#red leafy recipes

[deshifoodchanneldfc]

আজ আমার কুড়ে ঘরে ক্ষেতের টাটকা লাল শাক তুলে শুটকি ভর্তা সাথে ডাল আলু ভাজ...

[ultimate-healing-blog]

Chef Bob's Zesty Lemony Chicken Salad Recipe

Chef Bob's Zesty Lemony Chicken Salad Recipe - #lemonchickensalad #chickensalad #chickenwings #garchabros #takeaway #salad #canada #chickentikka #cookedfood #malaichicken #meatshops #healthysalad #diabeticsalad #grilledchicken #diabetes #leafygreens #yum

Welcome to a delightful culinary experience with Chef Bob’s Lemony Chicken Salad! This refreshing dish combines the zesty flavors of lemon with tender chicken, crisp vegetables, and a tangy dressing. Perfect for a light lunch or a picnic treat, this salad is not only delicious but also packed with nutritious ingredients. Let’s dive into the details! Ingredients For the Salad: 2 cups cooked…

[mortiskiller]

How I Manage Food Costs as a Feedist

Preface: I often see people in this community post about struggling with food insecurity and managing food costs. These are just some tips that have helped me when I was down to the last few dollars and needed to eat for a few weeks. I understand circumstances are different for everyone, and some people struggle even with this level of food security, I have been there. My intention is to help.

With food prices still high—often due to profit gouging—I’ve found ways to manage my food budget, and the secret is simple: **eat at home!** Growing up in extreme poverty with two working parents, eating at home was pretty much our only option, aside from takeout once every few months. My parents taught me the value of home cooking, and while it takes time to develop essential skills, Making sauces, learning how to prep and clean ingredients, cooking veggies, preparing meats, etc., once you have them, there’s a whole world of recipes within reach.

Here’s how I manage food costs, and how you can too:

1. Weekly/Monthly Shopping Essentials

Start with the basics—items you’ll need to shop for regularly to cover your meals for a week or two. Building a pantry depends on the storage space you have, but here are some key ingredients to keep on hand:

- Milk (1 to 2 gallons, depending on your choice—I go with 1%)

- Eggs (18 count)

- Bread (1 loaf) (I also recommend tortillas as they last longer than bread and can be used for nearly any bread needs)

- Rolls or Croissants (If you shop at a bulk store, you can get a dozen for $6.)

- Fruits: Change with the season, but apples, oranges, and grapes are solid year-round choices. In the summer, throw in some berries and stone fruit.

- Veggies for Prep: Stick to simple, versatile veggies like green bell peppers, zucchini, onions, potatoes, and chilies.

- Butter: Unsalted sweet cream butter is my favorite! Go for sticks instead of tubs for a better per-unit cost.

- Leafy Greens: A bag of spinach or romaine hearts

- Cheese: Shredded cheese works best and if you want to save more, buy a block and slice or shred it yourself.

These staples give you a variety of flavors, textures, and nutrition to build meals around, whether you’re whipping up sides, salads, or more complex dishes.

2. Protein, Protein, Protein!

Protein is an essential part of a healthy diet, but you don’t need to overdo it or overspend. I’ve found that chicken and tofu are some of the most affordable and versatile protein sources available (unless you’re hunting your own!). Both freeze well and can be used in a variety of recipes with different seasonings and marinades.

You can also look at beef, but stick to lean beef and fish as you do not want to pay for fat that will not end up in your food.

3. Shelf-Stable Items to Buy in Bulk

Buying in bulk can be a game changer, especially if you stock up on shelf-stable items. If you’re short on storage space, invest in an airtight tote to keep things organized. Start with common essentials like:

- Flour (Good ole AP with cover you most of the time)

- Sugar

- Baking Powder

- Baking Soda

- Brown Sugar

- Cooking Oil (I go for olive oil and canola oil)

These staples are the foundation of countless recipes and, when stored properly, can last for months or even a year.

4. Season Early, Season Often

Spices are what make food magical! You don’t need fancy brands—stick with basics that offer single-ingredient profiles. My go-to spices are:

- Salt

- Pepper

- Garlic Powder

- Onion Powder

- Thyme

- Oregano

- Paprika

- Cumin

- Cinnamon

- Chili Powder

- Vanilla Extract

- Bouillon Cubes

- Red Pepper Flakes

These spices will give you all the flavor you need to create a variety of meals without breaking the bank.

5. Canned Goods: The Unsung Hero

Canned goods are a staple in my kitchen. They offer consistent quality, low prices, and a long shelf life. Plus, they’re great for backup when fresh ingredients are low. Some key canned items to keep on hand are:

- Pinto Beans

- Crushed Tomatoes

- Tomato Paste

- Tomato Sauce

- Boiled White Potatoes

- Herring or Sardines

- Tuna

- Fruit Cocktail

- Peaches

- Pears

- Broth or Stock

These ingredients can help you create filling and versatile meals on a budget.

6. Where You Shop Matters

The store you shop at can make a huge difference in food prices. Here’s how to stretch your budget even further:

Bulk Stores: Invest in a membership at places like Sam’s Club, Costco, or BJ’s. The $100 yearly fee is usually paid for in savings after just a few trips. Protein, especially beef and fish, is almost always cheaper in bulk stores.

Walmart and Aldi: These stores are great for extras like frozen veggies, fresh produce, dairy items, and baked goods. Their prices are hard to beat!

