Spinach is packed with nutrients, and is both fat free and has low calorie content. Baby spinach is normal spinach only that it is harvested early, meaning the leaves are smaller and more tender. Both baby and mature spinach have the same nutrient content. Baby spinach is quite handy and can be enjoyed in a variety of ways. To enjoy the benefits of spinach add them to your daily diet using creative baby spinach recipes.
Baby Spinach Nutrition
One cup of baby spinach has 1 gram of filling fiber, 7 calories and no fat at all. Baby spinach is also filled with minerals and vitamins.
Baby spinach is rich in vitamin A, K and folate. It also contains copper, iron, magnesium and potassium. If you take one cup of spinach, you will have more than the daily quota of vitamin K in your body. Vitamin K is important for blood clotting. You will also have 50% of daily need of vitamin A and 15% daily value of folate from a cup’s serving. Vitamin A is useful for vision, immunity and skin and bone health. Folate is essential in women during the childbearing age.
Baby Spinach Recipes
1. Baby Spinach Salad
If you’re wondering what to do with spinach, here’s a great baby spinach recipe.
Serving: 4
Ingredients :
- 6 cups of baby spinach leaves
- 1 can of drained mandarin oranges
- 2 tablespoons of sliced almonds
- 4 tablespoons of sweet bottles Vidalia onion dressing
Directions :
Put the baby spinach in a big bowl together with the oranges and the almonds. Toss the spinach with the bottled dressing.
2. Sautee Garlic Spinach
Serving: 4
Ingredients:
- 1 ½ pounds of baby spinach leaves
- 2 tablespoons of quality olive oil
- 6 cloves of chopped garlic
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- ¾ teaspoon black pepper freshly ground
- Lemon
- Sea salt (optional)
Directions:
Clean the spinach thoroughly and dry using a salad spinner. Leave a few drops of water on the leaves.
Using a large pot, heat the olive oil. Under medium heat, sauté the garlic for a minute once the oil is hot. Make sure that it does not turn brown. Toss in all the ingredients except the lemon. Stir for a minute with a wooden spoon until the leaves are wilted. Use a slotted spoon to serve the spinach in a bowl, squeeze the lemon and sprinkle salt to taste. Serve when hot.
3. Baby Spinach Soup
This is one of the best baby spinach recipes.
Serving: 6
Ingredients:
- 1tablespoon olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 onion diced
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- 4 cups vegetable stock
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cup uncooked orzo pasta
- 2 cups baby spinach
- 15-ounce cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley leaves
- Freshly ground black pepper and kosher salt
Instructions:
Use a large Dutch oven to heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and stir until they are translucent. Add thyme and basil for about 1 minute. Add vegetable stock, 1 c up of water and bay leaves, and let them boil. Stir to orzo. Minimize the heat and let it simmer for 10-12 minutes till the orzo is tender.
Add the cannellini beans and spinach until the leaves are wilted. Let them stay for 2 minutes, then add parsley and lemon juice. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Creamed Baby Spinach
Serving: 4
Ingredients:
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 1/2 pounds baby spinach washed
- 1/2 small onion, finely diced
- Kosher salt
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup milk
- Pinch cayenne pepper
- 1/4 cup grated Parmigiano
Directions:
- Coat a sauté pan with the olive oil and heat over medium heat. Add spinach cover until the leaves are wilted. Remove the spinach from the pan and let it cool and drain.
- Drain all the liquid left in the pan and coat the pan lightly with olive oil. Heat the pan over medium heat, add onions and salt. Cook the onions till they are translucent for 5-7 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add butter and, once melted, stir in the flour.
- Cook for 5-6 minutes until it acquires wet sand texture. Add milk, parmigiano and cayenne pepper. Add salt for seasoning. Let the milk boil reduce the heat and cook for 5-6 minutes. Keep stirring to make sure the milk does not scorch at the bottom.
- Add the cool spinach to the mixture. It’s ready for serving.
5. Baby Spinach Omelet
Serving: 1
Ingredients:
- 2 eggs
- I cup torn baby spinach
- 1 ½ tablespoon grated parmesan cheese
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Salt and pepper for seasoning
Directions:
Put all the ingredients in a bowl after beating the egg.Pour the mixture to an oil coated pan spread it and cook to desired dryness.
6. Steamed Baby Spinach
Another way to enjoy spinach is by simply steaming it. You can use a steamer pan for this, but you can also use a sauce pan. Put an inch of water in it and let it boil. Place the leaves gently on the water. Serve the steamed spinach dazzled with olive oil and sprinkle sesame seeds and salt to taste. This is one of the simplest baby spinach recipes.
7. Baby Spinach Casseroles
Spinach will go well with any casserole dish be it rice, mushroom or chicken. You can add as much as you want but a cup is a good amount for a full casserole dish. Even for those who avoid spinach, it will now be more enticing to eat when added to their dinner plates.
Here is one delicious example of baby spinach casserole:
8. More Dishes You Can Make with Baby Spinach
- Superb for pasta-you can add spinach to your cream or tomato based pasta sauce.
- Healthy smoothie– you can add a leave of baby spinach to your morning smoothie
- Healthy hummus– add steamed spinach to your humus and blend till smooth
- Healthy pizza– add a layer of baby spinach leaves on top of the layer of cheese on your homemade pizza
- Spinach burritos– add a layer of spinach to your tortilla and layer your cheese, beans and all trimmings with spinach leaves
- Nutritious dip– combine steamed chopped spinach with a pack of low fat or fat free Greek yogurt
- Healthy burger– make your burger more bulky by adding spinach to it.