Add garlic and shallot and sauté until soft. Baby spinach leaves need no more than a quick rinse before use. Baby spinach and trimmed flat-leaf work well for smoothies, salad, and cooking. 7 recipes you can make with a bag of baby spinach Food pros share their best recipes and tips for everyone’s favorite bag of supermarket greens. So it makes sense that, when most people are staring down a recipe that calls for cooked spinach—be it a coconut-infused lentil soup or phyllo-encased spanikopita—they are likely to reach for the plastic tub of the baby stuff in their fridge. Watch spinach carefully while cooking, as it cooks down quickly. Salt to taste, some folks like it with a just a bit of fresh grated nutmeg. This method works well if you do not have the time or materials to cook your baby spinach by another method. But is it delicious? When cool, store the spinach and liquid in a plastic container. So yeah, never cook baby spinach. Leave the spinach in the boiling water for three to five minutes before removing the pot from heat and pouring the contents into a colander to drain. Keep frozen spinach in its original packaging or in a sealed bag or container to prevent mess from excess liquid during thawing. This quick video will show you how to cook wonderful wilted spinach in minutes. Cover … How to cook. Your support helps wikiHow to create more in-depth illustrated articles and videos and to share our trusted brand of instructional content with millions of people all over the world. Fresh baby spinach is best for making creamed spinach. That's right, we said it. Try a spinach artichoke dip by combining cooked spinach with artichoke hearts, parmesan and mozzarella cheeses, mayonnaise, and seasonings for any easy party platter with chips, bread, or vegetables for dipping. To freeze spinach, you have to cook it before. Fresh spinach is abundant in warm weather, and many farmers market vendors offer it in large quantities for an economical price. I grew up eating it popeye style- out of a can all watery with butter. The stems are perfectly edible, but can be slightly tougher or stringier than the leaves when eating. While the spinach mixture is cooling, beat eggs and milk in a large bowl. You may add oil or butter first, but the water content of the spinach will quickly be released and prevent it from sticking to the pan on its own. I also prefer to use baby spinach, as most bagged varieties are 10 ounces, which is … Ad Choices. How to prepare and cook spinach. Once upon a time, the word "spinach… Cook the spinach by sauteing or steaming it as explained above. wikiHow is where trusted research and expert knowledge come together. Quick, easy, and healthy, our sauteed baby spinach recipe is the perfect green addition to your dinner table. Sure. Lol! Last Updated: March 29, 2019 Whether you cook spinach first when making quiche depends on the type of spinach you use and your preference. It seems like every week, I buy a big bag of spinach, and end up with about half of it left on Sundays. To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. If you are pressed for time, you can also steam fresh spinach in the microwave by placing it in a microwave-safe bowl with a small amount of water, covering the bowl with a lid, and microwaving for 30 seconds to two minutes depending on your microwave and desired cooking level. These dark green leaves are delicate enough for salads but hardy enough to be cooked, and can be sautéed or stir-fried, layered into lasagna or simmered in sauces, soups and stews. Repeat if necessary. No it isn't. Check and add cooking time if needed. You must kill its presence before you consume your spinach. For tips on boiling or steaming fresh baby spinach, read on! Next, drain the spinach … It's a lot of work, but totally worth it if you're into that kind of thing. Allow 225g per person for cooking spinach, that will be a good bench mark in order to cook enough for everyone! Boil the water for three to five minutes to steam the spinach and avoid the draining step. You may want to avoid draining the excess liquid from thawing, or add in some water, before microwaving in order to preserve moisture. wikiHow's Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article is backed by trusted research and meets our high quality standards. By using our site, you agree to our. You’re better than that. Make spanakopita by layering phyllo dough with feta and ricotta cheese, eggs, and a mixture of spinach, parsley, garlic, and onions to bake into a traditional Greek pie. First, thoroughly clean the spinach in water. Once the spinach has cooled, gather it into a ball and squeeze as hard as you can. Sure, a lot of frozen vegetables deserve all of the shade that gets thrown their way—looking at you, frozen broccoli—but others, like spinach and peas, are a shortcut we can totally get behind. Hit us with the frozen stuff, every time. Put the oil into the pan and heat. After boiling, pour the contents of the pot into a colander to drain. You can microwave spinach to make sure the content of nutrients is hardly affected. In a perforated plastic bag in the fridge. Raw in salads. Store baby spinach or curly-lead in its