Hope this helps and feel free to reblog or comment with your own tips and tricks!

Stick to Your List: One of the easiest ways to overspend and waste food is by shopping without a plan. Make a list, and stick to it. This will help keep your budget in check and prevent unnecessary purchases.

By following these steps, you can keep your food costs down while still eating healthy and delicious meals. The key is planning ahead, shopping smart, and keeping a well-stocked pantry!

[ms-demeanor]

If I may please ask a question on your soup stock recipe: could you use /any/ vegetable bits or am I better sticking to ones that you listed? Specifically the other veggie types I'd most likely end up with scraps of are stems of leafy greens, (sweet) potatoes, and bell peppers. I could especially see potential issues with the first two of those, so I thought I would check what your experience/cooking knowledge thought.

the sweet potatoes and bell peppers are going to have a pretty strong influence on the flavor of your stock, but hey you may as well try it and see if it tastes good to you.

I made some stock a while back that ended up being very funny because I had a bunch of red cabbage scraps in the freezer bag so the stock came out noticeably blue/purple, but it tasted really good.

I don't put bell peppers in my stock because large bastard hates them; i just made a big pot of stock that had a LOT more mushrooms than my normal stock and has a noticeably mushroomy flavor, which will limit the things that would be suitable to cook with that batch. It all depends!

[najia-cooks]

[ID: A plate of leafy greens topped with two blue chicory flowers; second photo is a close-up on a flower. End ID]

هندبة بالزيت / Hinda b al-zayt (Palestinian wild greens with olive oil)

“هندبة” (“hindba”), “هِنْدِبَاء” (“hindibāʔ”), or هِنْدَب (“hindab”) is an Arabic word referring to chicory, wild endive, or dandelion greens.

Two Palestinian dishes are commonly made using hindba. One isهندبة بزيت (hinda b zayt), hindba with [olive] oil, which combines blanched greens with browned onion, lemon juice, and (of course) olive oil. Lebanese hindba is similar, consisting of greens prepared in the same way, but topped with sliced, caramelised onions. The other preparation of hindba is with a dressing made with tahina (tahini), lemon juice, chili, and sometimes garlic or yoghurt.

This recipe is for hindba with onion and olive oil. The dish is simple to make but has a lot going on, flavor-wise. Slow frying renders the onions tender, sweet, and jammy, balancing out the slight bitterness of the greens. The rich, peppery, fruity taste of good olive oil rounds out the earthiness of chicory, while lemon juice provides brightness and lift.

Several food aid organizations have been forced to discontinue operations in Gaza. Some of those still on the ground are:

Palestinian Red Crescent Society

World Central Kitchen

Anera

Ingredients:

2 bunches (130g) chicory or dandelion leaves

1 large yellow onion, chopped

Juice of 1 lemon

Olive oil

Salt, to taste

Instructions:

1. Boil chicory in salted water for 5-7 minutes, until tender, then drain. If using dandelion greens, boil for 10 minutes. (The boiling water is potable, but probably too bitter to be palatable.)

2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet on medium-low. Add onion and a pinch of salt and fry until softened and golden brown, 10-15 minutes.

3. Squeeze the water out of the greens and chop into about 1/2" (1cm) pieces. Add to the pan and fry until wilted.

4. Taste and adjust salt. Add lemon juice to taste.

Serve hot or cold, topped with good olive oil. Eat hindba by scooping it up with khubbiz al-kmaj (pita).

Identifying chicory:

Common chicory (Cichorium intybus) is also in the Astaraceae family. Stems are grooved and slightly hairy; woody and branched; multiple flowers usually grow along one stalk. Leaves are smooth or irregularly toothed, pointed at the tip, and may have different appearances at different parts of the plant. The leaf midribs are green or reddish. The leaves you want are the larger ones growing in a bunch towards the base of the stem.

This plant has some leaves with larger teeth.

Smaller, lanceolate leaves grow in alternate sides along the stem.

Flowers are light blue to lavender and finely toothed; there are two rows of darker bracts in the center of each flower.

In the fall, the leaves often remain while the flowers and stalks have died, leaving a brown, branching, skeletal structure behind.

Identifying dandelion:

See hinda b al-tahina.

[beautyandlifestyleblog86]

Thai-inspired Green Curry Chicken with Vegetables

Ingredients:

* 1 tablespoon coconut oil

* 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces

* 1 green bell pepper, sliced

* 1 red bell pepper, sliced

* 1 cup broccoli florets

* 1 (13.5-ounce) can coconut milk

* 1-2 tablespoons green curry paste (depending on desired spice level)

* 1 tablespoon fish sauce

* 1 tablespoon soy sauce

* 1 cup chopped baby spinach

* Lime wedges (for serving)

* Cooked brown rice (for serving)

Instructions:

* Heat coconut oil in a large skillet or pot over medium heat. Add chicken and cook until browned on all sides.

* Add bell peppers and broccoli to the pan and cook for 5 minutes, or until slightly softened.

* Stir in coconut milk, green curry paste, fish sauce, and soy sauce. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

* Stir in spinach and cook for 1 minute, or until wilted.

* Serve over cooked brown rice with lime wedges for squeezing over the top.

This recipe is rich in:

* Iron from the chicken and dark leafy greens (spinach) for healthy blood flow.

* Calcium from the coconut milk for bone health.

* Folic acid from the dark leafy greens which can be beneficial before conception.

