Spinach overload

I love spinach.  Unfortunately, I can only ever find it frozen or in HUGE bags that rot before I can eat it all.  My husband hates it, so it's just me and a bag o' spinach.  Well, I broke down and bought one of those huge bags yesterday. 

What yummy, low-cal recipes do you have that use a lot of spinach? 

I've already had two salads and even put some in my breakfast fruit smoothie.

Mix the spinach with LOTS of curry spices/herbs etc and add in some grilled haloumi and sliced courgettes. Goes great with naan bread :)

buy a ready made low cal pasty - egg whites/beaters, herbs, low cal milk, lots of spinach - voila spinach tart!

Spinach and chickpea burgers - also lovely!

If you can boil it down really fine, it also makes a lovely part of a salad dressing!

Mind you, I can literally just eat bowls of the stuff with a bit of salt and pepper..

oh, and another one - rice parcels. Boil some sticky rice, flavour with a bit of spices/herbs (your choice) dash of olive oil, wrap in leaves and leave to cool. Also worked fantasticly well with low fat cream cheese wrapped in spinach.

 

so yeah, also a spinach nut here!

Thanks cianderson08.  I just had a turkey sandwich with a ton of spinach.

Any other suggestions out there?

I'm a bit of a spinach freak myself, but I eat it cooked most of the time now.  I use about a teaspoon of olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic -- saute' some mushrooms and throw in the spinach (I will eat 9 oz (raw weight)), saute until wilted.  Drain and serve.

I use well dried cooked spinach in my wraps (raw also), or I'll make an egg beater frittata with cooked spinch (drain well, again) .  I throw it into my mixed greens soup (miso based).

When you cook it with oil or eat it with a vitamin C source you release the iron that is otherwise somewhat wasted.

soup!

Claire: I like the idea of spinach tart. I used to add some spinach to my egg whites and put it in the microwave for two minutes. Can I am wondering if I will add some milk, will it give me the same results ? or should I put it in the oven?

I just used most of a bag on paraam longsoong-chicken dish with peanut sauce, rice and lots of spinach.  It's Thai. 

Spinach is a nice addition to an omelette.

Also, you can make a really nice casserole with it. Whole wheat pasta, lots of tomatoes/tomato sauce, and some mozzarella cheese. You can bake it to make it thicker.

Mix spinach with cottage cheese or ricotta in a blender and season with your favorite herbs and spices for a nice veggie dip.

spinach really cooks down.  That big bag will steam down into about a cup or so after you drain it well.

Drain off the liquid in a strainer, pressing down to get it as dry as possible.  Combine with sauteed minced onions, celery and green pepper.  Mix it into brown rice and season well.  It makes a nice side dish that is good leftover.

Smoothie Recipe

2 big handfulls of spinach

orange , banana, apple, 1.5 cups strawberries and water ,  yum yum

Turkey Burgers(even your husband will like it, but it doesn't use a whole lot of your spinach)

Per pound of ground turkey (3 burgers)

1 large handfull of spinach finely chopped

green onions

white onion

very very teriaki sauce

fresh ground pepper

lemon pepper

little bit of keyenne (essential)

parmesan cheese to fix texture

You could make feta and spinach parcels.  Use 1 sheet of filo pastry per parcel (super low cal!) and put loads of spinach at one end of the parcel, a bit of feta, and then roll them up and cook them in the oven until brown. They are super yum! :)

1 lb. chopped fresh spinich

5 mushrooms thinly sliced

1/2 medium white onion

2 tomatoes chopped

5 egg whites

1 tsp sesame oil

2  tbs olive oil

1 tbs balsamic vinegar

1 tbs rice vinegar

1tsp dijon mustard

1/4 cup shaved romano cheese 

3 sqirts worcestshire sauce

Saute eggs at low heat stiring to avoid browning.  When done, chop roughly. Add oils, vinegars, mustard and set aside.

Place spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes and cheese in a salad bowl and toss.

Fold in egg mixture.  Add vinegar to taste.

Eat all you want

chbd3,

i have to say as odd as the ingredient list is there, it sounds great.

i personally LOVE doing a spicy tomato sauce with spinach.  if you are short on time, saute a bit of garlic (tsp oil, 1 clove) and dump in some jarred sauce. cook on medium, medium low heat.  add crushed red pepper (several good shakes, basically coat the top of the sauce), wine if you feel like it, whatever else floats ur boat.  just at popping and making a mess, turn the heat way down and stir in as much spinach as you can handle.  it will cook way the frick down.  when spinach is wilted, stir in about a tbsp of goat cheese. (or more if you LOVE it like me).

serve over penne pasta (with or without chicken) and sprinkle with more spinach and some more goat cheese.

(variation: i based this simple recipe off of a restaurant version that uses sauteed red onions, green and red peppers.  i dont like cooked green peppers but i often add peppers, fresh tomatoes, and sometimes sautee some onion or eggplant or zuccini with it too.  its a great recipe that is very easy if you are short on time and ingredients.  totally forgiving!  if you have the time, do the sauce right and make it yourself!)

Hey there. First of all...you don't have to buy a big ol' bag o' spinach. Most grocery stores have a salad bar these days where you can portion out what you need. It may be $4.99 a lb., but when you think about it, a quarter lb. of spinach is a lot and if you get to the store every 3-4 days, you will always have fresh spinach and not have to worry about it.

Secondly, I love to cook for just myself or big groups and I have a few really great recipes. Here's one of my favorites that I invented myself. I have never counted the calories on it, but you can do that when you are preparing it.

