Enjoy this quick and easy recipe that provides you with an excellent source of healthy promoting nutrients such as vitamin A, K, C, as well as manganese and folate.
Prep Time:6 min
Cook Time:4 min
Serves: 6
Ingredients
• 1 Lemon
• 1 1/2 pounds baby spinach leaves
•2 tablespoons good olive oil
•2 tablespoons chopped garlic (6 cloves)
•2 teaspoons kosher salt
•3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
•1 tablespoon unsalted butter
•Sea or kosher salt, optional
•Pinch red pepper flakes
Directions
Rinse the spinach well in cold water to make sure it's very clean. Spin it dry in a salad spinner, leaving just a little water clinging to the leaves.
In a very large pot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil and sauté the garlic over medium heat for about 1 minute, but not until it's browned. Add all the spinach, the salt, and pepper to the pot, toss it with the garlic and oil, cover the pot, and cook it for 2 minutes. Uncover the pot, turn the heat on high, and cook the spinach for another minute, stirring with a wooden spoon, until all the spinach is wilted. Using a slotted spoon, lift the spinach to a serving bowl and top with the butter, a squeeze of lemon, and a sprinkling of sea or kosher salt. Serve hot.
The vitamin K provided by spinach-almost 200% of the Daily Value in one cup of fresh spinach leaves and over 1000% of the Daily Value in one cup of boiled spinach (which contains about 6 times as much spinach)-is important for maintaining bone health. Vitamin K1 helps prevent excessive activation of osteoclasts, the cells that break down bone. Additionally, friendly bacteria in our intestines convert vitamin K1 into vitamin K2, which activates osteocalcin, the major non-collagen protein in bone. Osteocalcin anchors calcium molecules inside of the bone. Spinach is also an excellent source of other bone-building nutrients including calcium and magnesium.
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