Enjoy this flavorful and healthy Thai-inspired dish!

[mariacallous]

While Rosh Hashanah is generally known for its sweet foods like apples and pomegranates, there’s an ancient, slightly less-sweet, Sephardic tradition of eating foods for what they represent rather than what they taste like. Dark and leafy beet greens, plucked from their sweet, earthy roots are one of those foods.

It all stems from the fact that beet greens were once the favored part of the crop. Gil Marks wrote in “The Encyclopedia of Jewish Food” that early Mediterranean farmers cultivated beet greens and not their roots, which were stringy and small — and not desired until much later. It wasn’t until the mid 1500s that the modern juicy red beet root was cultivated, in Germany or Italy. 

On Rosh Hashanah, beet greens or chard (“silka” in Aramaic) became a symbol for the new year, along with squash, fenugreek, leeks and dates, each with their own symbolic meaning. 

These foods are served and reflected upon with special blessings full of word play and puns during the the Sephardic Rosh Hashanah seder. Beet greens (“selek” in Hebrew and “silka” in Aramaic), for example, embody the hope that all enemies will be removed in the new year. Both “selek” and “silka” resemble ways of saying “removal” in Hebrew and Aramaic.

Over time, beet roots were favored over their leafy tops, but today, resourceful cooks are using the whole plant. If it’s there, why not put it to use? You’ll reduce your food waste and boost your meal with added vitamins and minerals while you’re at it.

You can find beets and their greens at farmers markets or in well-stocked produce sections. You’ll have to remove the greens from the beets yourself, and it’s best to do this as soon as you can — that way, the beets stay firm and the leaves stay fresh. I often remove the leaves and place them in a separate bag right after I purchase them at the farmers market, so that they don’t get damaged on the way home.

Cooking the greens is the easy part — just use them in place of spinach or Swiss chard. And don’t worry, you can cook the stems too — my favorite thing to do is add them to vegetable stock or saute them with the leaves. 

Here are five recipes that might inspire you to bring the beet greens into your Rosh Hashanah tradition:

Iraqi False Mahshi: Layered Swiss Chard, Beets, Rice and Beef  from The New York Times

Fried Beet Greens Meatlessballs from Food 52

Greek Beet and Beet Greens Pie from The New York Times

Sauteed Beet Greens with Garlic and Walnuts from Edible Berkshires

Salad of Beet Greens and Walnuts from the Los Angeles Times

[transactinides]

i'm super bad at cooking and never know where to start because every recipe out there asks for ingredients i simply don't have at home so do you perhaps know what basic ones would be good to stock up on? like eggs and stuff...especially when it comes to spices i have no idea what is okay to use

Haii o/ very honored that you sent me an ask, and ofc I’ll do my best to help! This reply got a bit out of hand so. Long text under the cut. Behold. Feel free to reach out in asks or dms or whatever with any future questions (@ everyone tbh).

Food is, of course, very subjective, so my idea of a perfect list of foods to keep a stock of will not be universal, but I hope this will, at least, give you some ideas if anything. 

First of all, I usually mentally break down my typical weekday recipe into vaguely carbs source - protein source - veggies, buy a couple of options for each category and just switch them around for variety. My standard set is

rice / pasta (usually spaghetti re:shapes) / glass noodles

eggs / chicken / tofu / bacon

random pack of frozen vegetables, bell peppers, eggplants, tomatoes, cucumbers, leafy greens. garlic and onions too

I have an option of making egg fried rice with chopped up bacon and added frozen vegetables one day, then blending the leftover vegetables with bell peppers and tomatoes to use as pasta sauce with chicken and spaghetti the next day, then branching out and making eggplant tofu stir fry with glass noodles, then using whatever eggplant tofu stir fry i had left as rice balls filling and making myself a quick vegetable salad on the side… And all those things are easy to make and don’t need much fussing around. 

Other options to consider would be potatoes (you can roast them with whatever, boil, fry, etc), buckwheat (my wife doesn’t like it otherwise I’d use it more often), kidney beans and chickpeas for your carbs*; fish and meat for your proteins (those are. a bit too expensive for me usually); carrots, cabbage, leeks etc. 

The list looks long, but, again, you just need to pick out a couple of things from each group and throw shit in a pan so to speak. And a lot of them are easily soup-able (boiling water chicken potatoes carrots rice? boom soup. etc), which is another easy base recipe to exploit.

Now to the matter of spices. Salt and pepper are obvious enough, but a good thing to look for are, especially if you are just getting into cooking, spice blends. Something something French Herbs™ something something Taco Seasoning™ something something Seven Spice™ something something Garam Masala™. There’s a lot of different ones, but they are, essentially, a formed flavor profile in themselves, so you don’t need to worry about mixing spices and herbs that might not go well together, and by paying attention to contents you can learn for yourself what individual seasonings are commonly used together.

Also, everyone, hold your judgement real quick and trust me with this, but ooh I always save leftover flavor packets from instant ramen and reuse them in other dishes. Egg fried rice just doesn’t taste right without suspicious red powder courtesy of shin ramen… It’s probably MSG my beloved or something…

While I’m at it, bouillon cubes are handy to have, you can use them for soups, crumble them up in other recipes. Adding one to the water you’re cooking rice in is a great hack at making it more flavourful.

