Learning to Love Spinach

Spinach is one of the healthiest foods you can eat. Yet many people avoid it because they think it tastes bad. Unfortunately, as kids many of us were 'forced' to eat the nasty-tasting canned spinach so many American mothers serve. This conditioned many people to never touch the stuff again. However, fresh spinach is actually quite delicious and can be prepared in a variety of ways!

Here's a short article about this super-healthy 'good carb' food...

From The Zone Diet Advantage:

Spinach always tops the charts of the planet's healthiest foods. It's high in fiber, the B vitamins, vitamins C and E, calcium, iron, and magnesium, and the antioxidants, including alpha lipoic acid. That said, the spinach leaf's assertive taste can be off-putting. Here are tips for learning to love—and prepare—one of the Zone's top foods, plus a delicious autumn salad.

• Fresh spinach sold by the bunch is almost always sandy—even downright gritty—and requires multiple rinses to clean. Do yourself a favor and opt for pre-bagged "triple washed" spinach.
• With its delicate, rounded leaves, baby spinach is much easier to prepare than its stalky, oversized counterpart. When creating a salad, spend the extra on baby spinach. If you're throwing the stuff into a food processor (for a soup, say) or chopping it up for a sauté or stir-fry, regular spinach is fine, although you may need to cut off some of the stalks.
• Baby spinach spoils much faster than regular spinach. So open the bag within a day or so of its purchase and try to use up its contents in one meal.
• All spinach holds a lot of moisture and tends to spoil if kept too cold. Keep in a vegetable bin away from the coldest part of the refrigerator. This is especially true of baby spinach.
• Throw chopped spinach leaves into the pan when you're sautéing garlic for a marinara sauce, for example, or preparing a stir-fry. The greens add a pleasant bite and a boost of nutrients—without screaming "spinach" at your family.
• Note: 1 1/4 cups cooked spinach is equal to one carb block.
  

Canadian-Style Spinach Salad

Ingredients:
3 ounces Canadian bacon, diced
5 cups spinach
2 cups canned mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup scallions, sliced (white and green parts)
1 Granny Smith apple, cored and chopped
1 teaspoon olive oil, divided
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Instructions:
In a nonstick sauté pan, heat 1/3 teaspoon oil. Lightly brown the Canadian bacon in the oil. Blend oil, balsamic vinegar, mustard, and salt and pepper. Combine spinach, mushrooms, scallions, apple, and bacon in serving bowl. Add dressing, toss to coat, and serve.

Learn more at The Zone Diet Advantage web site...