Cooking for your health: Olive Oil - Spinach Saute recipe

Many people have started watching cooking shows and being a baby boomer, I have noted that the cooking shows on TV have slowly started to include healthier ways to cook while emphasizing flavor.  This is a great time to be alive and the internet has grown up to offer many sources of information.  Now you can Google search any recipe you want and find a mirage of choices.  In the end, it is really up to you what you are going to use to cook so the key to replacing a high end, not so good for you ingredient with another is the challenge as you don't want to sacrifice the taste or texture in the doing.  Well today the subject of Olive Oil and it's heart healthy benefits is in the spotlight.

Olive oil - Virgin cold pressed is good for you in cooking and as a skin softener.

Not just for cooking:
My aunt who was of Italian descent used to cook with it all the time and I remember spending the weekend with her before I was old enough to be in school and finding her sitting with her feet up after her bath and she smelled like olive oil.  That is when I found out the secret to her beautiful skin and hair.  She would take a warm bath and put it on her skin all over and just sit for fifteen minutes letting it absorb into the skin and hair.  She would rinse her hair and wrap it in a towel and go to bed.  Even into her late eighties her skin glowed.  She used it to treat dandruff and keep her skin soft.  But I digress from the subject of using a good olive oil.  

There are so many companies that offer olive oil so you need to understand what they offer and check the age of the oil as there is a shelf life and it can go rancid after a period of time.  Spain and Italy are the main suppliers of olive oil, with Greece close behind, with California, Australia and Africa now making their presence known offering good quality olives and olive oil.  

By regulation, olive is classified into five grades. Virgin olive oil is that which is obtained from the first pressing. Pure Olive Oil is a mixture of refined and virgin oil. There are other forms of olive oil used commercially and at a lower grade, but for this blog, concentrating only on the top grade is mentioned.  Virgin olive oil is not refined and the flavour varies enormously with the locality where it is grown. Other types have been refined to varying extents. Used in cooking, as salad oil, for canning sardines, and for margarine manufactures.*  The best are labelled "cold pressed", a chemical-free process involving only the first pressing of the ripe olives with only 1% acid.  Rule of thumb is the deeper the color the deeper the flavor.  Extra-Virgin olive oil is the second best having a higher percentage of acid (up to 3%).  The key is that olive oil is a monounsaturated fat which

is good for you.  High temperatures such as frying break down the oil and spoil the flavor, so consider using extra light virgin olive oil for this or Canola Oil which can stand the high heat and has no taste.  The virgin cold pressed olive oil is better for salad dressings, and low to medium heat cooking. Light Olive oil is better for baking and cooking and can withstand high-heat frying for short periods of time as used to saute' or braise.   Overall, olive oil should be stored in a cool, dark place for up to 6 months; or for those of us that have a small household or travel you can also keep it refrigerated for up to a year.  This is the reason that when you see a special on olive oil, it is always a good rule to check the date on it to assure you are spending your money on a product that has a shelf life to warrant the cost.  This is just a skimming the top on the subject of olive oil, however, it does give you a rule of thumb look on how to choose your oil, when to use it and when not to and how to care for it so you get the longest mileage for your purchase of this wonderful taste enhancing oil.

Quick Spinach Saute' Recipe:  

• Spinach (1 pound, washed and patted dry)
• Olive Oil
• Fresh Garlic - 2 peeled large cloves sliced thin 
• 1 large Lemon - all the zest and juice set aside
• 1 large cleaned pound of Fresh Spinach
• Sea Salt and Pepper to taste

In a large skillet place 1/4 cup of Olive Oil on Medium High head
When the oil is shimmering add the garlic and a pinch of salt.  Let cook till slightly golden on the edges
Place the clean spinach on top and use a pair of tongs to toss it to coat it with the now garlic infused oil.  When the spinach has started wilting add the lemon zest and juice and keep tossing until it is just wilted.

Take off of the heat and partition into plates sprinkling sea salt and pepper on the top.

This recipe is a compilation of what I have had at restaurants and family gatherings.  This goes well with grilled fish, holds up to pasta dishes of all kinds or as I often do, just as an appetizer before dinner.  This flavorful recipe yields high nutritional value, and is extremely rich in antioxidants, especially when fresh, steamed, or quickly prepared as shown above.  Spinach being a rich source of vitamin A (lutein), vitamin C, E and K and B2 and B6, magnesium, manganese, folate, betaine, iron, calcium, potassium, folic acid, copper, protien, phosphorus, zinc, niacin, selenium and omega-3 fatty acids.  In addition, opioid pepetides (rebiscolins)  found in spinach add to the benefits that help you stay strong in body and in mind.  The term you are what you eat was never truer said than in today's offerings of fast high processed food.

The key to staying on top of your health from within is in keeping your kitchen stocked with the tools and ingredients that will allow you to choose your cooking over others.  It is a good hobby to take up if you haven't already done so and yields years of culinary enjoyment with friends and family.  Sharing recipes was my way of collecting a cookbook that I now have as a file on my computer.  From scanned hand written to downloaded recipes, I have many and have shared them with my family and friends; and now you.

If you have any questions or just want to share, please e-mail me:
chocolatelifesaver@gmail.com
or
visit my website:  www.chocolatelifesaver.com

Thank you for visiting my blog

ref:
en.wikipedia.org for spinach nutritional information.
*Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/olive-oil#ixzz1CoQKoVVi

For dessert?  Why not offer yourself a 40 calorie, natural organic chocolate that will help detox and is considered good for you.