In general, while I do actually have way too much spices (and keep buying more… very excited about my newly acquired dried tarragon…), the ones I’d advise to have for an average person would be:

Salt (ideally both coarse grain and fine grain, but fine grain only serves you just right)

black pepper (both in a mill/grinder and peppercorns), red pepper flakes

paprika, garlic powder, ginger powder

bay leaves, dried oregano, basil, thyme, dill, cinnamon, coriander, cardamon, cumin, turmeric, sumak....

I really got a bit carried away by the end, but. You don't actually need to buy all of them and at the same time, just start with whatever couple of things you'd need for whatever you are cooking and let your collection build up over time, since spices aren't something you need to buy often anyway 👍

Other things I think it’s nice to have in stock in your kitchen would be flour and baking powder, vinegar (distilled vinegar, rice vinegar… I like to have balsamic vinegar too but it’s so expensive it’s ridiculous ngl), soy sauce, cooking oil of your choice (I use sunflower oil, olive oil and sesame oil), panko or breadcrumbs, starch (i have potato starch, cornstarch and tapioka starch, I would suggest just getting cornstarch at first).

* going to clarify here that while beans are often brought up as a source of protein, most are rich in complex carbs, excluding edamame and green beans for example. And since I mostly often cook beans with meat, they check out my daily carbs in my head.

[roseeycreates-blog]

I made pesto pasta today since my mom requested it, and I also tried that trending cucumber salad from TikTok with sesame oil, honey and chili.

Then I got an idea for the Farmer AU: Farmer Lin is an amazing cook, and her farmers and neighbors are always sharing recipes with her. This time, she got a cucumber salad recipe from a restaurant owner who buys crops from her.

That night, Lin cooked up some pesto pasta and that cucumber salad. After tasting everything, she was happy with how it turned out. When Tenzin got home from the Air Temple (where he’d been teaching young acolytes about the Air Nation), Lin greeted him and told him dinner was ready. Tenzin quickly washed up, eager to see what his wife had made.

He asked about the dishes, and Lin told him about the cucumber salad. Curious, he tried it first and said, "Hmm, it's good—sweet and spicy. I like it." Lin couldn’t help but smile at his reaction.

Tenzin took another bite and said, “You know, this salad is kind of like us. You’re the cucumber, and I’m the sauce. We’re perfect together.”

Lin raised an eyebrow and replied, “So, you’re saying this delicious sauce is you, and I’m the bland vegetable?”

Tenzin quickly tried to backpedal, “That’s not what I meant! Cucumbers are good, and besides, cucumbers are green while the sauce is a mix of yellow and red. See? That’s our color.”

Lin looked at him skeptically. “Right…”

Tenzin continued, “and the sauce is sweet and spicy, just like us.”

Lin chuckled, “Oh, you’re not done yet, huh? Well, I can’t deny that you’ve added some sweetness to my life.”

“And you add spice to mine,” Tenzin whispered with a smirk, making Lin laugh.

“Well, if we’re comparing us to food, this pasta is like us too. I’m the leafy veggies, and you’re the walnuts.”

Tenzin looked at Lin, puzzled, before chuckling and playfully nudging her. “Oh, really? Why is that?”

“Because, like the veggies, I’m good for you and—”

“And?” Tenzin asked, leaning in.

“And walnuts because you’re nuts… my nutty man,” Lin added, trying not to laugh.

Tenzin grinned, shaking his head. “I guess I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Year 1 of Marriage.

[madamlaydebug]

{Things you can eat when cleansing}....

•List of Vegetables (Leafy Greens):

Bok Choy

Cabbage

Celery

Chard

Collards

Dandelion Greens

Kale

Lettuce (romaine, red leaf, green leaf, butter, etc.)

SpinachVegetables (Root Veggies):

Beets

Carrots

Daikon

Fennel

Jicama

Onions

Parsnips

Radish

Turnip

•Vegetables (Starchy):

Squash

Sweet Potato (don’t cook it!)

Zucchini

•Vegetables (Misc.):

Asparagus

Broccoli

Cauliflower

Okra

Peppers (bell peppers and hot peppers)

Radicchio

•List of Fruits (Sweet Category):

Banana

Date (unsulfured and free of preservatives)

Fig

Grapes

Jackfruit

Jujube

Papaya

Persimmon

SapoteFruits (Sub-Acid Category):

Acai Berry

Apple

Blackberry

Blueberry

Cherimoya

Cherry

Loquat

Lychee

Mango

Nectarine

Peach

Pear

Plum

Raspberries

•Fruits (Acidic):

Cherry Tomato

Cranberry

Guava

Grapefruit

Kiwi

Kumquat

Lemon

Lime

Orange

Pineapple

Pomegranate

Strawberry

Tangerine

Tomato

•Fruits (Melon):

Cantaloupe

Honeydew

Watermelon

•Fruits (Non-Sweet):

Bell Peppers

Cucumber

•Fruits (High Fat):

Avocado

Durian

•List of Raw Nuts:

Almond

Beech

Black Walnut

Brazil Nut

Butternut

Cashew

Chestnut

Chufa Nut

Filbert

Gingko Nut

Hazelnut

Kola Nut

Pecan

Pine Nut

Pistachio Nut

Tiger Nut

Walnut

•List of Raw Seeds:

Chia Seeds

Flaxseeds

Hemp Seeds

Poppy Seeds

Pumpkin Seeds

Sesame Seeds

Safflower Seeds

Sunflower Seeds

This list does not contain every fruit, vegetable, nut, and seed that exists in the world, but it does contain most of them. This shows you how many different things you can eat on the cleanse, and you can make so many different recipes with all of them!

