If you have a vegetable garden, you’re bound to be knee-deep in spinach. The easiest and healthiest plant to grow makes the best creamed spinach ever!

Spinach is a miracle green. It is high in lutein, which protects your eyes from macular degeneration and your brain from Alzheimer’s. This amazing green is also high in iron, however it has to be eaten with a fat and a vitamin C for your body to be able to absorb it.

The way you prepare spinach is important as to how much of these nutrients are actually available to your body. As explained by Dr. Greger, chop the spinach leaves for your salads or before cooking. By the time it gets to your stomach there will be twice the amount of lutein available to your body. If you puree it, three times as much lutein is available for absorption.

Heat is also important in the amount of nutrients your body ends up getting. Steaming, sautéing, and cooking in soups are the best ways to extract the nutrients from the cell membranes that house the lutein. Frying or stir frying at high heat will reduce the levels to almost nothing, so what’s the point?

In short, chop spinach for salads, but make sure there is extra virgin olive oil, red bell pepper, a citrus and maybe a cheese (fat) rounding out the flavors and bioavailability. Make sure it’s chopped for soups, creamed spinach or any cooked recipe. And remember to puree it in smoothies and pestos. I can “see” that you are “smarter” already!

Note: Make sure you clean you spinach really well. Spring is the time of the year those little worms are back in the garden from the butterflies and moths, so make sure you get into those crevasses when washing to get those critters out.

Back to the creamed spinach. Seriously, the best ever! 

Creamed Spinach

Serves 4, easily doubled:

1 1/2 lbs. fresh spinach or 2 – 10 oz. bags, chopped

4 tbs. Extra Virgin Olive Oil (evoo)

1/2 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tbs. grass fed butter, unsalted

1 tbs. flour

1/2 cup whole milk

1/8 tsp. cayenne

1/8 tsp. or a few grinds of fresh nutmeg

1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano

1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Use a large skillet or wok with a lid. Heat 2 tbs. of evoo over medium heat, then add as many chopped spinach leaves as the skillet will hold. Stir, cover with the lid and let the spinach start wilting for a couple of minutes. When you can, stir in the rest of the spinach and let the heat wilt the leaves gently, but not until it’s mushy. We still want some body to the leaves.

Move the spinach to a colander and let the liquid drain off. Wipe out residual liquid from the pan, add 2 more tbs. of evoo, and put it back over medium heat.

Add the onions and 1/4 tsp. of salt, and sauté for 3-5 minutes until translucent. Then add the garlic and cook another 2 minutes.

Add the butter and stir. When the butter starts bubbling, whisk in the flour for about 2 minutes. Pour in the milk, sprinkle in the cayenne and mix well.

Time for the cheeses, the nutmeg, then the spinach and combine. Continue sautéing until the spinach is heated through. Finish the dish with a sprinkle of lemon juice and a little more cheese. Taste for seasoning, and serve.

I use organic everything when possible. Think of it as paying forward. You can pay for organic now or pay for medical bills later.

So there you have it – a new addition to your repertoire and to your health.

Until next time,

Live Agelessly!

Christia