Cooked Spinach
Been a long time, hasn't it? The other blog sort of fizzled and everyone has alerts for this one, so I'm back here again.
Once, a long time ago, I asked my mother if I could try canned spinach after watching some Popeye cartoons. With a look of revulsion on her face, she agreed. She hated the smell of it and I'm kind of surprised she did it. I probably was pretty adamant and threw a tantrum or something. Regardless, I tried it and absolutely was horrified by the taste and texture. Later, my freshman year in college, my roommate made it in the microwave from a can. I couldn't stand the smell then and cancelled it out with my own microwaved can of black eyed peas to which she felt similarly.
I do, however, really like baby spinach fresh in salads and have learned to be okay with it cooked on pizza and with alfredo sauce on other Italian foods. We aren't eating most animal products right now (see the note below), so when I got a 2 lb. bag of spinach from the co-op yesterday I wasn't completely sure what to do when it was not baby spinach. I had never cooked fresh spinach and didn't know where to begin. I sauteed it with some olive oil, fresh onions and garlic and added some lemon juice. It was....decent. I ate a heaping bowlful and I was pretty okay with it. (Sorry, no pictures exist of this adventure)
I still had (and have, honestly) a lot of spinach left. We had talked about spinach salads, but this didn't really seem like the right thing for full grown spinach. When I got ready for dinner I really took off and here's the result:
Angel hair pasta, sauteed spinach, onions, garlic, mushrooms, olives, crushed tomatoes, shrimp, squid, herbs, a touch of cooking wine, olive oil, a couple of squeezes of agave nectar. Seriously it was one of the best meals I've had in recent memory, even without cheese which usually so dominates my pasta dishes. I think the cheese would have lessened the taste.
Note below: Last week started a new experience in our lives. We had been fiddling with new eating styles since the beginning of the year, first Mediterranean, then just soup/stew. Neither lasted very long, but we did not really have a goal in mind and were just sort of flinging it out there. A month ago we decided to do Great Lent, or at least the main parts of it (no animal products except spineless seafood).
This is the Orthodox Great Lent which started on March 11th giving up meat and March 18th giving up dairy, eggs, and all other animal products except spineless seafood. We have a goal date for this to end, May 5th, but we may do it a couple of days a week after that.
The first week was really easy. Giving up meat was a cinch, though I did make some seafood alfredo with shrimp and squid as is allowed. We never felt deprived and ate pretty well. Makes me wonder how much meat is superfluous in our daily diet.
This week has been harder and we are only five days in. If we followed the true Great Lent fast we would have no olive oil or wine, not eat the first three days at all (or very little). We are not Orthodox though, and did not feel the need to go that far at this point. This is a step, an important one, and a way for us to learn about ourselves in the process.
Once, a long time ago, I asked my mother if I could try canned spinach after watching some Popeye cartoons. With a look of revulsion on her face, she agreed. She hated the smell of it and I'm kind of surprised she did it. I probably was pretty adamant and threw a tantrum or something. Regardless, I tried it and absolutely was horrified by the taste and texture. Later, my freshman year in college, my roommate made it in the microwave from a can. I couldn't stand the smell then and cancelled it out with my own microwaved can of black eyed peas to which she felt similarly.
I do, however, really like baby spinach fresh in salads and have learned to be okay with it cooked on pizza and with alfredo sauce on other Italian foods. We aren't eating most animal products right now (see the note below), so when I got a 2 lb. bag of spinach from the co-op yesterday I wasn't completely sure what to do when it was not baby spinach. I had never cooked fresh spinach and didn't know where to begin. I sauteed it with some olive oil, fresh onions and garlic and added some lemon juice. It was....decent. I ate a heaping bowlful and I was pretty okay with it. (Sorry, no pictures exist of this adventure)
I still had (and have, honestly) a lot of spinach left. We had talked about spinach salads, but this didn't really seem like the right thing for full grown spinach. When I got ready for dinner I really took off and here's the result:
 |
| Probably one of the healthiest and tastiest things I've had in a while |
I'm a firm believer in cooked fresh spinach now, particularly when tomatoes is involved.
Taste: 7/10, probably would have been better with almonds or peanuts added to it when it was the star. It wasn't what made the pasta great, but it definitely added good things to the pasta
Texture: a bit slick with olive oil. I probably added a little too much. It obviously and appropriately wilted when cooked, but it wasn't overcooked. Not the best texture, but not as bad as it could have been.
Will we have it again?: Definitely, particularly the pasta part, though I don't know the next time I'll get the seafood. And we still have nearly a pound left.
Note below: Last week started a new experience in our lives. We had been fiddling with new eating styles since the beginning of the year, first Mediterranean, then just soup/stew. Neither lasted very long, but we did not really have a goal in mind and were just sort of flinging it out there. A month ago we decided to do Great Lent, or at least the main parts of it (no animal products except spineless seafood).
This is the Orthodox Great Lent which started on March 11th giving up meat and March 18th giving up dairy, eggs, and all other animal products except spineless seafood. We have a goal date for this to end, May 5th, but we may do it a couple of days a week after that.
The first week was really easy. Giving up meat was a cinch, though I did make some seafood alfredo with shrimp and squid as is allowed. We never felt deprived and ate pretty well. Makes me wonder how much meat is superfluous in our daily diet.
This week has been harder and we are only five days in. If we followed the true Great Lent fast we would have no olive oil or wine, not eat the first three days at all (or very little). We are not Orthodox though, and did not feel the need to go that far at this point. This is a step, an important one, and a way for us to learn about ourselves in the process.
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