¤Sources:

http://www.nourishinteractive.com/healthy-living/free-nutrition-articles/121-list-seeds-nuts

http://www.raw-foods-diet-center.com/list-of-vegetables.html

http://www.raw-foods-diet-center.com/list-of-fruits.html

[aurorassnowpaw]

A little late but I wanted to dial it in.

Luigi’s Pizza Beans

1 lb dry great northern beans (or the white bean of your choice—navy, cannellini, butter, whatever)

32 oz unsalted chicken stock

1 28-oz can crushed tomato (you won’t use all of it)

1/4 cup tomato paste

8 oz hot Italian sausage, removed from casing

4-6 oz guanciale cut into lardons (or pancetta)

1 cup diced onion

1/2 cup diced celery

1/2 cup diced carrot

1 packed cup torn kale leaves, washed and divided (substitute the dark leafy green of your choice or just leave it out, I’m not your mom)

4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

1 tsp dried oregano

2 bay leaves

1/2 tsp red pepper flake

Hunk of Parmesan rind (it will not explode if you have to leave this out)

1 cup shredded low-moisture mozzarella

Handful of peccorino romano, ground or grated

1 to 1.5 tsp kosher salt (adjust for taste—taste the liquid right before the beans go in, aiming for pasta water saltiness)

2 good dashes of Worcestershire sauce

Olive oil, if necessary

Rinse the beans under cold running water and remove any stones, sticks, frogs, or other uninvited animals. Soak the beans overnight in the stock, refrigerating.

Set the oven to 250°F

Drain the beans, reserving the stock. Add enough crushed tomatoes to the stock to bring the total liquid to 4 cups.

Place the guanciale or pancetta in a cold cast iron Dutch oven. Set the Dutch oven over medium-low heat, allowing the fat to render slowly. Remove when crispy and set aside, leaving the fat in the pan.

Brown the hot Italian sausage in the guanciale fat, breaking it into small crumbles. Set aside with the guanciale when cooked through, still leaving the fat in the Dutch oven.

Add the onions, celery, carrots, and salt, and sweat until translucent, 6-8 minutes, adding olive oil if necessary.

Add the garlic and tomato paste and continue to sweat until fragrant, up to about an additional minute.

Add the meats back to the Dutch oven, along with the beans, stock/crushed tomatoes, half of the kale, oregano, Parmesan rind, and Worcestershire. Bring to a boil, then cover and place into the oven for 6 hours. (This is a bastardized baked beans recipe—I never said it was fast. The acid makes the beans cook slower.)

After 6 hours, check the beans for doneness. Once the desired doneness is almost achieved, remove the bay leaves and Parmesan rind, stir in the remaining kale, and then scatter the mozzarella and pecorino Romano over the top and turn the oven up to 350. Once it reaches 350, let the cheese melt for 20 minutes.

Once the cheese is melty, turn on the broiler and broil for a few minutes to get some browning. Don’t walk away—it goes from brown to burnt in like 12 seconds.

Remove from oven and serve once you can get the people in your house to all sit down at the same time. Optionally serve with garlic toast.

Refrigerate leftovers—they’re better the next day.

(The next morning, reheat over medium-low in a nonstick skillet, loosening with a bit of water if needed. When gently bubbling, use the back of a spoon to create divots into each of which, crack one egg. Salt the eggs lightly, then cover and simmer for 6-8 minutes depending on egg doneness preference. Slide off onto a plate or scoop the eggs and beans out. Voila, pizza bean shakshouka, which itself is most of the reason I’m continuing to make this.)

[rabbitcruiser]

National Spinach Day

This leafy green is packed with nutrients to boost your health and energy. Add it to your meals for a tasty and nutritious boost!

It’s not just Popeye who will be strong to the finish on National Spinach Day. In fact, anyone who chooses to celebrate the day by consuming some of this leafy green plant will get to join in on the health benefits as well!

Packed with nutrients such as Iron, Vitamin A and Calcium, spinach is known for being a healthy part of a balanced diet – but do we eat enough of it?

Well, that’s what National Spinach Day is all about!

History of National Spinach Day

Originally from Persia (the area that is now Iran), spinach made its way to China in the 7th century, where the people referred to it as the “Herb of Persia” or the “Persian Green”. The vegetable eventually ended up in Europe a few hundred years later, when it landed in Spain. In fact, for some time the English referred to spinach as “The Spanish Vegetable”. It didn’t make its way to being cultivated in North American until sometime in the early 1800s.

Possibly the most famous person in history to be associated with spinach is 16th-century noblewoman, Catherine de’ Medici, who ruled France from behind her three sons for many years. Originally from Florence, Italy, she moved to France when she married King Henry II. It is said that Catherine loved spinach and made sure her cooks served it at every meal. Because of this, even today, meals that are made with spinach are often known as “Florentine” in honor of the birthplace of Catherine de’ Medici.

This dark, leafy green vegetable that grows in groups that form a rosette-type shape is part of the “goosefoot” family, with its close relatives being Swiss chard and quinoa, as well as beets. Spinach has a few different varieties that offer different shapes and sizes of leaves.

Taking some time to celebrate National Spinach Day acts as a little nod to this tasty, healthy vegetable.

