I have recently started getting a pound of organic baby spinach leaves, every week or two. We like spinach, yet… it is a lot of spinach to get through with only Joel and I. But when I came up with this recipe, it was hardly a hardship. We love this recipe. The lemon brightens the flavor, the onion adds depth, the garlic flavor, and the pine nuts texture. I think that I could just about eat this everyday.
But don’t think that I have always liked spinach. Oh no. I still clearly remember my first introduction to it.
I was probably around five, and we were living in Southern California at the time. My mom had fixed a nice dinner for us and served it to us in the more fancy dining room. I got through my dinner fine, until it came time to tackle a HUGE (or so I thought) bowl of steamed spinach. It was unsightly. Even worse then that, every time I tried to eat it, it would gag me.
For some reason, my mom ( who usually only made us eat a few bites of something we didn’t like) decided that I wasn’t doing my best. So I was left alone in the dining room, after everyone else had finished, with this huge bowl of spinach to get through before I could get the ice cream that everyone else was already enjoying.
My little tanned self sat at that table starring into a bottomless bowl of spinach that gagged me and wondered what to do. I certainly couldn’t eat it. Logic began to kick in.
I started very carefully spreading out the spinach leaves throughout the room. I put some all along the table, at every setting. I was sure that my mother would just think that people were unusually messy that night. I climbed under the table and hung it on the rungs of the chairs (unusually messy again!) . I even placed some on the bookshelves, though I don’t know how that was to be explained. I thought as long as I spread it out thin enough, my mother would never notice….right?
Wrong. When my mother, who had finally pitied me, came in with a bowl of melting ice cream and found what a mess I made, I was doomed. She did somehow notice all of the spinach hanging throughout the room. It was quite strange. It thought that I had done it so cleverly.
But thank goodness, I have learned better ways to prepare it, and developed more of a taste for it at the same time. So now a very untanned, Kimi can quite happily eat this recipe, and enjoy it too. Spinach truly is a wonderful food.
You will feel like you are going to make a ton of food with so many cups of spinach leaves, but when cooked, it melts down to nothing! My husband and I eat this all by ourselves and usually wish for more. A very easy and yummy way to eat a lot of spinach.
Sauteed Spinach with Lemon, Garlic and Onions, and Pine Nuts
A few Tablespoons of olive oil
A half of an Onion, chopped
One garlic clove, minced
5-6 cups of Baby Spinach Leaves, washed and dried
A half of a lemon
1/4 cup of pine nuts
salt to taste
In a large saucepan, heat olive oil over med-high heat until hot. Add onion and saute until soft, and slightly browning (about ten minutes) Add garlic cloves, and stir in.
Start adding in the spinach leaves, heaping them in, just leaving enough room to stir. If it is to much for your pan, add until full and allow some of them to wilt (making space for more) and then add the rest. Saute until wilted, and then take off of the heat. Squeeze a little lemon juice over, toss the pine nuts in, and salt to taste. Serve immediately.
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ooh, that sounds so good! though I’m the only one in our house that likes cooked spinach.
Hi Kimi,
I so enjoy your blog. I read and read my book all the time. I have just started my journey toward clean eating. Here is another very good book World’s Healthest Foods. He has a great web site http://www.whfoods.com/
I look this book too.
Stop by and visit me sometimes.
Blessings,
Elizabeth
Just cooked this receipe up…it was tasty and easy to prepare. Thanks!
I just made this w/out pine nuts, didn’t have any and it was great! Actually thought I used 3 small onions and 2 garlic cloves and I had like 10 large spinach leaves- your recipe gave me a great idea, and I thank you!
A very good and easy recipe,. I want to print it out but not the whole blog, how do I do that?
It’s also good to add just a couple of squirts of Bragg’s Liquid Amino’s. So delicious! Love spinach! I also use spinach in my smoothies sometimes. Helps me get in a lot of greens! 🙂
Made this today and it was amazing!!! My husband and I loved it! I used frozen spinach because that’s what I had at the time. In addition to the pine nuts, I also garnished with pomegranate seeds–adds flavor and love the crunchiness. Sometimes I make it twice in one week bc it’s so healthy. That’s funny my husband and I also wished for more once it was done! (Had it with a side of white rice and salad)