Popeye, the famous cartoon character who dates back to the 1930s, got instant superhuman strength to vanquish his mortal enemies at do-or-die moments by downing a can of spinach in one quick gulp. (Some would have considered him superhuman just for being able to eat spinach directly from the can.) Whatever the case, one can only wonder what Popeye would have thought of his magic elixir as it is enjoyed today.
Spinach Trends
A few generations ago, fresh spinach had to be washed multiple times to get all the grit out. Sometimes critters with many legs emerged too, so it was more than tempting to use canned or frozen versions.
Cookbooks from those times tended to list time-honored, but not necessarily inspired, recipes like creamed spinach, spinach ring molds, and spinach soup. While the recipes often recommended using fresh spinach, frozen could easily be substituted. About the only fresh spinach salad ever found was the classic one made with bacon and hard-boiled eggs, which is still popular today.
Julia Child’s first book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, which debuted in 1961, called for the use of fresh spinach in her recipes, which had to be “blanched and refreshed,” but she allowed that frozen spinach was a “great invention” and could be used with some preliminary treatment.(1) While her recipes for gratineéd spinach, spinach quiche, and other spinach creations were wonderful, they did not include anything resembling a raw spinach salad.
Today’s spinach recipes have taken on a whole new persona and fresh spinach is a pleasure to shop for. As Martha Rose Shulman wrote in the February 17, 2009, New York Times article, “Spinach: Nutrition in a Bag, ” it is all about convenience. Spinach is now pre-washed, and the shopper can choose from a few different varieties, as well as the organic and baby versions.
Spinach recipes in the more recent cookbooks reflect the country’s growing sophistication with food, as well as consciousness of good nutrition, and the two trends may or not be in sync in a given recipe. Recipes for fresh spinach salads sans bacon and egg now abound. One example is spinach with tangerines, red onions and a sesame-ginger vinaigrette. Some other contemporary innovations included a pea and spinach soup with a coconut milk base, a spinach and leek gratin with a Roquefort crumb topping, and ravioli with a duck, olive and spinach filling.
Spinach Nutrition
In Popeye’s heyday nobody knew the iron and calcium values in spinach were diminished by the oxalic acid in the leaf that reduced their absorption. But spinach is still a nutritional paragon and research subsequent to the absorption findings showed the problem could be offset by eating it with foods high in Vitamin C, such as tomatoes or citrus fruits.
Based on a 2000 calories per day diet, one cup of raw spinach has a mere 7 calories, but provides 56% of the recommended Vitamin A, 14% of Vitamin C, 5% of the iron, 3% of the fiber, 181% of Vitamin K, and 15% of the folate. A full nutrient breakdown can be found in the USDA National Nutrient Database.
Spinach Salad with Grapes, Toasted Walnuts, and Goat Cheese
Salad ingredients:
- 4 cups baby spinach
- 1/4 cup coarsely chopped toasted walnuts
- 1/2 cup red seedless grapes, sliced in half lengthwise
- 2 chopped scallions (include ~4 inches of the green part)
- 3 tablespoons dried cranberries
- salt
- medium coarse black pepper
- ~4-oz mild goat cheese, crumbled
Dressing ingredients:
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
- sea salt
- medium coarse black pepper
Dressing instructions:
- Whisk olive oil into cider vinegar.
- Add salt and pepper to taste and whisk again to dissolve salt.
Assembly:
- Put all salad ingredients except goat cheese into large bowl.
- Add desired amount of dressing and toss thoroughly.
- Sprinkle goat cheese over entire salad and toss again lightly.
Asian Spinach Salad
Salad ingredients:
- 1 bunch spinach leaves (baby preferred), washed and dried
- 1 bunch watercress, washed and dried
- 1/2 sweet red pepper, sliced thin
- 1/2 large cucumber, peeled and sliced thin
- 4 button mushrooms, sliced 1/8" thick
- 1/2 red onion, sliced 1/8" thick
- handful of chives, minced
- ½ cup cilantro, chopped fine
Dressing ingredients:
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup soy sauce (not low-salt)
- 1/3 cup rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon ginger root, minced
Dressing instructions:
- Put all dressing ingredients in a small bowl except oils. Let sit 5 minutes or longer.
- Whisk in oils gradually with a whisk or hand blender until an emulsion is formed.
Salad assembly:
- Put all salad ingredients in a large bowl and add desired amount of dressing.
- Toss thoroughly. There will be leftover dressing.
References:
(1) Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, and Simone Beck. Mastering the Art of French Cooking. (New York: Alfred A Knopf, 1967), 475-476.
Sources:
Fairchild, Barbara. The Bon Appetit Fast Easy Fresh Cookbook. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons, Inc. 2008.
Killeen, Johanne and George Germon. On Top of Spaghetti. New York: HarperCollins, 2006.
Madison, Deborah. Local Flavors: Cooking and Eating From America’s Farmers’ Markets. New York: Broadway Books, 2002.
Sommerville, Annie. Fields of Greens: New Vegetarian Recipes from the Celebrated Greens Restaurant. New York: Bantam Books, 1993
Rombauer, Irma S, and Marion Rombauer. Joy of Cooking. New York: The Bobbs-Merrill Co, Inc., 1973.
The Settlement Cookbook, 3rd Ed., New York: Simon and Schuster, 1976.
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