Spinach 101

PLEASE NOTE: This is not a recipe. I've added a rough recipe to the bottom of this ridiculous post! This is me rambling about spinach and kind of half-ass telling you how I cooked some last night.

I'm having a thing with spinach right now. I've been buying the big salad bags of baby spinach leaves and basically stuffing them into everything.

It started with the smoothie. Mom called one day while Curt was over there and was bragging that she got my child to DRINK SPINACH. I was impressed. So I tried it myself. I made a basic smoothie (strawberry, banana, applesauce, and a dab of yogurt and milk for my dairy serving) and threw in some spinach. Dang. Who knew? It was delicious and I felt super good about everything the whole day.

So I've been making the spinach smoothies, eating spinach salads, sticking spinach into my sandwiches and - my favorite - having spinach and fresh tomato with my hummus and pita for lunch.

However, there is one thing I hadn't figured out. Cooking it. I mean, I've added it into omelettes before, and that's sort of like cooking it, but no. I mean, preparing straight up hot spinach as a meal or side dish. I never tried it. I had no interest in it before, because I never did like cooked greens. At least, I didn't think I did. This was an old grudge, from childhood - what kid likes the green stuff? (Not mine!)

Then I got a craving. There's this lunch menu special at Serrano's just off campus. I get it every time I go, because it's delicious. It's the "Pollo Asada" - a grilled chicken breast smothered in sauteed spinach and cheese. OH HEY. That's totally cooked spinach, and I love it. Let's start there!

Googling "pollo asada" led me nowhere. That apparently just means "roasted chicken" in Spanish, which isn't even a good description of what the dish is. You're right, Serrano's. I don't know enough Spanish to have caught onto that before, but it sure sounds authentic! I forgive you. Then I tried every variation of "spinach," "smothered" and "chicken" I could think of. Nada.

OH WELL, moving on. Gonna have to wing it. So last night, as I was roasting some green beans in the oven (yes, more sesame green beans, what?) I wrapped up a garlic clove (dipped in olive oil first) in a little piece of foil and roasted it, too. I took the roasted garlic clove (which smelled like heaven), and mashed it in an oiled skilled with some chopped onion, and stirred it all around a little bit. When the onion was softened, I went for it - I dumped in two big handfuls of spinach leaves and I cooked them.

EDIT: Salt and pepper! I also seasoned them with salt and pepper.

When the spinach was just wilted, I scooped it out (along with the garlic and onions) and transferred it to a small, one-person (ME ME ME) serving bowl. I topped it with Mozzarella and a sprinkle of Parmesan (because I don't have any Monterey Jack or Asadero on hand ever) and microwaved it to melt the cheese, and now I love cooked spinach forever.

Since this experiment worked, the next step is to top some chicken with it, and recreate that recipe. I found a good green rice recipe, which doubles as yet another great place to hide some spinach, AND a good use for spare cilantro.

Will report back on that.

--------------------------------------------------

SAUTEED SPINACH

1 ½ lbs spinach leaves (give or take)
2 tbs olive oil
Small diced onion (or half medium onion, let's say about 1/2 cup or so?)
4-6 cloves garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
Mozzarella and Parmesan (or Montery Jack and Asadero) cheese (optional)

Preheat oven to 425. Leave the skins on the garlic cloves, and just lop the very tips off. Coat the cloves in oil, wrap in foil, and bake 20-25 minutes until tender. I'm sure you can substitute regular minced garlic here if you're in a hurry, but I was trying to recreate the restaurant flavor, and that is roasted.

Wash and drain the spinach. When the garlic is done, remove from skin and mash.

In a saucepan, heat the oil and add the onion and garlic. Sautee until the onion softens. Add in spinach by handfuls, and stir until wilted. Remove from heat.

If you like, you can transfer to serving bowls and top with cheeses. Melt the cheese in the oven (if using oven-proof bowls) or microwave. Also makes an excellent topping for baked or grilled chicken, if you want to fancy it up into an entree.