Spinache recipes, (or rich iron recipes)

[Angeliz]

HELLO

I am going to try to eat lots of iron rich foods for these last few weeks to boost my iron levels (aswell as the supplements i've just been put on), SO, i like spinache but only know a few recipes with it in.
Does anyone know any lovely ones, OR other recipies with lots of iron in.
Also, can you just eat spinache leaves as salad??? (I'm pretty sure you can but have not yet!!)

sod the spinach.
steak steak steak
red wine red wine red wine

but if you must... baby spinach leaves make a nice salad.

top pasta sauce: wilt spinach in a little butter and cook down, then puree in magimix with softened onion/garlic, salt/pepper, add single cream, mix into pasta

steak i have too and red wine when i can be arsed with the following night of agony and heartburn!!
I don't like cream though!

Spinach! God I love it!
Posted a spinach and chickpea recipe recently on a thread wanting ideas for lunch/dinner.
Also spinach stirred into an omelette is great-sort of fritatta/Spanish omelette thingy. Goes well with fetta cheese and/or potato (in the omelette mix too.)

I just eat it steamed though-pounds and pounds of it, cos I love it (and when pg the mw told me that my iron levels were the best she's ever seen!)

angeliz, you could use mascapone instead of cream. or even cream cheese. ricotta. anything like that would do trick.

so you still haven't tried ranitidine? tsk, tsk. ooh, i'm almost off it now, baby dropped down yesterday and suddenly the heartburn is backing off. incredible.

I used to live in Greece and have a spinache and feta pie warm from the bakers every day.......mmmmmmmmm.
Frittata sounds like a good idea. (Plus i can make a huge one and eat slices every day.!
Cheers

as I recall, you need vit C to absorb the iron, so steak on its own is not enough. Now steak and peas with an orange for pud: that´s good.

Spinach pancakes (bit fiddly, but worth it):

steam an enormous pack of spinach.
add some cheese (feta is nice, any will do) and a bit of olive oil & pepper.

roll up spinach in pancakes.

then make or buy a plain italian tomato sauce (fried onions and garlic, tin of toms, basil, oregano), pour all over the top and bake in the oven.

Yes, it's even better served at room temp the next day. I'm in 7th heaven here in Turkey because they love spinach as much as the Greeks (although obviously they're not so keen on the greeks themselves IYSWIM!)

These days i'm mostly eating refreshers

(Someone on my heartburn thread suggested them and they do the trick if you buy in bulk!) Still on the Gaviscon too. I DID ask the midwife if there was anything else and she didn't tell me any and i didn't have the names on me!

Will try all these soon

Keep them coming, i'm off for a bath+

i love spinach on pizza

I'm with the senora - try adding (frozen) spinach into a tomato sauce for spaghetti/lasagne. My MIL does a spinach cannelloni (sp?) thing which is really nice too (I think it's just regular homemade cannelloni with spinach leaves wrapped up too - though I am a rubbish cook and would never make cannelloni from scratch so can't really tell!) I really like the baby leaves as a salad too.

Or make a veg curry (whatever veg is knocking about + few spoons of Patak's curry paste + tin of tomatoes) & add handfuls of spinach - I use the frozen stuff for convenience!

i usually use frozen chopped spinach - find it easier to deal with/cook.

i have made from recipe, forgot what its called ; line a pyrex dish with the spinach, place some cod fillets on top, cheese sauce on top of that, cook in oven - cant remember how long - and serve with pots. etc. quite yummy even though i dont like fish!

also egg and spinach florentine that i usually give ds. similar thing only use a ramekin dish. line with spinach and make a hole in middle of spinach. crack an egg into it, top with a blob or two of single cream and bit of grated cheese and oven for 15 mins or so. yum says ds!

apricots are rich in iron/ add to a chicken stew. cook with cous cous

Red meat has loads of iron, you only need Vit C when getting iron from non-meat sources. Wholemeal bread and a glass of OJ is easy.

Spinach is much over-rated as a source of iron (owing to a displaced decimal point in an early nutrition book). Not only is its iron content lower than many people believe, it contains oxalic acid which locks up the mineral content in other foods that it is eaten with, so that you don't get the iron from them either.......

Good iron sources include:
molasses
chocolate (!) the darker the better
egg yolks
meat
green vegetables
pulses
dried fruit - apricots in particular

Don't know if you're a cereal person, but adding chopped dried apricots to your cereal in the morning is a good way of boosting iron levels. I have a feeling that pumpkin seeds may be good iron sources, but haven't checked this. If you're into crunchy stuff it doesn't do any harm to sprinkle some of them on your cereal too.

Have loads of dried apricots around to snack on.

I used to cook a (mildly) spicy chicken and rice with apricots dish: fry some onions with dried ginger and cinnamon; add the chicken to the same pan and fry until golden; add tinned chopped tomatoes, chopped dried apricots, possibly some stock, and a fair bit of rice (preferably long-grain and brown); cook for about 20-30 minutes. You could always serve this with some steamed spinach or broccoli, fresh wholemeal bread to mop up the sauce and freshly squeezed orange juice for a really nutritious and iron-rich meal.

i used to drink 'floradix' chasers...all the nutritious healthy eating did diddly squat for my iron levels.

that sounds very blunt

My mother does a really delicious spinach and ricotta sort of pie:

Line a round dish with 4/5 layers of filo pastry which you have buttered between the layers. For the filling take a double handful of frozen spinach and defrost. Mix with a tub of ricotta, season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Bake in the oven I am guessing for about 25 mins (you will need to check as I can't remember exactly).