How to Celebrate National Spinach Day

While it might seem a little far-fetched to spend the day celebrating the wonders of spinach, it’s possible–and can even be a load of fun! People who want to celebrate National Spinach Day can employ a variety of ideas for ways to the day, it just takes a bit of creativity.

Consider giving these ideas a try or come up with other ideas of your own:

Try Creative Ways to Serve Spinach

Why not try a new recipe on National Spinach Day? Sauté it in olive oil and a little bit of garlic – or what about a baby spinach salad with mozzarella cheese, avocado slices, and crispy bacon crumbled on top? Delicious!

Other tasty ideas for meals that include spinach are:

Bacon, spinach, and gorgonzola pasta

Spinach, artichoke, zucchini dip (with pita bread or baguette)

Spinach spanakopita (a traditional Greek pastry dish)

Creamy spinach soup

Spinach lasagna (a vegetarian take on the traditional Italian dish)

Spinach pesto on flatbread pizza

Spinach quiche (also called Quiche Florentine)

Mushroom and spinach risotto

Some people like to purée spinach up and hide it in soups and pizza sauces for the finicky eaters in the family who may not prefer to eat it straight up.

So, no excuses – get your leafy greens down on National Spinach Day!

Learn About the Health Benefits of Spinach

Just like many vegetables, the healthiest way to serve and eat spinach is fresh and raw. However, even when it is cooked, it still remains one of the healthier vegetables. These are just some of the many nutritional benefits:

Fiber aids the digestive system

Vitamin A (carotene), for healthy organs and eyes

Iron helps with red blood cells and tissue health

Vitamin C, antioxidants, and a booster for the immune system

Folic Acid, useful in cell function and tissue growth

Calcium, essential for bone health

Antioxidants, help remove free radicals that cause oxidative damage

While spinach also has a small amount of natural sugars and carbohydrates, these are small in comparison to the myriad of other health benefits provided by this tasty veggie.

Try Growing Spinach in the Garden

Getting enough leafy greens in the diet is much easier for people who can grow their own! And, actually, spinach is not a particularly difficult one to grow. It’s an annual plant, meaning that it needs to be re-planted from seed each year, but it’s hardy and enjoys weather that is somewhat cool (but not cold).

National Spinach Day might be a bit too soon in the year to start a garden outdoors in many parts of the world. If this is the case, it’s simple to begin an indoor planting of spinach from seed and then move it outside when the weather permits. Spinach likes cool weather. So, as long as there is no risk of frost, the spinach plants should do fine outside in the spring.

As soon as the leaves are large enough to eat, the spinach is ready for harvest. It is healthiest when eaten as quickly as possible after harvesting. However, it can be stored, loosely packed, in a sealed plastic bag for several days. Don’t wash it ahead of time as it could get mushy. Simply wash it just prior to eating or cooking with it. It can also be frozen while it is still fresh.

Since it only takes about 6 weeks from the sowing of seeds to harvest time, it has a quick turnaround time. This means that it’s a great vegetable to grow in the spring as well as in the cooler autumn months so that there’s enough for the family to eat all throughout the growing season.

Take in Some ‘Popeye, the Sailor Man’

Some younger folks might not be familiar with the connection between Popeye and spinach. But those of a certain generation will possibly remember not only the Saturday morning cartoon but also the little jingle song that went along with it!

Going further back, even before it was an animated cartoon, more mature folks might remember that Popeye started out as a comic strip in the newspapers in the late 1920s. Eventually, decades later, a live-action film tribute was created in 1980, starring Robin Williams.

The theme of the character, Popeye, was that he was a rather average little sailor guy, with eerily large, tattooed forearms who smoked a pipe. And when he ate his spinach? Well, he would immediately gain superhuman strength and be able to punch the lights out of his arch-nemesis, Bluto, in order to help one of his friends who were in need. (Popeye and Bluto were constantly fighting over the affections of the tall, extremely skinny Olive Oyl.)

As it turns out, pop culture actually can have a positive influence on the world, proven by Popeye. After the character started eating spinach, children began asking for it and sales in the United States skyrocketed by one-third. That was quite a boost for the spinach industry–and the health of those children!

Source

[acti-veg]

Hello, I would like genuine advice because my situation is often seen as taboo by some vegans but I would still like to try my best in the position I'm in.

I have been a vegetarian for 3 years now and was planning to go vegan gradually, I often learned vegan recipes, went to vegan cafes and restaurants, participated in veganuary, followed vegan activists...etc

The problem is even while still eating eggs and dairy (as well as lots of red beans, chickpeas, lentils, tofu, leafy greens + vitamin C to help absorption) my iron levels keep plummeting. I have been trying to take iron supplements for a year now but never managed to stop being anemic. I also have to say my period is quite heavy which doesn't help much.

I'm now feeling so tired I'm considering going pescetarian for a while to see if I manage to get my iron levels back up this year. I feel very disappointed because I had planned to consume less animal products, not more but alas it looks like my body can't follow.

I would like to know if you have any advice to lower animal suffering both in my diet and in my day to day life while being pescetarian for health-related reasons ?

The trouble with fish is that it really isn’t very high in iron compared with the plant sources you’re eating now. Tuna is the one people often cite for iron, but even that is only about 1.6 grams per 100 grams, compared to say tofu which you’re already eating, which is 5.4 grams per 100 grams. The iron in fish is heme iron which may be easier to absorb, but with much less of it available it’s unlikely to raise your iron levels at the rate you need.

