Cooking spinach
Remove coarse stalks from spinach. Wash leaves well in several changes of cold water.
Gluten free
No added soya
No added egg
No added milk
Vegetarian
Ingredients:
A few leaves:
To cook just a few leaves of spinach, steam or microwave them for a few minutes. Or chop and add to boiling vegetables in the last minutes of cooking.
Method:
A few handfuls or 1 or 2 cupfuls: Wet-Leaves Method
Put washed spinach into a saucepan with just the water clinging to the leaves. Or add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water. Place over high heat, stirring. Cook until spinach is wilted and soft. Drain and chop, or purée with other cooked vegetables.
A bagful or large bunch: Boiling-Water Method
In a large pot on high heat bring 2 litres of water to a full boil. Add spinach, pushing leaves under the water. Keep heat high, continue to push leaves under the water, and quickly bring back to the boil.
Then boil for 1 minute only.
Immediately tip spinach into a colander or sieve. Run cold water through it to cool rapidly. Press spinach to drain well. Squeeze out excess water. Compact spinach into a ball then chop it.
Add chopped spinach to other vegetables or sauce, or use as directed in recipes.
Spinach, like silverbeet and broccoli, is a nutritious vegetable to include in baby’s meals, though as an iron source it is not nearly as good as red meat: non-haem iron in spinach is not as well absorbed as haem iron in meat.
Spinach is sold in bags, usually weighing about 350 grams. A 340 to 350 gram bag of fresh spinach, when cooked, well drained and chopped, gives about ¾ to 1 cupful.
For baby, either cook a few spinach leaves with other vegetables, or cook a large bunch of spinach, purée then freeze it in tiny portions to add to various meals later.
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