Challenge me.
January 30th, 2006 Caroline
Tony bought a 2 1/2 pound bag of spinach at Costco, so it’s become my mission to use it before it goes bad. First we just had sauteed spinach with lemon and olive oil next to pasta; then I sautéed some with sesame oil and soy sauce to go with a stir fry (”But I like vegetables in my stir fry!” complained Ben, temporarily forgetting that he loves spinach. He ate it all up.) Yesterday, I tried a Martha Stewart recipe for sweet potatoes stuffed with kale (replaced with spinach) and tofu. Somehow it looked good to me in the magazine, and maybe it would have been better with the kale (though it couldn’t have been that much better). But half way through making it I realized that really it’s just one of those unimaginative vegetarian recipes that uses tofu, which then sits, cold and clammy, where it doesn’t belong. It would have given my nephew nightmares. (I can’t find the recipe online, but you don’t want to make it anyway). Still, the extra filling was ok fried up with some leftover rice, lots of sesame seeds, and some soy sauce, so not a total loss. Today, to redeem myself (and having found lots of sesame seeds in the freezer), I made a Moosewood recipe for sesame-crusted fried tofu with spinach (flavored with sesame oil, soy sauce, and for a change, chipotle Tabasco), and green rice, which is – you got it – rice tossed with pureed cooked spinach. Obviously we’re not the kind of people who need to sneak spinach into our kid’s meals to get him to eat it (I think if he didn’t like spinach, we’d just not make it), but he was pretty entertained by green rice, so this might become a regular around here.
Somehow I still haven’t made my favorite kind of spinach, sautéed with toasted pine nuts and raisins. Unless we start turning green, I’ll make that tomorrow.
Entry Filed under: General
4 Comments
1. Libby | February 1st, 2006 at 8:20 am
So, Caroline, which Moosewood did that recipe come from? Nick doesn’t like spinach (or almost anything else green, right now) but I might be able to convince him if the sesame-crust looked good enough. But it doesn’t sound familiar.
Oh, and now that you’re here, can I link to you? Are you officially here?
2. Caroline | February 1st, 2006 at 1:37 pm
Another new Moosewood! (I still refer to the white one as the new Moosewood, but whatever…) It’s called Simple Suppers and I will post the recipe anon.
3. Kate | February 3rd, 2006 at 1:51 am
Hi Caroline! I’m here via Libby’s blog. That spinach with pine nuts and raisins is a staple here in Spain (though I usually use swiss chard instead.) I am looking forward to trying a recipe that seems pretty easy– you toast (in the oven if you want) some thick slices of good bread, rub with garlic, top with slightly-sauteed spinach, chopped walnuts, and goat cheese. (Um, the walnuts and goat cheese don’t get sauteed, if that wasn’t clear.) Pop back into the oven to melt the cheese.
4. Caroline | February 3rd, 2006 at 8:21 am
Yes, we started eating our spinach (and chard, and sometimes kale) that way after 2 weeks in Italy. The spinach toast sounds great; I’ll try that with the next bag!