I think that your focus should really be on your health above everything else right now. Have you been to a nutritionist at this stage? That would be my immediate recommendation, infusing iron is an option for people with long-term anaemia and would get your iron up far quicker than eating fish would, and lower the risk of any health complications. You need to know if there is some sort of underlying absorption issue before you can know what you need to eat to deal with it.

Focus on getting yourself healthy again, don’t make any further dietary changes until you’ve seen a doctor and talked through options with a nutritionist. Only once you’ve got a handle on things and understand what is going on should you start thinking about any further dietary changes to shift towards veganism, and in the meantime you can still be vegan in every other aspect of your life.

[butts-bouncing-on-the-beltway]

I'm feeling exhausted and fragile today so I'm going to make a vegan wild rice soup with some flaxseed crackers, and since I feel the need to yell into the void, yall are getting a recipe about it.

Flaxseed Crackers (vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan)

Ingredients:

¼ Ground flaxseed meal

1-2 tablespoons Cracked peppercorn oil (cracked peppercorns that have been kept in olive oil for at least 24hrs)

1 cup Whole flax and sesame (or preferred/available) seeds

Aqua faba from 2 cans (liquid from canned chickpeas)

Sundried tomatos, minced/blended

Herbs and spices to taste (in my case, salt, toasted cumin seed, caraway seed, dill seed, fresh rosemary, a dried allium mix, and baby pigweed leaves)

Recipe:

Good news, this is the least labor intensive recipe you'll ever make as long as you have some kind of blender (even those shitty little 1serving smoothie blenders) and any convection oven (counter or whole appliance), but you could probably pull it off on a hotplate and pan if needed.

Preheat a convection oven to 350°F (if using a toaster oven, set to medium-high, if cooking in a pan, use 300°F or medium or 4-5 on the dial)

Crack open your canned chickpeas (if you don't have a Thing you're doing with them, you can just dump it in chickpeas and all, but I'm also making soup) and pour the liquid into your blender. Add no more than a cup of sundried tomatoes (i get them in 1lb vavuum sealed plastic bags and just gradually use em up lmao, but if you grow or have tomatoes you can make your own, or substitute with tomato paste and a little veggie bouillon - this is esp useful if you lack a blender), and blend until chopped or paste as you prefer.

In a container, mix the blended ingredients with your peppercorn oil, flaxseed meal, and whole seeds into a fun and gross lump of seed paste. Smash that bad boy onto a solid, flat surface (things like wax paper or tinfoil are a big help, but you can also use ziplock bags to smash out your cracker forms by putting a small amount inside, sealing without any air, and smoothing into a flat layer) and roll/smoosh it out.

Go ahead and lay your seed paste sheet on it's baking surface (tinfoil in a toaster, oven rack/cookie sheet, whatever) and cook for 15-20 min or until you can crack em apart real snappy like. Check on them at the 10 and 15min mark to confirm your cook time time.

Once cooked, let them cool, and then have fun shattering and crunching your sheets up into wretched little crackers.

If you're me, dump them into soup or hummus or something else savory

Creamy wild rice soup (vegetarian, vegan, dairy-free, gluten free)

Ingredients:

3 cups Chickpeas (2 cans)

2 tablespoons Tahini sauce

½ cup cracked peppercorn oil x2

¼ cup veggie bouillon

2 large onions (I use yellow and red, but it's up to you)

1 whole bulb of garlic (peeled/depapered)

2 cups garden greens (in my case, young pigweed leaves, beet leaves, parsley, and turnip greens, but you can use and leafy green you like)

1 cup wild rice

1 cup of your preferred soft bean (I like white beans like navy or cranberry, but I've had good luck with large pink beans in the past too)

Herbs and spices to taste (I'll be using fennel seed, cumin seed, caraway seed, cardamom, chili flakes, nasturtium seed, and sesame seeds)

8-10 cups boiling water

Recipe

This is a great one pot soup if you have a blender, and fairly low intensity, but you'll need a decent blender to get it creamy. The good news is that the unblended non-crey version is still delicious! So if you don't want to (or can't) worry about using a blender, you don't have to! That makes it useful for cooking up all in one big bowl in the microwave, all in one large pot on the stovetop/hotplate, or in a large oven safe crockpot, whichever works best for you.

Peel and quarter your onions, and peel your garlic cloves, then toss them all along with your spices (save any dried or fresh herbs for the next stage) into the cooking container with ½ cup oil x1. I'll be making mine in an oven safe crock, so see alterations/substitutions below.

Preheat your oven to 350°F, and let your oil, allium, and spice mix (covered) heat to temp along with the oven, then roast for 5-10min or until aromatic before removing your crockpot and keeping the oven at temp.

Add your chickpeas, bouillon, your other half cup of oil, water, beans, no less than ½ tablespoon salt, tahini, and greens/herbs to the crock at this point. If you plan to make creamy soup, DO NOT ADD the wild rice now. If you aren't worrying about that, go right ahead and add the rice now so you'll have less cook time. Return to the oven and let roast uncovered for 90-120 minutes.

If you're not worrying about that, congratulations! Your soup is just done now.

If you are making creamy soup, remove when beans are tender, blend until smooth (add more oil as necessary for consistency), and then add the wild rice and return to the oven for another 45-60min. Then your soup is done!

Go forth and consume lots of nutrition in a package that doesn't suck.

