Ideas for Spinach?

ckmurph

Hi Everyone,
I'm new here and am working my way towards not cooking separate meals for my son and I every night. My change in diet has had my iron intake pretty low. I intend on adding a bit of red meat back in, but I wanted to explore other options for iron. Anyway, I have a bag of fresh spinach and have no idea what to do with it! My teenage son is very picky and was hoping there was a way I could sneak it in some foods, but I'm not sure what. Any ideas? Thanks!

rduhlir

Fresh Spinach? I usually mix it with salad and eat it raw lol. You can do a quick blanch of it and mix with ricotta and make lasagna or stuffed shells, etc... (ETA) Just make sure you ring it out and stuff...or it will make the pasta liquidy :sick:

As for the iron, you can buy a cast iron pan to cook in and that will help out with the iron levels as well.

mrsamanda86

My kids don't love spinach either, but too bad for them! I put it in EVERYTHING. My sandwiches, pasta(shrimp pasta is a hit in our house, they usually pick around the spinach though), stuffed chicken or steak with spinach and feta cheese. I love me some spinach!

Denjo060

I make home made soup and add it to the soup at the end of the cooking time just until its wilted

estey89

I blend a handful up with some eggs ( dont add water/milk) Then you have 'green eggs & turkey bacon' ( healthier than ham hehe)

Spoonful of salsa. YUM.

Naomi0504

Fruit smoothies, spaghetti/pizza sauce (I put it in the food processor then mix into the sauce), or just as a salad

kkerri

I add it to salads, fritatas, eggs, smoothies - pretty much anything.

MysteriousMerlin

Pesto! Use it instead of basil leaves.

Grind it up and add it to a smoothie, or to spaghetti sauce.

I will often use it to replace lettuce on sandwhiches as well.

keeptehpeace

I love spinach! Maybe make cheese and spinach ravioli? I love it on pizza or in the sauce.

amcsouth

I normally just eat it in salads as I don't like the taste when its cooked. Recently I discovered that spinach tastes really good blended with strawberries, protein, bananas, ground flax seeds and whatever else I feel like(easy way to get extra fruit and veggies in, very fulling too)

tishtash77

skinny taste . com has a few nice recipes using spinach, a feta and spinach crust less pie, stuffed chicken, pasta bakes, meatballs. If it has to be hidden though I would really recommend putting it in a saucy food like spaghetti, chilli, or stews.
My 4 year old would tell you he does not like spinach, however he really likes spinach pizza and will eat the spinach pie when I point out its just like pizza without the bread.

servilia

Whatever you do, make sure to soak it and rinse a couple of times. Spinach is notorious for holding onto sand particles and it's not a nice taste or texture in your mouth if they stick around. I personally love spinach/cheese combos, very delicious!

OsricTheKnight

If you really want to sneak it into foods you might want to look at the sneaky chef recipes.

Osric

[re-reading this I thought some might think I was kidding - I am not - http://www.thesneakychef.com/ is the website]

smaihlee

A simple sautee is my favorite. A little olive oil in the pan, put in the spinach and sautee until wilted, then add some slivered or minced garlic and sautee a little more. Finish with a touch of salt.

Also love it mixed in smoothies, in salads, and mixed into eggs as others have mentioned. My family of 3 usually goes through a 2-lb bag of spinach a week.

Keena7656

Following

AmyMgetsfit

My daughter puts it in lasagna. You can't really tell it is in there. She cooks in with the meat.

MercenaryNoetic26

Love spinach in an egg scrample, pizza, salads or even burgers. Luv spinach. Chop it up and eat a bunch of it at once.

charlottemilton

Italian creamed spinach--wilt 1-2 lbs baby spinach and dry well. In the same skillet without the spinach in it, add a little olive oil, butter, garlic, and pinch of nutmeg. Add a couple tablespoons of cream reduce to about 1/2. Add spinach back and 1/4 cup parmesan cheese. Toss to mix. This is so yummy.

Use spinach in a quiche for an easy dinner or brunch. This is good left over the next day.

Use it in stir-fry.

Make a salad with spinach, slivered almonds, and mandarine oranges.

Use it in ravioli or lasagna.

Eating spinach with an acid based food like tomato or orange increases the available iron. Using a cast iron skillet also increases the amount of iron available to your body.

Contrarian

Spanakopita.

aelphabawest

Mix it with a salad, good for omelets or quiche, I also just fry it up with a tiny bit of butter and salt and eat it as a side dish.

CaffeinatedConfectionist

Saag paneer!