Tuesday, April 21, 2015
The Splendor of Spinach
10:24 PM | 
Posted by
Kaplan Center for Health and Wellness
Written By:
Sara Police, PhD
School of Health Sciences
Spinach
is one of my all-time favorite vegetables.
It’s growing in my garden, it’s in my refrigerator, and I’ve already had
a glass full this morning. That’s right –
a glass full! In today’s post, you will learn
the nutritional benefits behind Pop-eye’s favorite and see a few of my all-time
favorite spinach recipes.
Spinach: A Nutritional Powerhouse
Here’s
the nutritional breakdown for one cup of raw spinach:
27
calories
30
milligrams Calcium
167
milligrams Potassium
2813
IU Vitamin A
585
micrograms Folate
Documented
health benefits associated with eating spinach include diabetes management,
cancer prevention, protection of bone health and lowering blood pressure, among
others. Learn more at Medical NewsToday: What are the health benefits of spinach?
Incorporate
more spinach into your diet by substituting spinach for lettuce in salads and
sandwiches, adding spinach to soups and casseroles or throwing a handful into a
smoothie (see an example recipe below).
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Spinach & Banana Smoothie
1
frozen banana
1.5-2
cups fresh spinach
1 cup
light coconut milk (or other preferred milk)
1-2
TBSP sunflower, peanut or almond butter
Directions:
Directions:
Place
ingredients into blender and blend until smooth. Add ice or additional milk/water to adjust consistency. You could even sneak some yogurt or honey in this
recipe for additional health benefits, as discussed in my last post.
Spinach & Strawberry Salad
1 TBSP
sesame seeds
1 TBSP
poppy seeds
½ c.
sugar (or honey)
½ c.
olive oil
¼ cup
white vinegar
¼ tsp Worcestershire
sauce
1 TBSP
minced onion
10
ounces fresh spinach, rinsed, dried, torn into bite-size pieces
1
quart strawberries, cleaned, hulled and sliced
¼ cup
almonds, slivered or chopped
Directions:
In a medium bowl, whisk together the
sesame seeds, poppy seeds, sugar, olive oil, vinegar, paprika, Worcestershire
sauce and onion. Cover, and chill for 1 hr.
In a large bowl, combine the spinach, strawberries and almonds. Pour dressing over salad, and toss. Refrigerate 10 to 15 minutes before serving.
In a large bowl, combine the spinach, strawberries and almonds. Pour dressing over salad, and toss. Refrigerate 10 to 15 minutes before serving.
Simple Spinach Saute
This
recipe is so simple, I don’t even need to list ingredients!
Heat
up 1 TBSP coconut oil in a large saute pan.
Add a top of spinach (more than you think you will eat!). Let the heat wilt/cook the spinach down. Add a touch of salt and pepper. Pull it off the heat just before all the
spinach has wilted (the heat will continue to wilt - it will be perfect by the
time it hits your plate). This is a 5
minute recipe.
Enjoy! (Photo courtesy of G*free*ology.)
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