Spinach leaves. Thilo Becker / Pixabay.com / 2013 / CC0 1.0
The 26th of March is Spinach Day.
How do you like your spinach: raw, cooked, or as far away from your plate as possible?
Frozen spinach can be a good choice to buy if wilted spinach would be appropriate for the recipe you would be using it in. It is more economical than fresh, and it can save you a lot of prep work time in the kitchen.
Canned spinach can have a very strong taste, as many a child hoping to imitate Popeye found out.
Spinach is very good nutritionally for us. While it’s a myth that our bodies can derive a lot of iron from spinach (it’s not present in a readily accessible form), it is a good source of other accessible nutrients such as Vitamins A and K.
Today, you could enjoy some on a pizza, or whizzed into a smoothie, or into a pasta sauce.
Dishes made with spinach are termed “à la Florentine“.
#SpinachDay
See also: Spinach
History
The earliest mention that CooksInfo has found of a 26th of March Spinach Day in print archives dates from 2004 in Kansas:
“Today is Spinach Festival Day.” For Goof-Off Day, some famous goofs. Manhattan, Kansas: The Manhattan Mercury. 26 March 2004. Page C2, Col. 4.
Sources
Grenrock, Samantha. Spinach Day: This leafy green packs a punch, UF expert says. Gainesville, Florida: Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. 3 March 2018. Accessed February 2021 at http://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/news/2018/03/23/spinach-day-this-leafy-green-packs-a-punch-uf-expert-says/
Heykoop, Cassie. Marco’s Pizza celebrates National Spinach Day. USA Today. 26 March 2015. Accessed February 2021 at https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2015/03/26/national-spinach-day/70475020/
Shiff, Blair. Celebrate like Popeye on National Spinach Day. Somerville, New Jersey: The Courier News. 26 March 2015. Accessed February 2021 at https://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/life/food/2015/03/26/national-spinach-day/70474984/
University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Institute of Food and Natural Resources. Spinach Day (March 26). Accessed February 2021 at https://food.unl.edu/food-calendar/march/spinach-day