Escarole My Escarole

Cate back again with another healthy writer recipe.

Last Sunday I went to the Farmer's Market looking for strawberries. I fell in love with the escarole though so I had to bring it home.

I mean just look at this pretty, green head.

My Farmer's Market posts little helpful signs telling you why you should be eating their produce. The one for escarole sold me. Rich in Potassium, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Vitamins A and K, Folate.
According to some websites, escarole is also fat free, carb free and carries only 4 (YES FOUR) calories per half cup serving.

I'm sure we all know about the various benefits of some of those ingredients so today I'll just focus on one. FOLATE.

Why do you need folate?

The National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements explains that folate is a water soluble vitamin, which means it is not stored in the body and must be taken in daily. 

All the various websites I looked at focused on different benefits, but they all had some in common:

Lower risk of depression/mood disorders

Healthy heart

Cancer prevention (Something about protecting the DNA)

Blood cell production (protection against anemia)

Helps fight dementia

 If you want more info - just Google Health benefits of folate.

Enough of the science for now. Let's get cooking!

I had a really delicious looking recipe I wanted to make.

This is the recipe - Salmon and escarole in little parchment packets with lemon tarragon butter.

 Alas, my oven is broken. So I improvised.

First I set the salmon to poach in this pan.

I LOVE this pan. Everything cooks perfectly and it's a dream to clean.

I would have added the herbs and lemon then, but the dog likes to share my salmon and I didn't want him having the lemon.

Fenway waiting for his salmon.

Once I removed the dog's portion, I added in lemon, some white wine and garlic and let it simmer while I cooked the star ingredient.

I cooked the escarole in my wok because it's big enough for all those huge leafy greens. But first I sauteed some freeze-dried garlic with a smidgeon of olive oil.  

Then I piled in the greens and covered. I didn't add any water, I just left on the water that remained after washing the leaves. (They were very muddy!)

Once the escarole wilted, 

I ladled the salmon mix on top.

Now, truth time. The escarole was a tad bitter. Maybe from the lemon, maybe because it's escarole. *Shrug*

But, timing is everything and the stormy skies had finally cleared. I needed to walk the dog before the next round of storms.

It was also hot in my kitchen.

So I stuck the plate in the refrigerator.  When I got back from walking Fen, it was nicely chilled and tasted very good (not so bitter). So I recommend cooking with enough time to chill.

 One more thing -

Turns out, according to my research, those strawberries would have been a good source of folate too. That got me thinking, but you'll have to come back next week to find out the result of that thinking. :)

So, let's chat. Do you eat escarole? Have a recipe to share?

But what I really want to know is - do you eat certain foods just because you know they're good for you?

 And just in case you're looking for some alternate sources of folate - I found this graphic.

Check out the website for more information on folate.