Advertisement It’s easy to use spinach as a springboard to write about great summer recipes, but many of the other ingredients in this recipe have health benefits as well.
Spinach is a great way to increase your levels of folate. My physician recommends 400 micrograms of folic acid, the synthetic equivalent of folate, as part of my daily regimen of dietary supplements. Note: Folate requirements are different for women who are pregnant and lactating. This will help prevent heart disease and stroke. Studies even suggest folate may keep depression and certain cancers at bay. Most pregnant women also know to take this B vitamin to prevent spinal cord defects in newborns.
Follow this simple, yet nutritious recipe for lunch or dinner. Now you are doing something really good for yourself with food that bursts with flavor. Note: 1/2 cup boiled spinach provides 100 micrograms folate.
Chef’s Spinach Salad
8 slices raw bacon, sliced
7 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons sugar, to cut acidity
4 cups baby or regular spinach
3/4 cup fresh soybeans
1/3 cup red onion, halved and sliced paper thin
1/4 cup dried blueberries, unsweetened
1/4 cup dried tart cherries, unsweetened
1/3 cup blue cheese (Maytag if possible), crumbled
Salt and pepper to taste
Cook the bacon until crispy, turn off the heat, remove the bacon and drain the fat. Deglaze the pan with the red wine vinegar, olive oil and sugar, scraping the bottom of the pan with a whisk and stirring until the sugar is dissolved.
Put the spinach on plates. Sprinkle on beans, onions and fruit. Top with the chopped bacon and finish with the blue cheese. Spoon on the dressing. Season with salt and pepper.
Makes 4 servings.
For more information about folate, go online to http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/folate.asp.
John Haverty, a certified executive chef at Franciscan Skemp Medical Center, writes a column every other week for the Food section. He can be reached at chefhaverty@yahoo.com.
