From Birthday Dinner to Spinach Teeth!

I was inspired to write this post after attempting to duplicate a delicious meal that I had for my birthday at The Blue Marlin restaurant in Columbia, South Carolina. I ordered the "Vista Chicken" Entree which the menu describes as fire roasted chicken breast topped with sautéed spinach, sun dried tomatoes and goat cheese served with mashed potatoes and finished with a roasted garlic butter sauce.

I enjoyed it so much that I decided to recreate the meal on my own. I brushed fresh chicken breasts with olive oil and sprinkled them with my favorite seasonings. I proceeded to bake them for about 30 minutes at 375 degrees in a casserole pan covered with foil.

After baking the chicken, I sautéed fresh, organic, spinach in olive oil and lightly seasoned it with an organic season-all. I added in chopped yellow onions and italian-style sun dried tomatoes. I then smeared the chicken breasts with my favorite goat cheese I got from the farmer's market and then topped the chicken with the sautéed spinach mixture.

While eating my meal, I became very aware of my teeth. I have very sensitive teeth as a result of over 8 years of braces so this is not uncommon. I noticed that my teeth felt like they had a film on them and realized that this happens every time that I eat spinach. After finishing my meal, I began to do some research.

Spinach is rich in oxalic acid. This acid combines with the calcium in our saliva while we chew and forms calcium oxalate crystals. These crystals coat our teeth causing that funny "spinach teeth" feeling. So there we have it!

What is your favorite spinach meal? Have you experience spinach teeth? Comment below via Facebook Comments!