[a-flickering-soul]

Favorite easy recipe?

i love this QUESTION!!! whenever idk what to eat i'll make this lentil soup and it is GREAT it has protein and veggies and it is so good and adaptable and good for meal prep!! i'll put a picture of it here and add the recipe below the cut.

adapted from this recipe

Ingredients: 1 cup red lentils (I’m serious, JUST one cup, it’ll make 3-4 servings), 3 cups low-salt chicken stock or water, mirepoix (diced carrot, celery, onion), 2 hot Italian sausages, a handful of kale (washed, stripped from the stems, and torn into pieces), oil, salt, whole spices (I used cumin, mustard seeds, and black pepper) and 3 tbsp lemon juice

Saute the mirepoix in oil until onions turn translucent, then add the sausage (removed from its casing), break it up, and let it get a little browned. Add in the stock/water and lentils (I added in the kale here too since it’s tough and needs a while to cook) and bring to a boil, then turn it down to a simmer and let it go for 15-30 minutes depending on how quickly your lentils cook, stirring every now and then. Somewhere around here, check for salt and add as much as you want. Right after you take it off the heat, add in the lemon juice. During the last 5 minutes or so, take some oil, heat it up, and fry the whole spices to make tadka (infused oil + bloomed spices). Make sure you keep an eye on it and keep it moving so nothing burns (takes about a minute, should smell really good). Serve with some bread if you want and a drizzle of tadka on top!

Kale can be substituted with any leafy green vegetable (spinach and Swiss chard would probably be really good), the tadka can totally be omitted, and the sausage can be swapped for a nice ham hock, chorizo, etc, or omitted entirely to make it vegan :) also I added extra lemon juice bc I like sour things but u don’t need to. This is also good with some hot sauce and/or Greek yogurt on top too!

[najia-cooks]

[ID: First image is bowl of collard greens with tomato and sliced jalepeño; second image shows several Ethiopian vegetable dishes on a piece of injera. End ID]

ጎመን / Gomen (Ethiopian collard greens)

This wot, or stew, consists of leafy greens that are cooked until tender with onion, garlic, ginger, tomato, and spices including korerima (Ethiopian false cardamom) and tikur azmud (nigella seeds). The result is a robust, flavorful side dish with an intensely aromatic finish.

Recipe under the cut!

Patreon | Tip jar

Ingredients:

12oz (340g) collard greens, kale, or other bitter greens, washed

1/4 cup avocado or sunflower oil, or other neutral oil

1 red onion, chopped or grated

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 1/2 tsp minced ginger

1 tomato, minced

1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and ground

1 tsp coriander seeds, toasted and ground

1/2 tsp Ethiopian false cardamom (korerima / ኮረሪማ; Aframomum melegueta), toasted and ground

1 tsp nigella seeds (tikur azmud / ጥቁር አዝሙድ; Nigella sativa), toasted and ground

1 jalapeño, sliced

Salt to taste (about 3/4 tsp table salt)

Mitmita (ሚጥሚጣ), to taste (see notes at end)

For more information on Ethiopian herbs and spices, including suggested substitutions, see the notes at the end of my berbere recipe.

Some recipes include niter kibbeh (ንጥር ቅቤ) in Ethiopian vegetable dishes such as gomen; this isn't typical, but you may add a teaspoon or so at the end of the cooking time if you have some lying around!

Instructions:

1. If using collard greens, discard any yellow leaves. Bend the end of each stem backwards and peel away the string that emerges. If the stems are stiff, remove them; if they are tender, they may be minced and included in the dish. Dice greens (finer than I did in the picture!).

2. Heat onion, tomato, about a third of the garlic, and a pinch of salt in a dry pot on medium heat. Continue to cook, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot often, until tomato is softened and onion is translucent.

Beginning the cooking process without oil is traditional in Ethiopia, but if you’re worried that they may stick, you may heat a little oil in the pot before adding the onion, tomato, and garlic.

3. Add oil and sauté, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes, until mixture is very soft and homogenous. Lower heat it ncessary.

4. Add ginger and another third of the garlic and sauté for about 30 seconds, until no longer raw-smelling.

5. Add ground spices and a couple tablespoons of water. Heat until simmering and add chopped greens.

6. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender (about 20-30 minutes).

7. Add salt to taste, jalepeño, and the remainder of the garlic and cook for another couple minutes.

Serve warm as a side with injera, misir wat, doro wat, etc.

For the mitmita:

Mitmita is a spicy seasoning mix that may be included in Ethiopian dishes, or served at the table as a condiment. Preparations differ, but recipes usually include chili, korerima, and cloves, and may also include cumin, green cardamom, allspice, black pepper, cinnamon, or garlic powder.

Ingredients:

20 dried bird's-eye chili peppers (piri piri)

2 Tbsp cumin seeds (optional)

1 Tbsp korerima seeds

1 Tbsp green cardamom pods (optional)

2 tsp whole cloves

1-inch piece Ceylon cinnamon (optional)

Bags of bird's-eye chili peppers can be purchased at a halal grocery store, where they will likely be a product of India or Thailand; they may not be labelled "bird's-eye," but look for the small size and curved shape.

Instructions:

Toast spices one at a time in a small dry skillet on medium heat until fragrant. Allow to cool completely and then grind in a spice mill or using a mortar and pestle. Store in an airtight jar in a cool, dry place.