Days Forty-Three and Forty-Six, Or, I Will Never Eat Canned Spinach Again!

She Said:

It's been a busy week but we managed to get some cooking in and we did make two more recipes that count toward our own Julie/Julia Project.

On Tuesday night, we realized that we hadn't marinated the swordfish like we meant to, so we went with Plan B. Sort of. Plan B involved grilling outside but there ended up being a hella storm at dinner time so we kept it inside. Plus, we were supposed to grill asparagus and only at dinner time remembered that they were out of asparagus at the store so we didn't have any. Once we got it all together, we had a delicious and healthy meal.

We marinated a pork tenderloin (from the farmer's market) in a teriyaki marinade and ended up roasting it. It was delicious! I made some organic Yukon gold mashed potatoes, nothing special but we are loving the Yukon gold for the mashed potatoes! That was my choice because I love mashed potatoes with pork tenderloin, regardless of the marinade or rub.

Then instead of that grilled asparagus we were supposed to have, we peeked in the fridge and saw a bag of spinach from the farmer's market and decided on this recipe from Serving Up the Harvest by Andrea Chesman.

Creamed Spinach

2 tablespoons butter
1 large shallot, minced
2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1½ pounds spinach, tough stems removed

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

2. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the shallot and sauté until soft, about 3 minutes. Whisk in the flour until you have a paste. Increase the heat, pour in the milk, and whisk to combine. Continue whisking until the sauce thickens, about 3 minutes. Season with the salt and pepper to taste. Reduce the heat to low.

3. Add the spinach to the boiling water and cook long enough to wilt, about 30 seconds. Drain well. Place the spinach on a cutting board and roughly chop.

4. Add the spinach to the cream sauce and stir to thoroughly combine. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve hot.

I loved, loved, loved this recipe. I am a huge creamed spinach fan anyway but this tasted NOTHING like the creamed spinach I've had in my life. I'm convinced that none of the places I've ever had it made it with fresh spinach. It was like a whole different dish. Wonderful! So wonderful, in fact, that we made it again the next night, but we added some chopped garlic to the cream sauce, making it even better!

Last night, we were using up some of those things we've had around that are not recipe ingredients. We had two frozen salmon pieces in lemon butter so we cooked them up. Then He made roasted baby potatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper, garlic powder and fresh rosemary. Fabulous!!

But, once again, the side dish stole the show. I was afraid of this one for some reason but, oh ho, this will become a staple in our house. It was stellar! This is also from Serving Up the Harvest.

Wilted Spinach Salad with Chickpeas

1½-2 pounds spinach, tough stems removed
1½ cups cooked chickpeas or 1 can (15 ounces) chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 small red onion, halved and sliced
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1½ tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Stir in the spinach and cook until wilted, 30 to 60 seconds. Drain well. Press out the excess moisture. Transfer to a cutting board and chop.

2. Combine the spinach, chickpeas, and onion in a large bowl. Toss to mix.

3. Whisk together the oil, vinegar, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste in a small bowl. Pour over the spinach mixture and toss to mix well. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve at once.

I can't begin to describe how well the flavors of the red wine vinegar, red onion, chickpeas and spinach went together. This could be the best salad I have ever had. (So far.) It was truly fabulous and I can't wait to make it again!

Days 43 and 46/365:Recipes 26 and 27/175