Sautéed Spinach

by Jess M

Like most of us, I try and get as many healthy things into our regular meal rotation as possible. And few things are as (smugly) satisfying as buying giant bags of spinach each week.

When I’m not succumbing to entire weekly menus of comforting, carb-ful and cheesy meals, I try and work spinach in as often as I can. Usually I serve sauteed spinach along with a piece of fish and maybe some rice or grain on the side.

Here is my basic sauteed spinach recipe:

• Rinse the spinach, I use my salad spinner; even though the bags say that the spinach is “triple washed” it can still be a bit sandy
• Heat some olive oil in a large frying pan, you can also add some garlic and onion or shallots
• Add the damp spinach leaves over med-high heat and saute them until they start to wilt. I use large tongs to turn the leaves over since the pan is overflowing with spinach.
• After a few minutes, add a couple of tablespoons of water and cover the pan with a lid to steam
• Remove the lid after a few minutes and continue to cook, stirring, until the liquid has cooked off.
• Add salt and pepper and serve.

This is my favorite go-to spinach recipe:

From Cook’s Illustrated’s Perfect Vegetables:

 

Sauteed Tender Greens with Mustard and Pecans

For best results use grainy mustard. If it is unavailable, regular Dijon mustard can be substituted.

 

 

¼ c chopped pecans

1 tablespoon grainy mustard

1 teaspoon light or dark brown sugar

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium shallot, minced

2 pounds damp tender greens. such as spinach, beet greens or Swiss chard; stemmed, washed in several changes of cold water, shaken to remove excess water, and coarsely chopped

Salt and ground black pepper

1. Toast the pecans in a dry skillet over medium heat until fragrant, about 4 minutes. Set aside.

2. Mix the mustard, brown sugar, and 2 tablespoons water together in a small bowl. Set aside.

3. Heat the oil and shallot in a Dutch oven or other deep pot over medium-high heat until the shallot sizzles and turns golden, about 2 minutes. Add the wet greens and mustard mixture, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the greens completely wilt, 2 to 3 minutes. Garnish with the toasted pecans and serve immediately.

And this one goes well when you want to serve spinach alongside a Mexican dish: Espinacas Guisadas (Mexican Sauteed Spinach) - I use this as a guide, and substitute canned, diced tomatoes.

Other Food Lush writers have written about spinach here.

(Photos from: me, Amazon)

Comments

[PinkieBling]

Ooh, yum! I'm looking forward to trying this.