Recipe: Creamy Spinach

We had this last week from the spinach Valerie M. brought me from her garden when she came for a visit last Sunday. It’s my favorite way to eat spinach — I could eat it all day long!

Fresh spinach
butter
prepared horseradish*
cream or half and half
salt
pepper

Wash the spinach leaves and place in a large covered pot. If you’re using prewashed leaves, you’ll need to rinse them so they’ll be moist. Place the pot over a medium flame and heat until simmering; reduce heat and cook just until wilted. Drain the water; press the leaves with the back of a spoon in order to squeeze out any more liquid, and drain that, too. Add the rest of the ingredients and transfer to a heated serving bowl.

Spinach is high in oxalic acid which can irritate the linings of your mouth and stomach and prevents the absorption of calcium, so if you shouldn’t eat it raw often, but cooking neutralizes it. Don’t skimp on the butter and cream, and don’t use vegetable oil-based substitutes. Spinach is high in carotnoids from which your body makes Vitamin A, but it can only do that if you have animal fat along with the carotenoids.

*Note that “prepared horseradish” isn’t the same thing as the creamy horseradish sauce that looks like mayonnaise and goes on a rueben.