Spinach is one of the most nutritious types of vegetable greens. It contains vitamins A, C, E, magnesium, iron and calcium, folic acid. Spinach is just overwhelmed with antioxidants. In addition, this leaf vegetable is pleasant to the taste.
It is easy to grow spinach, and it is quite possible to preserve it so that it can be eaten for a whole year.
How to store fresh spinach
Spinach, only picked from the garden, can not be stored for a long time. Fresh leaves still lie in the refrigerator for almost a week. They are slightly inoculated, lose some of the vitamins, but remain useful and nutritious.
To keep the spinach fresh, we place it in the refrigerator (vegetable compartment). It is necessary to wash vegetable greens only immediately before cooking.
For storage of spinach uses a plastic bag or container. You can wrap the leaves in a wet towel or cotton napkin.
When spinach is purchased in a vacuum-packed store, it should be opened only before cooking. In an unopened container leafy vegetables can be stored for a month.
Saving frozen spinach for the winter
Spinach, which began to bloom, to eat is not recommended. It has already accumulated a surplus of oxalic acid, harmful to the digestive tract. Therefore, only young leaves of spinach should be kept for the winter.
Freeze vegetable greens in several ways.
First, it can be stored in a crushed form:
- Each leaflet is thoroughly washed under running water.
- Remove the stems.
- Cut the leaves into strips approximately 1 cm.
- Blanch a minute or two in salted water. This will help preserve the taste of vegetable greens.
- After blanching, put the spinach in ice water.
- We move the cooled greens in a bowl.
- We put small portions of spinach on a skimmer and get rid of water.
- We pack greens in small plastic bags with a sealed clasp. We clamp them between the palms to remove as much air as possible.
- Ship the spinach to the freezer.
Second, freeze spinach with whole leaves:
- We wash the greens and dry.
- We put the leaves (80-100 g each) in cling film and wrap tightly.
- Ship the package with spinach to the freezer.
Frozen leaves are beautifully preserved until the next harvest. For the whole winter, spinach can be used in cooking your favorite dishes.
Third, save the spinach in the form of mashed potatoes:
- We blanch the prepared leaves.
- Grind them with a blender or wipe through a sieve.
- The resulting spinach puree is packaged in small plastic cups.
- We wrap cling film and put it in the freezer.
Frozen mashed potatoes will also be perfectly preserved until spring.
Other Spinach Storage Methods
You can save spinach not only in the refrigerator. Green leaves:
- dried;
- salt.
Spinach leaves are easy to dry, just like other types of greens. This process is done either outdoors, or in an oven or electric dryer. It is necessary:
- Wash and dry spinach leaves.
- Cut the tails and spread out in a thin layer on a baking sheet, cover with gauze (to protect against dust and insects).
- Place the baking tray in a sunny place.
It takes a week to dry the spinach.
In the oven, this process is carried out in 3-4 hours (45-50 degrees).
Dried spinach is best poured into a glass container, which is tightly closed. Greens are stored in a dry place, away from moisture and light.
For salting spinach leaves:
- Wash thoroughly.
- Cut into strips or simply tear hands into pieces.
- We put in a clean jar in layers. Pour each layer of coarse salt (for one kg of spinach you need 100 g of salt).
- Greens are properly tamped and covered with a lid.
You can put spinach in a jar not immediately, but first in a separate bowl, mix it with salt. Then the mixture is filled tightly glass containers.
Spinach harvested in this way should be stored in a cool place. Two or three months vegetable greens will remain nutritious and fragrant.
In the summer, when the season is in full swing with fresh greenery, it doesn’t hurt to make it for the winter. Ways to save spinach, mass. You can choose the one that is most to your liking.
