Are you looking to have something healthy and nutritious side dish along with your favorite seafood meal or something that goes with beef, lamb, and as well as with poultry? Yes of course! A side dish of grilled spinach would be one of the yummy choices you would ever have. Indeed nothing would make spinach delicious when combined with some other food as well. In this article let’s discuss some essential facts regarding grilled spinach and will have a look at a super good recipe. It is simple if you have some stem on spinach, a sheet pan or a grill, some kind of favorite oil of your choice and some seasonings to smear on.
In addition, ponder a little, it is clear that spinach is a super pretty option to balance your green leafy intake. If you are already a meaty fan heavily fond of seafood, poultry, pork and red meat types, you can have this heavenly dish along with them to never miss out on the vitamins and minerals that your body is eagerly waiting for. For example, Spinach is highly loaded with fibers that you couldn’t find in meat. Furthermore, you can rely on Vitamin A, C, K, Iron, Folate, and Potassium as well. Let’s discuss more nutritional benefits in later sections.
Grilled spinach recipe
First, let’s have a look at how to make this yummy dish (1). Just imagine you have to be prepared with some spinach side dish for bbq. Here goes the way..! It is normally recommended to have spinach with the stems on (2).
Furthermore, you can have different seasoning or garnishing options as well. Here are a few suggestions that you can try. It is better to have simple ones
- You can garnish your grilled spinach with silver almonds and zest (3). In addition, you can have some Feta cheese or bacon crumbles or a mix together (4).
- Seasonings (4) – Chili powder, Dried herbs like basil, oregano or thyme, Cumin, Black pepper, Paprika (smoked or plain)
Even though spinach is not a grill-friendly food item, it resembles a more healthy and nutritional profile even after grilling. Let’s go a bit scientific.
Is grilled spinach healthy?
Yes of course! Never try to have raw spinach in your meal. Spinach is a rich source of Oxalate; which is a naturally occurring substance found in almost all plants (5). Oxalate can be described as a substance that triggers kidney stones as well. In addition, it is said to be antinutritive which means that, some of the nutrients such as Iron and Calcium etc. absorption will be hindered due to the presence of Oxalates.
Accordingly, it is better to avoid raw spinach as much as possible in your diet as they are full of Oxalates. Upon grilling at a high temperature, there is a chance of lowering the antinuritive function of Oxalates and hence accelerating the absorption of Iron and Calcium into the body. Hence, do that simple thing just for 12-15 minutes to optimize your intake.
Second, let’s have some answers to some simple questions regarding grilling your spinach.
Frequently Asked Questions on grilled spinach
1. What kind of grill do I need to grill spinach?
You can try on both charcoal or propane grills. According to my own experience, it is recommended to have a Weber grill that uses the fuel; Propane. It doesn’t matter whatever the grill should be.
2. What kind of oil work best for grilling spinach?
The most recommended is olive oil. You can smear the oils as a light coating on leaves before grilling. If you can’t afford olive oil, don’t worry. Instead, you can look for sunflower oil, sesame oil or coconut oil. The most suitable form to apply the oil as a spray is by using a mist of required oils. You can easily buy them as cans of aerosolized oils.
3. How we can get to know that spinach is done?
Be careful not to over-cook the spinach. You can decide that it is done when the leaves turn dark with an oily shine. Take immediately away from the heat
4. What is ideal to serve with grilled spinach?
It is undoubted that a side dish of grilled spinach is well suited to a meal especially comprised of meat. Few suggestions that go hand to hand with grilled spinach are crab-stuffed lingcod, Blackstone grill steak, grilled zucchini and yellow squash, grilled chicken breast, grilled crab legs and so on. Furthermore, you can incorporate spinach in fantastic ways to have some incredible plates just to make your party guests a surprise.
How much spinach per person?
Spinach is considered a superfood that is hefty with fibers, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals; especially Iron, Calcium and Potassium. According to Keri Glassman, a Registered Dietician, it is normally recommended to have 2 cups of dark green leaves each day. In the case of spinach, two cups will offer you 14 Calories to fulfill more than 100% of your daily Vitamin A needs. In addition, it will cover roughly 30% of your daily recommended amounts of Folate, Vitamin C and a lot of Vitamin K (6).
When going into detail, you may love to know the additional health benefits of spinach nutrients and functional components.
- Vitamin K – Helps in strengthening your bones by promoting Osteoclacin; a protein that helps in stabilizing the Calcium present in bones and inhibiting the Osteoclasts; a type of cell that accelerates bone fracture.
- Chlorophylls and Carotenoids; Beta Carotene, Lutein, and Zeaxanthin – Boost your immunity and eyesight.