Low-Fat Sweet Italian Stuffed Shells Created By Chelsie Stark

@ preparation=15 minutes;@ bake time= 30 minutes Serves @ 10 people

Ingredients:

2- 16 oz Jars Ragu Sun-dried Tomato and Sweet Basil Pasta Sauce (or your favorite) ;1- 12 oz pkg Jumbo Shells (can also use manicotti shells) ;1- 20 oz pkg Honeysuckle White Turkey Sweet Italian Sausage Links ;1- 8 oz container Parmesan Cheese (grated or shredded)

Filling: 2- 15 oz containers low-fat Ricotta cheese ;1- 8 oz pkg Mozzarella or Monterey Jack Cheese ;2- 10 oz pkg Frozen Chopped Spinach (thaw and thoroughly squeeze water out) ;2 tsp heaping Garlic Powder (add less if you prefer) ;3 tsp Italian Seasoning ;2 tsp Salt 1 1/2 tsp Black Pepper

Directions:

Heat approx. 4 quarts water on high heat to a rolling boil and add all shells being careful not break any. Cook to al dente (firm to the bite), rinse in cold water to stop the cooking process, and drain water off. Shell pasta is very prone to breakage, so be sure to handle them delicately.

While waiting for water to boil, de-skin turkey sausages and place in skillet on med-high heat. Cook thoroughly making sure to break up turkey to the consistency of hamburger meat.

As the turkey is cooking, mix all filling ingredients together in large bowl. Fold in turkey when it’s done cooking.

Stuff each shell with turkey mixture, filling shell completely. Place shells face-up in glass dish then cover each shell with as much pasta sauce as you prefer. Top with shredded parmesan cheese.

You can either place the desired single serving into the microwave for 3 minutes(making sure to cover so sauce doesn’t pop and make a mess), or cover the whole dish with foil and place in preheated oven @ 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Personal opinion: the microwave tastes as good, and it cuts @ 25 minutes out of the process.

I have a few others...let me know if you would like them and I'll send them to your inbox.

Good luck and have a great day!!!

wrap: multi grain wrap,ripe avocado, tons of spinach, soy mayo, and sundried tomatoes (not the oil packed kind) red onions. If you put the spinach on first & wrap carefully the other ingredients don't touch the tortilla, making it more lunch bag friendly. Who likes soggy tortillas??

my favorite pasta "salad" is a 1/2 cup orzo, as much spinach as you want (I do about two cups pre-cooked/raw,) 1/4 cup of feta, 1/4 cup scallions, lemon juice, and olive oil.

Cook the orzo, drain well, add in the fresh (though frozen works too, I prefer the taste of fresh) spinach, heat thru, add a couple tbsp of lemon juice to taste, mix in scallions and a tbsp of olive oil. Lastly stir in feta.

So good. You can also add chopped cucumbers, tomatoes, red onions in this mix too. Fresh oregano is a nice additional herb too.

I also add chopped spinach to mashed potatoes and a little light cream cheese (onion and herb light cream cheese is the best.) 

Original Post by cianderson08:

Spinach and chickpea burgers - also lovely!

 Do you have a recipe for these? I tried to google something like it and looked on this site, but didn't see any that combined the two into patties. Thanks.

Original Post by safina1:

Claire: I like the idea of spinach tart. I used to add some spinach to my egg whites and put it in the microwave for two minutes. Can I am wondering if I will add some milk, will it give me the same results ? or should I put it in the oven?

 It would give roughly the same results, though you would have to make sure you take it out the micro, stir it and make sure it doesn't curdle..

It's lovely in the oven though, even a grill.. so you get a nice texture on the top :)

 

Also, for chickpea and spinach burgers this is what I use

2 tsp vegetable oil
3 green onions (including tops) chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp each of oregano and chili powder
1 cup diced sweet red or green pepper and/or ½ cup chopped hot peppers ( I love jhalapeanos)
Half tomato, chopped
1 can  chick-peas drained and rinsed
1/3 cup dry bread crumbs
2 tbsp spinach, cooked and chopped

 

cook onions, garlic, oregano and chili powder for 2 minutes. Add red pepper and tomato. Cook, stirring for about 3 minutes or until pepper is tender.

Grab food processor and whiz together the pepper mix with the chickepeas

Put in a large bowl, add breadcrumbs, spinach, salt/pepper and maked sure it's all combined

shape into 4 burgers

heat a pan with oil of your choice and  cook each side til' firm and cooked through.

they can also be formed into fallafel and shoved into pitta bread with greek yoghurt :)

 

Another one I love is cheese spinach tart-like thing..

cook spinach, drain well

Mix the spinach with 1 cup cottage cheese, cheddar (to your liking) a little bit of butter (1/4 cup), 3 beaten eggs, 2 tsp flour, salt and pepper in a bowl and mix throughly.

Spoon into a greased baking dish and Bake at around 180degrees for 50-60 mins.. never fails!

Original Post by sngbrdchls77:

Hey there. First of all...you don't have to buy a big ol' bag o' spinach. Most grocery stores have a salad bar these days where you can portion out what you need. It may be $4.99 a lb., but when you think about it, a quarter lb. of spinach is a lot and if you get to the store every 3-4 days, you will always have fresh spinach and not have to worry about it.

 Uh, yeah.  I do have to buy fresh spinach in a HUGE bag.  I live in Germany.  Check any website dedicated to expats in Germany and you'll understand the pathetic nature of "grocery" stores in Germany.  It's always hit or miss, rotten veggies, no variety. 

When you can get actual fresh veggies, they're incredible.  The flavor is awesome.  But usually veggies are half rotten by the next day.

thanks cianderson, I'm trying those "burgers" this weekend.

They're awesome! Tho' don't bbq them! I attempted that once and spent about half an hour scrubbing the grill...