Packed with nutrients, spinach shows its versatility

When it comes to spinach there's little middle ground: folks love it or hate it.

If you've only experienced canned spinach, then you've got a solid justification for detesting it; I hate mushy, slimy canned spinach, too. What was Popeye thinking?

But fresh spinach; that's another story. I love it.

Sure you can always buy bagged spinach, whether big curly leaves or the sweet baby tendrils at the supermarket produce section, but for spinach at its best, head for your local farmers market.

Spinach thrives in spring's cool weather.

Yet as much as I love it, fresh spinach can be a hassle to prepare. It digs its roots into sandy soil and the tiny grit nestles in the leaves' deep folds. It needs a couple of dunks and swirls in fresh cold water before its ready to eat.

Plus, there's those stringy stems on mature spinach leaves to deal with. Long ago I watched Julia Child on TV as she took a leaf in her left hand, stem side up, used her thumb and index finger to fold the leaf downward to get a good grip, and then with her right hand grabbed the stem end and pulled it toward the leaf's tip, quickly removing it and the stringy fibers.

Baby spinach leaves certainly make preparation simpler; no sand-trapping folds and stems so small and young that they lack the tough fibers of larger, older leaves and don't require removal. And, baby spinach leaves need only one, quick cold-water dunk. Easy.

The tastiest way to cook cleaned spinach leaves is in the water still clinging to those leaves. I place a 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat and when it's hot begin adding hands-full of leaves. As soon as the leaves touch the pan's bottom and lower sides they begin wilting; giving-up more water. As soon as the first handful starts to soften, add more, and stir into the already cooking leaves; until all the leaves are in the pan. Quickly cover the pan and turn the heat off.

When ready to serve, drain off as much water as possible by pressing the leaves against the pan's sides. Then spoon the leaves out to a serving bowl. Since fresh spinach leaves have such a terrific flavor I simply drizzle-on some fat-free squeezable margarine and dust lightly with kosher salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Absolutely delicious.

Spinach isn't just good as a vegetable course. It also works its way into all sorts of other parts of a meal: a handful can be added to soup a minute before serving; used in a mixture to stuff pasta shells; folded into scrambled eggs; added to a dip or mixed in with other salad greens.

Versatile, colorful and nutrient packed. Spinach is thought, erroneously (an early tester misplaced a decimal point), to be very high in iron. Yes, it's slightly higher in iron content than other vegetables, but not by much. It's high in calcium, but due to spinach's high oxalic acid content, little of that calcium can be absorbed. Spinach is a rich source of vitamin A, C, E, K, magnesium, and several vital antioxidants. And, also contains folic acid as well as a healthy dose of fiber (2.2 grams per half cup, cooked).

If you like spinach as much as I do, here's one more way to enjoy it.

Steakhouse Spinach

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through a garlic press

2 pounds spinach leaves, stems removed, washed an spun dry in a salad spinner until very dry

Salt

Fresh ground black pepper

Balsamic vinegar

Place a 4- to 5-quart nonstick saucepan over medium-high heat and add oil. When oil is hot, add garlic and sauté for 1 minute, or until fragrant.

Add one-fourth of the spinach leaves to the saucepan, tossing with tongs. As the spinach wilts, add more spinach, tossing with the tongs, until it has all been added. Cook tossing, until the spinach is completely wilted but still bright green, about 2 minutes.

Remove from the heat and, using tongs, squeezing out some of the moisture while as you serve. Season to taste with salt, pepper and balsamic vinegar. Serve immediately.

Serves four.

Nutrition values per serving (without added salt): 79 calories, 4.1 g fat (0.5 g saturated fat), 8.6 g carbohydrate, 5 g fiber, 8.3 g protein, 0 cholesterol, 180 mg sodium.