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“The answer isn’t another pill, the answer is spinach“ Bill Maher
One of the things I love about living here in Leigh on Sea is my local greengrocer. There is nothing quite like wandering around, squeezing and prodding to the faint smell of fresh dirt. There I can always find bags of baby spinach, but I much prefer it in April when I can pick up a bunch of fresh leaves recently pulled from mother earth.
So what to do with it? Well here’s one of my favourite recipes from another lifetime when I lived in Turkey….
Ingredients
1 onion
1kg of spinach leaves thoroughly washed
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 desert spoon of tomato puree
1 teaspoon of pink himalayan salt
1 teaspoon of black pepper
1/2 pint of hot water
1 tablespoon of Greek yoghurt
Method
Add the oil to a frying pan and heat gently
Finely chop the onion and add to the hot oil and let them cook for around 2 minutes until they go translucent
Next add the tomato puree, salt & pepper and stir well to coat the onions in the mixture and cook for another minute
Pour in the hot water and wait until it starts to bubble, then add the spinach and cover with a lid, or an upside down dinner plate
Leave to cook for 30 minutes over a low heat
To Serve
Drain any remaining water and put the spinach in a bowl with the yoghurt on top. This dish goes really well with red meat and white fish. I don’t eat meat myself any longer, but I remember the days….
The Health Benefits
Spinach is full of folate which we need to produce red blood cells and studies have shown that this beautiful green jewel offers protection against cancer, specifically of the colon & breast. It’s also hugely important to pregnant women as it helps prevent conditions like spina bifida.
The Science Bit
Vitamins A. C. B1. B2 & B6. Potassium. Folate and Iron
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