"I'm strong to the finich, 'cause I eats me spinach!"

Today, I want to write to you about one of my favourite vegetables, spinach! We have all seen PopEye sing its praises, and if you haven't, here is a treat for you:

Besides its super nutritious properties (which I'll get to in a minute), spinach is one of the most versatile vegetables utilised in cooking and baking (you can eat it either cooked or raw and it tastes just as delicious either way) . Below are just a few examples of the dishes containing spinach, which I have personally experimented with:

• Borani - a spinach yoghurt dish, usually eaten as a starter along with bread or used as a side with main dishes such as minced or diced lamb kebabs
• Spinach quiche
• "Khoresht-e-esfenaj" - Spinach and prune curry rice dish
• Spinach salad - raw spinach leaves go really well with other elements that make up salads (e.g. avodaco, cucumber, tomato and a pinch of slat/pepper along with lime juice)

So why is spinach so nutritious you ask?

Besides the low calorific value of spinach (23 calories per 100g serving), it is packed full of vitamins and minerals. If you want to maintain a healthy eye sight, have high level of energy production, reduce blood pressure and improve the health of your bones, you should definitely start adding spinach to your ingredients when cooking.

Disclaimer: Spinach contains high volumes of oxalate and therefore if you have a history of oxalate-containing kidney stones, you should try and reduce your consumption of spinach

So, if you haven't started already adding spinach to your food and recipes, today is the day to start!