spinach

brianthebard

just want to know what people here do with it-me ma cooked it today and it was mank,she prolly overcooked it(as she does all veg)something simple like mashed with potatoes is usually good enough for me but if anyone has some simple ideas they would be appreciated.

SnowMonkey

if i can get the list of ingrdents below i enjoy spinich with semfire shark and noodels and a istirfty the spinch till just be fore it wilts..

I also use it in rosti's ....

The Sweeper

Spinach wilts in about two minutes and turns to mush in five.

Stir fry it for 90 seconds with some garlic and sprinkle with sesame oil? It's also good stirred through dishes before serving, because it just wilts. Oddly, it's very good stirred through a creamy curry before serving.

P. Breathnach

The simplest way to treat spinach is to rinse it, put it in a pan without adding any liquid beyond what sticks to it from rinsing, give it plenty of heat until it wilts well, and there you are. Sometimes I add a little coriander; sometimes I don't.

olaola

I use spinach in the layers of lasagne. It really adds a great texture to it - it seems more moist and saucy. Maybe it absorbs the liquid and doesn't let it sink to the bottom.

Also I stir in baby spinch to cous cous or at the end of making a tomatoey pasta sauce - I throw some in.

spaceylou

spinach is great with lentils and spices.....fry off some onion and garlic first, then add some coriander and cumin, a tin of puy lentils and then add your spinach - it will wilt in a few minutes and woohla - yummy lentils and spinach dish, great with cous cous

OR if you want something with a more italian flavour, fry off some onion and garlic with a little oregano add your spinach to the pan, some feta cheese and then mix with cooked pasta.

bonkey

Finely dice about half a small onion, and a clove of two of garlic*. Sautee off in a bit of butter. Add your rinsed spinach on top, bung a lid on, and allow to wilt for about 2-3 minutes. Add a good pinch each of salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

Stir it up to get the onion/garlic well mixed through, and serve.

Also...spinach works the absolute bomb when added to curry. Cook a chicken or beef curry, and about 2-3 minutes before you serve it, take it off the heat and stir through some fresh spinach (preferably young spinach). If its really young (i.e. baby spinach) you don't even need to wilt it...just stir it in and serve. If its a bit older/larger/tougher, just let it wilt in a bit. It'll work fine if you add it too early and cook it in, but its nicer with some bite.

Baby spinach is also a fantastic leaf for making salad from. This spring, I went through a load of it, cutting chard, rocket, and cress, mixed together and dressed with a simple mustard vinaigrette or with balsamic & olive oil. Fantastico.





*dice the garlic...if you crush it, it'll be too overpowering.

CJhaughey

bonkey wrote: »

cutting chard
.

Is this the same as Swiss chard or some different type of chard, red or white?

bonkey

FIrst cousins.

Swiss Chard grows as a loose head, and is often get to quite large leaf-sizes before harvesting (at least, over here in Switzerland it is harvested that way!)

Cutting chard grows as individual leaves, and is typically harvested at the same size as baby spinach.

Minder

As other have said spinach is great in curry. Try blending two tablespoons of wilted spinach to a puree before adding to a lamb curry - Rick Steins recipe for Mumrez Khan’s Lamb and Spinach Karahi curry, from the Food Heroes Book is one of the best curry recipes I have.

Another simple recipe for using spinach is Spanakopitta - the greek snack of filo pastry parcels with spinach and feta cheese - I use wilted spinach and squeeze out as much water as I can. Dozens of recipes on the interweb and it is usually a recipe included in the packets of filo.

bonkey

Which has then reminded me of hte excellence of home-made spinach & ricotta tortellini.

MJOR

bonkey wrote: »

Which has then reminded me of hte excellence of home-made spinach & ricotta tortellini.

have you the recipie for that?

sweet-rasmus

P. Breathnach wrote: »

The simplest way to treat spinach is to rinse it, put it in a pan without adding any liquid beyond what sticks to it from rinsing, give it plenty of heat until it wilts well, and there you are. Sometimes I add a little coriander; sometimes I don't.

Exactly! Keep an eye on it and after about 2 minutes of low heat it will shrink down. Do NOT cook it to death. Add a bit of butter, salt and pepper and nyom nyom nyom

It doesn't even need to be cooked. Delicious in salads and sambos.

P. Breathnach

OsciiBoscii wrote: »

It doesn't even need to be cooked. Delicious in salads and sambos.

Yep. I concede that my method is only the second simplest.

Honey-ec

OsciiBoscii wrote: »

It doesn't even need to be cooked. Delicious in salads and sambos.

+1. I absolutely love it raw in salads in place of boring old iceberg or butterhead lettuce. The leaves need to be quite young, though.