Not-A-Recipe: Kristi takes a "dash of this", a "pinch of that", a heaping spoonful of arrogance, and makes something delicious - without really giving you enough information for an exact replication. FEEL IT, IN YOUR HEART, COOK WITH MEEEEEEEEE.
"Creamed" Spinach with Tomato
Oooooh, yeah.
This is one of our favorite side dishes from the past year. When I first made it, we had had an excess of spinach that I bought for smoothies and couldn't drink fast enough (seriously, if you haven't tried spinach smoothies yet - go do it. They're surprisingly DELICIOUS) so I decided to cook it up. But I didn't want just wilted greens, I was craving something naughty and Italian. So I decided to combine some Italian dish flavors with what was arguably a healthy base ingredient. And then I covered it in cheese.
Wait, come back! Guys, it's still ok! The parmesan and vinegar combine with the wilted vegetables to create what tastes like a filthy, gorgeous cream sauce...without all the creamy calories.
....creeeeammmmyyyy is fun to saaayyyyy.
You will (vaguely) need:
+ Olive Oil (I prefer extra virgin, but you can use light)
+ Spinach (baby or cooking - approximately a bathtub full. Or at least one bag of prewashed)
+ Tomatoes (Roma works best, but whatever you have - one on the vine pictured above)
+ Parmesan Cheese (from the off-brand shaker, like the Italians pretend they don't use - *ducks a rolling pin*)
+ Apple Cider Vinegar (TRUST ME, it's magic, tastes better than plain white in this)
+ Salt, to taste (All of it's to taste, since I'm too lazy to measure, but it just sounds fancy to say that!)
Put a little swirl of oil in your skillet, and put it on medium to medium-high. Toss in as much spinach as your pan will allow, and chop up a tomato while it starts to sizzle and cook down. If you're using roma tomatoes, give two to three a rough chop and toss them in. One large hothouse tomato should do the trick, otherwise.
As the spinach is cooking, add a dash of salt. Feel like Julia Child. Add a healthy sprinkling of parmesan, and then about two cap fulls of apple cider vinegar. Wonder how to accurately spell cap full in such a manner, as the internet seems divided. Digress. Keep stirring, and adding more parmesan bit by bit until it cooks down to a creamy consistency.
The spinach will cook down like crazy, so be prepared to add more as you go. I usually a) get very excited at how delicious it's beginning to look, b) become depressed that there's so little creamed spinach as it cooks down and finally c) add more spinach, salt, and parmesan.
The romas will cook down and make the "sauce" a bit pink, and the vinegar helps break everything down into a delicious mess. I use quite a bit of parmesan, so if you're more in the mood for plain greens feel free to not add extra with the additional handfuls of greens.
At the end, it should look close to this:
Here it is, with a chicken "burger" patty and cottage cheese. Not too shabby for a light, healthy dinner!
If you try it out, let me know and tell me what you think!
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