Garlic Spinach

I was eves-dropping on a conversation a couple nights ago (it's a nasty habit, I know, but I just can't help it!) and I suddenly heard the words "spinach" "garlic" and "olive oil" and I thought,

WHAAAA????

I remember growing up, my mum bribed my little brothers with the idea that they would be as strong as Popeye if they ate all their spinach. (I hope everyone reading this blog is old enough to know who Popeye is. Otherwise, you're probably too young to be using the internet without direct supervision.) I also remember spinach coming mainly from a can and boiled in a pan, although I did know it was eaten fresh and uncooked in faraway parts of the world. Even so, I always liked spinach, at least that I can remember. I remember putting lots of butter and vinegar on it, but I liked it. (My mum's probably going to comment on this post and leave a bunch of "corrections.") Since then I have eaten spinach mostly raw and in salads, which is good, but gets kind of old, I'll be honest. But I know I'm supposed to get plenty of leafy greens every day, so when I heard the aforementioned word-combination I grew terribly excited. Last night and tonight we had this recipe as a side. (My husband is probably less excited than I.)

Ingredients:

2 T. olive oil

LOTS of raw baby spinach (I'm still trying to get the amount right, it just cooks down so much!), I'd say maybe 5 or 6 big handfuls (two hands for me), washed and chopped coarse

1 large clove of garlic, diced

2 t. apple cider vinegar

Directions:

In a pan, heat oil over medium-low heat. Add garlic and saute 1 minute. Add spinach and saute until mostly wilted. Remove from heat and add vinegar. Toss to coat. Serve immediatly.

Did you know cooked spinach has more than 20Mg of lutein per cup and raw spinach only has 3.7Mg? That's pretty interesting, ain't it? Lutein is an antioxidant, in case you didn't know, and directly helps our eyes and skin. On top of that, apple cider vinegar (which is really popular back East, but doesn't seem to be so much out West) is also full of antioxidants and malic acid, which helps fight fungal and bacterial infections. So eat up!