Spinach

[tibouchina]

Hi everyone,  I have a lovely crop of spinach, but not sure what to do with it!!  Does anyone have a recipe for creamed spinach?  or any other ideas. ???

[tibouchina]

[katynewbie]

 :-\

Being a "bung it in, it will be fine" kind of cook, I put it in pasta dishes..wilt gently in a pan before and bobs your uncle! The expert cooks will be along shortly...

;)

[SMP1704]

Well, you will still need to wait for an expert cook...........but here's what I have done with the spinach I have picked so far.

First picking - had with salmon (my fav combo) wilted it with some butter and ginger

Second picking - did a sort of aloo gobi thingy

Third picking (last night) stirred it into a chicken curry

[Mrs Ava]

With the larger leaves I make a Dolmades style dish.  I de-rib the leaf and place a dollop of whatever takes my fancy in it.  It could be spicy minced beef, could be goats cheese, could be mozerella and advocado.  I then roll it up, tucking the sides in as you go so you end up with a small sealed parcel.  I then lay these out on a lightly oiled steamer and steam them until tender.  They can then have a tomato sauce poured over, a dusting of grated cheese and a blast under the grill before serving with salad and a large glass of red!  :P

Shredded and added to a cheese quiche is good - I veer towards the stronger cheeses cos I love them, and the spinach can have a strong irony earth flavour so you need to get a good balance.

[Doris_Pinks]

Hi tib,
Not an expert but some of faves are:-

Love it steamed with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
or
Saute some chopped garlic in olive oil until golden, add washed spinach, (chopped if you like!) let it cook gently with a lid on, about 5 mins, season with salt and pepper and nutmeg, serve. (nice with double cream added at the end if you are not worried about added calories!)

Or as a base for chicken breasts, (garlic method above!) you sit them on it, pour over tomato sauce, homemade or jarred, top with mozzerrella and bake.

Also nice is saag aloo, indian spinach.

We also love it raw as a salad with balsamic dressing, beetroot, goats cheese, crispy bacon bits and croutons. (add or remove ingredients as liked!)

Good too is spinach quiche.

It can also be frozen.

Hope this helps
DP

[Hyacinth]

"simply"....(another 'in' word/phrase, like 'pan-fried' etc?)...so...'simply' toss the wilted leaves in garlic & chilli heated in olive oil, squeeze lemon over.....and eat 8)

[sally_cinnamon]

Any "Florentine" recipe... you could do a websearch.  Below is a particular favourite of mine, courtesy of my dad - and its quite easy too!  Always a bonus...

Pork Florentine

Serves 4                                   Calories       490
Preparation          15mins         Fat              33g
Cooking                20mins.

2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 small red chilli, deseeded and thinly sliced
500g boneless pork loin steaks, cut into long thin strips
4tbsp dry white wine
1 tsp fennel seeds
400g can chickpeas, drained
225g baby spinach
3 tbsp mascarpone ( could be substituted by creme fraiche, if concerned about fat, but with only 3 tbsp, who cares!!!)
Salt and black pepper

1                     Heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok.  Fry the onion for 3-4 minutes, until softened, then add the garlic and chilli and cook for a further minute.

2                    Stir in the strips of pork and cook, stirring, over a medium to high heat for 5 minutes or until golden and cooked through.  Stir in the wine and fennel seeds and simmer for 3-4 minutes, stirring.

3                     Add the chickpeas, then the spinach and stir over a high heat for 3-4 minutes, until the spinach has wilted and any liquid has evaporated.  Stir in the mascarpone or cream and season.

[euronerd]

Well I'm certainly going to try some of those  ;D. Here's my quickie, quite an old recipe actually: steam spinach normally; poach eggs (roughly same cooking time); spinach to plate with eggs on top, and crunchy bacon bits and parmesan sprinkled over. Oh, and some good bread to mop up the juice, pleb that I am.
I was going to mention freezing but Doris beat me to it. If you cook it and press it into containers holding what you consider to be single portions before freezing, it will be there whenever you need it.

Geoff.

[Truffle]

mmmm we've been eating loads of spinach too lately...

Does anyone else find that it can be quite bitter in large doses?

I love it creamed (never bitter this way):

Melt a chunk of butter, chuck in spinach and wilt then cook for a minute. Drain and squeeze out all the water then chop up. Add back to pan and add cream and grated nutmeg, cook briefly and serve....delicious!

Truffle

[Meg]

Boil rice with chopped onions and sliced mushrooms.
Whisk two egss add to ingredients with chopped and washed spinach.
Put half into container cover with sliced tomatoes and cheese.
Put rest of mixture on top.
Cover with grated cheese bake for 1/2 an hour in oven 180.
Lovely hot or cold.