However, there are downturns in everything. As aforementioned, Spinach is chock of Oxalates too. Oxalate is a substance that is devoted to the formation of stones, especially in organs such as kidneys, bladder and liver. Bladder stones may lead to painful crystals formation in urine that is actually hard to remove (6). Here goes the red alarm! Please be conscious of your health history. If you are a susceptor to stone-forming, be mindful about your daily intake of Spinach.
In addition to grilling spinach, you may wonder are there any other best ways to cook spinach without losing nutrients. Yes, there are of course. Indeed these methods are the healthiest ways to cook spinach. The three simple things (7) you can just follow are blanching, steaming, or sauteeing spinach.
Best ways to cook spinach without losing nutrients
- Blanched spinach – Dip spinach in a pot of boiling water for about a minute. Then immerse them again in a pot of cold water. Then drain the water and store the blanched spinach in the fridge for up to 7 days for later use. This can be easily combined with other veggies for an omelet, soup, salad etc.
- Steamed spinach – Bring a pot of water to boil and keep a steaming plate or a colander on the top. Place spinach and allow to steam for about 2-3 minutes while covered until leaves wilt. Steamed spinach will retain its dark green color and you can enjoy it after tossing it with some oil and salt and pepper smeared.
- Sauteed spinach – Use a frying pan with some oil added and season the oil with some garlic, chili flakes and other spices of your interest. Then add a fistful of raw and cleaned, stem on spinach into the frying oil and sautee the mixture until spinach wilt.
Spinach grilled cheese
Moreover, how incredible it would be if you can incorporate this nutrient-dense Spinach into your mouth-watering grilled cheese? In simple, grilled spinach and cheese sandwich. For sure, you can have some sort of ground spinach and add them to your grilled cheese as a green layer for greeny bites. If you love this combination here is the recipe for Spinach grilled cheese. Indeed this will be a smart way to make your kids never miss the benefits of dark green leaves.
Grilled spinach stuffed items
1. Grilled spinach stuffed chicken breast
Are you dying to have some sort of a chicken meal, in a way balanced with some leafy vegetables? How cheerful it would be on a rainy day to have some hot and spicy chicken stuff filled with grilled spinach and oozing cheese along with a glass of beer. You are dreaming it right now… Yes of course! Here comes the recipe for a grilled spinach stuffed chicken breast.
Are you a mushroom lover? Here you have some recipe ideas that meet mushroom and spinach combined.
2. Grilled spinach stuffed portobello mushroom
It is just a smart food item where you find some room for spinach inside a grilled mushroom. That sounds delicious, especially for you vegan guys. Right! Yes of course. You can have this smart combination instead of grilled spinach stuffed chicken breast if you are extremely vegan. Here comes the delicious recipe of grilled spinach stuffed portobello mushroom.
3. Grilled spinach and artichoke stuffed chicken
If you are looking for a gourmet dish of chicken stuffed with green hearts of artichoke, this would be a one-perfect meal that goes with spinach as well. This is really a yummy recipe easy to prepare and will make you wow in seconds. Here comes the gourmet dish of grilled spinach and artichoke stuffed chicken breasts.
4. Grilled spinach salad
Are you a salad lover? A salad is a great way to have a mix-up of a range of raw food items prepared in a simple manner. Here you can find some recipes that include grilled spinach and chicken added with numerous additives to bring up different flavors. Here comes the recipes of a salad range including grilled spinach and chicken.
- Grilled chicken and spinach salad with balsamic vinaigrette
- Grilled chicken and spinach salad with honey mustard
- Spinach salad with chicken, avocado and goat cheese
- Spinach salad with grilled red onion rings and sesame vinaigrette
- Grilled chicken and spinach salad with spicy pineapple dressing
Can dogs eat grilled spinach?
It’s not easy to neglect your loving doggy when you prepare your meals. It is undoubted that each part of spinach is edible and it is the same for dogs as humans. Accordingly, there’s nothing to worry about if your meal is utterly made up of spinach and separating a portion of it to your loving doggy. That sounds great. Right! No necessity of thinking about a separate meal for him.
Final thoughts
Spinach is a superfood hefty with fibers, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals; especially Iron, Calcium and Potassium. Even though spinach is not a grilling-friendly food item, Americans had used them over a grilling top to wilt and incorporate it as a side dish along with meat plates; poultry, red meat and seafood.
It is clear that grilled spinach is nothing if you haven’t take them along with some other meal. Spinach is chock of Oxalates too. Hence, care should be taken if you are a susceptor to triggering stone formation in your bladder, kidney or liver.
