I don't consider myself a picky eater, but I eat very basic foods and eat the same thing all the time. Our week usually consists of tacos, some kind of italian meal, grilled meat, leftovers and maybe some chicken stir-fry or meat and potato type meal. On nights when I have a meeting or activity I'll usually just make chicken nuggets or mac & cheese for the kids and I'll eat something of my own. I want my kids to have exposure to different foods. And I want to start now before they get used to the same things I grew up eating! So I am enlisting the help of my dear readers. Instead of just asking for ideas, I'm going to pick an ingredient every few days that I'd like to incorporate into our lives. This week: fresh baby spinach. I like to buy a bag to eat with lettuce, but there's so much of it and I want use it in some sort of recipe. Also, I cannot seem to find frozen spinach at our Walmart and I think the canned stuff is gross. So if I wanted to put some spinach in manicotti what would I need to do with it first? Last time I just added it to the sauce, but I'd like to add it to the cheese mixture instead. What else do you do with spinach? I want spinach to be something we eat more often!
And I know there are a million websites out there to get recipes from, but I want recipes from people I know and trust that know and trust their recipes.
Oooh, while I'm at it - I got some egg roll wrappers to do this project and now I need to do something with the rest of them. Anyone have a good egg roll recipe? I'm counting on you guys!
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I would assume you just need to sautee or boil spinach until its soft to use it in meals. (and of course chop it to size.) I don't have many more ideas.. I don't really cook with spinach. Maybe I will take some ideas from here and use them myself :) As for eating new things I'm eating crawfish tonight and I am giddy about it... It's now one of my favorite meals.
You can add it (chopped) at the end to your stir-fry. I eat it on sandwiches.
I LOVE (and everyone who tries them love them as well) 2 spinach salads. One is easy enough to type here, the other you'll have to email me (amyjenks@gmail)
To one bag of baby spinach, add 1 chopped apple, plenty of sliced strawberries, craisins (I don't like these plain but they are delish in this salad), and almonds. I have also added other berries that are great - pretty much any fruit that you feel like would taste good.
Toss with dressing:
Juice of 2 (limes, lemons, or I like 1 of each)
zest from the lime and/or lemon
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup oil
a little mustard
YUM!
It's a little addicting so watch out!
Spinach is great in scrambled eggs with cheese (I use the frozen kind for that, you just throw it in and fry it) and also in quiche (I use fresh spinach for that-just throw it in and mix it with the other ingredients). If I were to put spinach in manicotti, I would probably steam it first and mix it with the cheese stuffing. Good luck!
I posted the Tex Mex Wanton recipe over on Katie's blog. Still highly recommended based on the yummy factor, but not so much on the healthy side.
If I can remember it, I need to write down the recipe for Okinawan egg rolls I learned from my friend's mom (she's from Okinawa). Best eggrolls ever.
Hey I was coming to check on you guys, which I do from time to time, but never leave a comment (I guess that makes me a stalker--that sounds so exciting & icky), so this time I was determined to leave a comment. But you're making us do research!
I found online one of our favorite spinach recipes. It's from Safeway... pause here for memories to flood in. I really miss that store. Grocery store in Minnesota are lame. Is that true throughout the mid-west?
But here it is:
Capellini with Spinach and Pine Nuts
Ingredients
* 12 ounces Safeway SELECT Verdi Capellini (ie. spaghetti, thin-ish)
* 1 cup pine nuts
* 1/2 cup Safeway SELECT Verdi Olive or Extra-Light Olive Oil
* 4 large cloves garlic, minced
* 3/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
* 18 ounces washed and trimmed spinach leaves, coarsely chopped
* 4 tablespoons Lucerne Sweet Cream Butter, at room temperature
* 1/2 cup Safeway SELECT Verdi Grated Parmesan Cheese
* Salt and pepper
Directions
1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. Meanwhile, in a wok or a large skillet, saute pine nuts until golden. Remove and set aside. In the same pan, heat olive oil and saute garlic and pepper flakes for 1 minute. Stir in spinach and toss over high heat until wilted, 2 to 3 minutes. Do not overcook or it will stick together.
3. Drain pasta. Put in a bowl; add butter, spinach mixture, parmesan cheese, pine nuts, and salt and pepper to taste. Toss well and serve immediately.
The butter totally cancels out the health of the spinach. Magnifique!
Glad to see you're doing well.
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