I am trying to clean out my freezer.
Any suggestions on what to do with 10 ounces of frozen chopped spinach?
Toss it in a lasagna.
Thaw it, drain the water out, squeeze out some more water, then squeeze out some more water, then squeeze out some more water – then throw it in a quiche.
Cook it with bacon or salt pork as a side to chicken or pork, with corn bread.
Like this?
Spinach crepes. I only just spotted pre-made crepes in a grocery store last week, which takes out the inconvenient bit.
Make a cold side dish with cubed cucumber, scallions and a little vinegar.
Add four ounces of softened cream cheese, a half teaspoon of grated nutmeg, a tablespoon of chopped pecans, two ounces of chopped water chestnuts, heat through, and serve in a hollowed-out round sourdough bread loaf. If it’s too thick, creamy it up with sour cream to what you think of as a desirable consistency.
My spinach and artichoke dip recipe:
Saute three or four garlic cloves in a tablespoon of olive oil. Add one small can drained and chopped artichoke hearts (not marinated artichokes, just plain ones). Add one package thawed, drained frozen spinach. Add one package of cream cheese and one (or two, depending on how thick you want your dip) cups of sour cream and stir until creamy and smooth. Serve with baguette slices.
Thaw it, squeeze it dry, mix it up with some sharp goat cheese and grated nutmeg and roll it into balls - bake them on top of a pizza.
After thawing it and squeezing it dry, throw it in the middle of an omelette with some sauteed onions, garlic, and herbes de provence. Yummy.
Shove it in some pasta with goat’s cheese and chopped cherry tomatoes. Or do the sensible thing, throw it in the bin and use fresh spinach instead!
Mix with some garlic, blanched broccoli florets, ricotta and mozzerella cheese, and then fold it into pizza dough for some homemade spinach and broccoli calzone.
Or
Dice up a small onion, and saute it. Add the spinach to the onion. When both are heated through, drain and dry. Add about 3/4 cup of sour cream (Or lowfat yogurt, if you’re trying to make this less fatty.) a table spoon of vinegar, and some pepper.
You can make Indian saag:
10 ounces chopped spinach (or collard greens)
10 ounces chopped broccoli rabe
20 ounces mustard greens
1/2 cup cornflour
1/2 cup green fenugreek leaves or dried fenugreek leaves (optional)
1 chopped tomato
1 tablespoon oil
Seasonings
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon crushed garlic
2 teaspoons chopped ginger
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
If using fresh greens, trim and remove all fibrous material, and wash in a colander immersed in a large bowl filled with water; dirt will settle down.
Remove the colander and throw away the water.
Repeat until water is clear.
Chop or tear the leaves and boil them in about 3 cups of water and salt, on medium to high heat, for about 10 minutes until soft.
When little cool, give it a few rounds in the food processor or blender to make it smooth and creamy, adding corn flour, fenugreek leaves, and tomatoes.
Add more water as needed.
Heat the oil in a 4 quart pot on medium to high heat.
Add garlic.
Add ginger, cumin powder and coriander powder.
Stir for a minute.
Stir in the cooked greens gradually (making sure there are no lumps).
Add the remaining seasonings.
Cook, stirring occasionally, and let it simmer for 20 minutes until everything is mixed and Saag is to your taste.
I go through tons of this stuff.
Thaw it in the microwave, squeeze out all the water, and add it to pasta sauce, especially with some spicy sausage and onions. My other favorite use is to chop some ham and sweet onions, saute them together, scramble in some eggs, and add in the spinach to heat through. Top with some salsa and sour cream and add roasted potatoes on the side. That’s one of my favorite quickie dinners. Yum yum yum.
My only problem with fresh spinach is that you have to cook six tons of it down to get a couple cups worth of cooked spinach with which to stuff an omelet. I eat a couple pounds of fresh spinach a week, but still use a lot of frozen spinach in hot dishes.
Thaw, dry, put aside
In a skillet, cook five or six strips of good bacon. Drain, set aside, crumble up.
Put bacon grease back in pan and saute several cloves of garlic
Add spinach and saute until wilted
Add crumbled bacon
Give me a call
Serve piping hot
I want to second NajaNivea’s position, here: Fresh spinach is wonderful in many recipes. Certainly I’d never imagine using frozen spinach for pizza. But in its place, for recipes where the spinach is going to be cooked down into a casserole or the like I tend to believe that using fresh spinach in such cases is a waste of money - paying a premium for a quality that you’ll be removing through cooking compared to the frozen variety.