original packaging (plastic bag or box) to keep it fresh. Here's what you should do instead. Try placing thawed spinach into a cloth towel or a few paper towels and squeezing or patting it dry. This is a great way to cook spinach. The older leaves might need a more thorough wash in cold water and you may also want to trim or tear off any woodier stems. Stir in cheese. You buy a few beautiful bunches of dark green, mature spinach—ideally from the farmers' market. Using fresh baby spinach, they used steaming, frying, or boiling it up to 90 minutes. Remove from heat. Steam whole (3-4 mins). Baby spinach can be used in a large variety of recipes. Then, put the spinach in a steamer basket and steam it until the leaves become soft and wilted. Frozen spinach gives you all the flavor, texture, and nutrition you'd get from fresh mature spinach, but without all of those time-consuming steps. {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/4\/4e\/Cook-Baby-Spinach-Step-1-Version-2.jpg\/v4-460px-Cook-Baby-Spinach-Step-1-Version-2.jpg","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/4\/4e\/Cook-Baby-Spinach-Step-1-Version-2.jpg\/aid6177195-v4-728px-Cook-Baby-Spinach-Step-1-Version-2.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":314,"bigWidth":"728","bigHeight":"497","licensing":"

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\n<\/p><\/div>"}. Use a steamer basket if you have one by filling it with spinach and placing it in your pot over a small amount of water. Conclusions: A. To cook spinach, melt 3 tablespoons butter in a separate pot. Add spinach, season with nutmeg, salt and pepper, and cook until the spinach wilts down, stirring occasionally. If you have time, you can make your own spinach puree at home. To cook, simply place the spinach, along with the liquid from the can, into a saucepan and cook until heated through. The only things needed are a large pot and a bit of water. Nowadays, though, we're more likely to think of tender-leaved baby spinach when we think of the vegetable; that stuff is everywhere, a staple of salad bars and crisper drawers everywhere. Instructions. So yeah, never cook baby spinach . We know ads can be annoying, but they’re what allow us to make all of wikiHow available for free. You may want to add additional seasoning to taste, like more salt and pepper, after the spinach is added in. Place the frozen spinach into your refrigerator a day or two in advance, or into a room temperature environment if you can only thaw a couple hours in advance. No bueno. Rinse and dry the spinach. It was gross, but good for you. All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published, This article was co-authored by our trained team of editors and researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness. Add cooked spinach into any existing soup, like minestrone, or pasta dish, like lasagna, for a healthy addition of greens to your meal. You’re better than that. You can’t eat spinach raw because of E. coli, a type of bacteria found in spinach. This is so good and healthy! http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-quickly-cook-spinach-on-the-stovetop-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-200907, http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=recipe&dbid=101, http://www.bhg.com/recipes/how-to/cook-with-fruits-and-vegetables/how-to-cook-spinach/#page=1, http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/robin-miller/steamed-baby-spinach-recipe.html, http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1992-03-22/news/9201260784_1_microwave-oven-frozen-refrigerator, http://www.thekitchn.com/helpful-hint-a-new-use-for-you-112510, http://oldwayspt.org/recipes/sauteed-spinach-garlic, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-stir/spinach-artichoke-dip-recipe_b_2251189.html, http://allrecipes.com/recipe/18417/spanakopita-greek-spinach-pie/, consider supporting our work with a contribution to wikiHow. You carefully wash them, blanch them in boiling, salted water, shock them in ice water, and then press them in a sieve or colander to get out any excess liquid before incorporating them into a recipe. Baby spinach gets gross when you cook it. For tips on boiling or steaming fresh baby spinach, read on! ... whip up one of these fast pasta recipes. Alternatively, you can also freeze tablespoons of cooked spinach in an ice-cube tray. You may decide not to drain spinach for recipes that won’t be harmed by extra liquid, or could even benefit from it by adding extra moisture while cooking. Simmer uncovered for about two minutes until the whole thing is thickened. This recipe is VERY forgiving, so you can add or remove ingredients according to your taste! Be sure to do this standing over the sink or, if you want to save the spinach juice, into a bowl. Does it seem like a convenient way to use up the wilty last few cups leftover from a week of meal prepped salads? What do you do with baby spinach? You've got two options. Drain, rinse with … 400g-450g spinach or 250-300g baby spinach; butter or olive oil; salt and pepper Once upon a time, the word "spinach" conjured up images of a gloopy, dark green slime that shot out