How to prepare spinach for the winter: 7 ways

Spinach is a component of many gourmet dishes and a source of valuable nutrients. It is especially useful during the autumn and winter. However, it is not available on the market year-round. Therefore, it is worthwhile to prepare it yourself for the winter, for example, dry it, freeze it in a freezer or preserve it.

Beneficial features

Spinach contains a very small amount of fat, but it contains a lot of zinc, protein, vegetable fiber, as well as vitamins A, C and K. Spinach is a good source of Omega-3, which the body uses for energy and helps prevent various diseases of the heart and blood vessels . Eating spinach, you can forget about constipation, as it contributes to the regularity of the stool due to its high content of fiber and water.

Spinach contains both soluble and insoluble fibers, which have a beneficial effect on health. It has a lot of vitamin B6, thiamine, folic acid and many other useful components. In other words, it has nutrients that are useful literally for the whole body!

Folic acid, which is found in spinach, is good for blood vessels and the heart, while magnesium normalizes blood pressure. Scientists have proven that spinach helps maintain the normal functioning of the brain and improves memory. Among vegetables, only peas and beans contain more protein than spinach. It is one of the best dietary sources of potassium, which is responsible for maintaining bone density, as well as maintaining muscle mass.

Spinach has a glycemic index of 15, so it can be considered an ideal product for reducing excess weight and getting rid of cellulite. It is also the richest dietary source of magnesium, which is important for the synthesis of proteins that regulate nervous activity and maintain the functioning of the nervous system, as well as the regulation of blood pressure and sugar level.

Harvesting Methods

Spinach should be consumed year-round, as it is a source of many important nutrients for our body. An excellent alternative to fresh spinach can be spinach frozen at home, especially since it will retain the vast majority of vitamins and minerals. So, if there is no fresh spinach, it is worth taking frozen or canned.

It is not difficult to prepare this useful product for the winter. It is important to do this on time (until the beginning of August) so that arrows do not form on the green spinach bushes.

It is harvested in several ways:

• freezing;
• drying;
• spinach puree;
• pickling;
• blanched spinach.

All methods are good in their own way, since they retain the useful properties of fresh spinach.

Spinach Salting

This procurement method is very simple. But for salting, you must definitely take the right amount of salt. For 1 kg of fresh green spinach leaves, you need 100 grams of non-iodized salt.

Cooking:

1. Sort fresh leaves and separate from the petioles.
2. Rinse the prepared spinach under a stream of cold water and allow to dry.
3. Banks need to be washed and sterilized in any convenient way.
4. Depending on how this workpiece will be used in the future, cut the leaves into pieces.
5. Tightly chopped and salted spinach in jars.
6. Tamp, and add chopped leaves.
7. Seal the jar with the prepared lid.
8. Send the salted spinach in this way to the cellar for storage.

Using this recipe, you can also salt any greens, for example, dill, sorrel or parsley. Some housewives with this method of salting love to mix different types of greens in any proportions, but it is better to take equally, and add to them a little fresh parsley and dill.

Salt is an excellent preservative, so this preparation can be stored in the cellar for up to 5 months. Salted spinach is added to salads or soups in the winter, after washing it from excess salt.

Spinach freeze

Although some vegetables or greens are not suitable for freezing, spinach can be perfectly stored frozen throughout the year. With proper freezing, more vitamins are retained than with other methods of storing the product.

The leaves are thoroughly rinsed with cold water and spread on a dry kitchen towel so that they can dry well. You can then chop the spinach into small pieces, such as you usually chop it before adding to the dish.

Arrange the prepared spinach in portioned plastic bags and place in the freezer. You do not need to defrost spinach before cooking. Just take a portion bag from the freezer, and add its contents directly to the dish, bring it to a boil, simmer for a couple of minutes.

Blanched Spinach

For such a winter harvest, you will need spinach and water.

Cooking:

1. Rinse the spinach with cold water.
2. Separate the stems, and cut the leaves on a cutting board.
3. Cook spinach for a couple of minutes.
4. Remove the finished spinach with a slotted spoon from the water and dry.
5. Sterilize the washed cans.
6. Place blanched spinach in prepared jars, roll up the lids, and lower it into the cellar for storage.

Dried spinach

Dried spinach can also be used to make soups and various meat dishes. When dried, spinach is not exposed to too high a temperature, therefore, all useful substances are preserved.

Cooking:

1. Before drying, you need to carefully sort the spinach.
2. Rinse it under cold water.
3. Leaves need to be laid out on white paper and dried.
4. After that, spread the spinach on clean white paper and leave to dry naturally.
5. You can also send spinach leaves to an electric dryer or oven for 3-4 hours. The temperature in the oven is 40-45 degrees.
6. Stir occasionally.
7. Dried spinach is placed in dry glass jars, tightly closed and stored in a cupboard.

Spinach Puree

Preparing such a blank is simple and very fast. Prepare the necessary products for mashed potatoes:

• fresh spinach leaves;
• some salt;
• litere of water;
• 10 g of soda, which will keep spinach its beautiful green color.

Cooking:

1. Prepared fresh spinach leaves are rinsed under cold water.
2. Add a spoonful of soda to boiling water and boil spinach leaves in it.
3. Finished spinach is filtered, washed with cold water and dried.
4. Grind the spinach to a puree state with a blender.
5. Put the mashed spinach in the pan, cook until the mass thickens.
6. Put the mashed potatoes in sterilized jars and roll them up.
7. Send finished mashed potatoes for better preservation in the cellar.

Spinach with sorrel

For such a winter harvest, you need to take two servings of spinach and one serving of sorrel. With this ratio, the workpiece is not very acidic. Salt you need to take a tablespoon to a pound of chopped green mixture.

Cooking:

1. You need to sort out the spinach and sorrel, separating the stems from them.
2. Rinse them under cold water.
3. Put greens in a pot with warm water.
4. After boiling, cook for a couple of minutes.
5. Transfer the resulting green mixture to prepared jars and roll up.
6. The blank must be sent to the cellar for long-term storage.

Canned Spinach

For canned spinach, take: 1 kg of fresh spinach leaves, 65 g of salt, water (1 l).

Cooking:

1. You need to sort spinach, separate the stems and rinse.
2. Leaves should be blanched in hot water for about 7 minutes.
3. Remove the spinach from the water with a slotted spoon.
4. Drain unnecessary water and dry.
5. Transfer leaves into sterilized jars, press until compacted and fill with brine.
6. Banks must be corked and lowered into the cellar.

Spinach is harvested for the winter in various ways. All of them are easy to prepare, so you can choose any of them and delight your loved ones with a delicious product rich in vitamins in winter.

Video: how to freeze spinach at home