Creamed Spinach

I have been craving creamed spinach for a while now, but I refuse to buy the frozen processed variety that is loaded with salt, preservatives, and... pardon my French, crap. When spinach turned out to be one of our picks at our CSA pick up, I knew exactly what I was going to make with it. I just had to find a recipe.

I was disappointed to find that so many recipes for creamed spinach call for frozen spinach. Fresh spinach has a beautiful green color, and I find that it is actually easier to work with than frozen spinach. This is because frozen spinach is sold in bricks that is often times freezer burned and once you thaw it out, it is water logged. No fun, and not very tasty. Emeril Lagasse has a recipe on the Food Network that uses fresh spinach. The man has never done me wrong with a recipe in the past, so I decided to give it a try. Needless to say, my craving has been fulfilled.

The original recipe can be found here. I opted against the nutmeg because that just did not sound right. I also cut the recipe in half because I only had a half a pound of spinach versus the two pounds the original recipe calls for.

What you need:
1/2 pound of fresh spinach
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/4 cup chopped shallot (which turns out to be exactly one shallot)
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic (one clove)
a healthy pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup heavy cream

What you do:
1. Bring a pot of water to boiling, cook spinach for two minutes, then immediately drain in a colander. Press the spinach with a spoon while in the colander to squeeze out as much water as possible. Chop the spinach. I just sort of dumped the pile of spinach onto my cutting board and made four cuts across the pile.

2. Melt the butter in a medium sized skillet over medium-medium high heat. Saute the shallot and garlic until soft and fragrant, about two minutes. At this point, your kitchen will smell amazing. Add the spinach in, and saute for another minute or so.

3. Add the heavy cream, pepper, and salt. Stirring occasionally, cook until the cream has reduced by half, approximately 4 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Roasted Cauliflower

Years ago, a friend of mine introduced me to roasted asparagus. It was love at first bite. The tips got all crispy and it was just... love. Not to mention, crazy easy to make. In recent months, I have tried roasting other vegetables, both as an alternative to steaming, but also as a means of introducing olive oil into our diets. Olive oil is crazy healthy for you, it is an antioxidant, which means it helps clean toxins out of the blood. A recent study also found that olive oil helps reduce risk of heart disease when paired with a diet rich with vegetables, fruit, nuts, and whole grain cereals.

I have yet to find a vegetable that did not respond well to roasting, however, I definitely have my favorites. Cauliflower is certainly at the top of the list. Thom and I purchase a head or two of cauliflower whenever we go grocery shopping and frequently use it as a substitution for a starch, like potatoes or rice. Roasting cauliflower gives it a crispy outside with a nice soft interior, it kind of reminds me of tater tots.

What you need:
A head of cauliflower (you could use frozen, but fresh works best)
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

What you do:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Chop of cauliflower into florets. Place cauliflower into a single layer on a cookie sheet.

2. Drizzle cauliflower with olive oil, just enough to add a little moisture, don't go overboard, we want crispy not soggy. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

3. Roast at 425 degrees for 45 minutes, stirring on occasion. You know it is done when it turns a nice golden brown color.

Enjoy!