of tin cans and into Popeye's cartoon mouth. Add spinach in increments until all incorporated, and cook until wilted but not soggy, about 4 to 5 minutes. If you really can’t stand to see another ad again, then please consider supporting our work with a contribution to wikiHow. Bring the whole mixture to a boil until cream starts to thicken. Learn more... Baby spinach refers to spinach that has been harvested while the leaves are still small, leaving them tender and sweet in flavor. You can heat oil or butter over medium heat in the skillet before adding spinach, or simply use the natural water content of the spinach to protect it from sticking to the pan. If you catch us making dinner on a weeknight though, there’s only one real way to go. Don’t microwave it long enough to cook the spinach, only to defrost it. Quick, Easy, and Delicious Pasta Recipes Ideal for Weeknight Dinners When you need a comforting meal but don't have a lot of time, whip up one of these fast pasta recipes. If you use garlic or onion when sauteing spinach, chop and add them to the pan with a little butter or oil first to cook for a few minutes before adding in the spinach. By Alex Delan y. January 9, 2018. There are two main ways you can cook your spinach to … % of people told us that this article helped them. But that's a mistake, because cooked baby spinach is, well, slimy and gross. You can leave the spinach as it is or remove the stems and cut the leaves into smaller pieces if you prefer. © 2020 Condé Nast. We use cookies to make wikiHow great. Steam spinach until tender (about five minutes). Or, try using a potato ricer tool to press the liquid from the spinach. Baby spinach gets gross when you cook it. Every day at wikiHow, we work hard to give you access to instructions and information that will help you live a better life, whether it's keeping you safer, healthier, or improving your well-being. According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, spinach is rich in fiber, folate, vitamin K, beta-carotene, iron, calcium and magnesium. Spinach cooked in the oven is most commonly paired with a liquid-like cream or stock, cheese and breadcrumbs. Though the baby kale’s stems were more noticeable than those of the baby spinach and it imparted a mildly pungent flavor instead of spinach’s more mineral notes, on the whole it worked well as a substitute. Thaw one of those rectangular boxes from the grocery store's frozen food section, give it a quick squeeze, and go to town. If you cook down your spinach to a soft texture, you will likely not even notice this difference. Pop your baby spinach into the pan. For more information, see our guide on how to cook spinach and check out our spinach recipe collection. [1] X Research source After moving the spinach around in the water, avoid further agitation so that any dirt removed from the leaves can settle to the bottom. 400 g of Baby Spinach (14 US oz)22 ml tablespoons Oil (1.5 US tablespoons)1-2 cloves garlic to taste. Cook the Spinach. You can cook baby spinach in many ways and typically in any way that you’d cook standard spinach. Fill a bowl or clean sink with your fresh baby spinach and enough cool, clean water to cover it. Throw in onion and garlic and stir together, cooking for another minute. They then proceeded to measure the lutein content at different times of food preparation. Steaming is a very easy way to cook spinach. In addition to any cutting, the baby spinach will reduce its size on its own when cooking. You just pile it up in the skillet and it cooks down with just a little olive oil like cabbage. First, there's the Alice Waters-approved method. Those are your options. Please consider making a contribution to wikiHow today. Toss with a set of tongs to coat the spinach with oil/garlic. Spinach Cheese Bake. Please consider making a contribution to wikiHow today. Stir chopped raw spinach into the filling of lasagna or enchiladas, or layer it … B. Then, remove the spinach from the heat once the leaves have wilted and turned bright green. Here's what you should do instead. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 1/1/20) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated 1/1/20) and Your California Privacy Rights. Restaurant recommendations you trust. This method cooks the spinach lightly and skips the draining step necessary for boiling. Photo by Laura Murray. Pile it high as it reduces right down once it starts cooking. While the amount of cheese you use can be varied based upon your tastes and dietary needs, the basic preparation is the same for baked spinach. garlic (minced) 3 clove 3 clove; olive oil 1 1/2 tbsp 1 1/2 tbsp; baby spinach 12 oz 340 g; kale (chopped) 8 oz 227 g; black pepper 1/4 tsp 1/4 tsp; salt 1/4 tsp 1/4 tsp; apple cider vinegar Plus, it's always waiting for you in the freezer, ready at a moment's notice. Or you can chop it finely. Comforting Casserole. Because of its fragility, baby spinach cooks more quickly than regular spinach does. To cook fresh baby spinach, start by rinsing and drying the spinach thoroughly. Photo by Heidi's Bridge, styling by Molly Baz, but others, like spinach and peas, are a shortcut we can totally get behind.