!

Blanching: This is a very quick way to cook your spinach without it losing it's nutritional value. Simply boil a pot of water. Drop in your spinach (after having wash it and trimmed off its stems), remove after about 1 minute. This will cook your spinach, but still have a slight crunch to it! (Once you have taken your spinach out of the boiling water, it will continue to cook while it's still hot. Submerge the spinach in a bowl of ice water for a few seconds; this will stop the cooking process) If you would like your spinach softer, either skip the ice water step or boil for a minute or two longer.

Steaming: This is another quick way to slightly cook your spinach, while maintaining it's nutritional value. Steam in your vegetable steamer, about 2 minutes per pound of spinach. Adjust the timing depending on your taste. Another method is to just place the spinach after it has been washed in a pot, cover and cook for a few minutes, turning the leaves occasionally. The water droplets that have been left on the leaves after washing should be enough to steam the spinach. Your spinach is done when the leaves are wilted, but still bright green in color.

Frying: This method is very tasty, but be aware that when prepared this way the spinach loses it's nutritional value. Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan (being sure there is enough oil to deep fry your spinach), fry your spinach leaves in the oil until crispy. This is a great appetizer that can be paired with any kind of dip!

Sautéing::  Heat about 1 teaspoon olive oil in a large skilled. Add desired seasoning and ingredients (like garlic and shallots) and saute for a few minutes. Add the spinach to the pan and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.