Spinach...lots of spinach

bettermistakes87

Why oh why did I buy this giant bag of fresh spinach?!? I could really use some new recipes! Spinach salads will only put a small dent in this beast.

ittybittybadonkadonk

I love omeletes with spinach and jennie o turkey sausage ...........whole wheat pita with spinach , pesto and turkey pepperoni .....manicotti with spinach in it spinach dip with pita chips or veggies...quiche are a few that I can think of ....hope that helps

mistress8956

Mmmmmm I love spinach lol I throw it in with any meat ( after cooked) and sauté it. I also like spinach with water chestnuts and a tbsp of soy sauce sautéed. A white spinach lasagna is also good

dandelyon

It's great sautteed with onion in an omelet. Good pizza topping. You can find egg roll and stir fry recipes that call for spinach. Creamed spinach. Lasagna with an Alfredo spinach layer instead of tomato sauce. I eat spinach salad pretty frequently, but it goes faster when you cook with it.

GingerLolita

I feel your pain! My boyfriend doesn't care for spinach much, so when I buy even a standard size of baby spinach, it's always a race for me to use it up before it goes bad. I did make a delicious spinach salad the other day with green apple slices, baby carrots, cucumber slices, and leftover chicken that was sauteed in olive oil. I added just a teaspoon each of olive oil and balsamic vinegar and sprinkled on some pecan pieces. Today, I scrambled an egg and an egg white in cooking spray, and I added a bit of spinach to that. When my spinach isn't looking fresh enough for a salad, I usually put it in soup.

acogg

I hate to tell you, but spinach is not the perfect food. It has unpleasant side effects if eaten in too large a quantity. I had to learn this lesson the hard way. I made myself sick while eating large quantities ( 2-3 cups a day) of raw spinach.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/411787-side-effects-of-spinach/

You will better off giving away or tossing what you normally would not use. Moderation rules, once again.

kimtab

If you make a smoothie in the blender throw some in, you won;t even know it is there.

Ke11er

You have some delicious ideas already, but if that doesn't help you plow through it all maybe use your food processor to chop it up and freeze some if you can't keep up with it fresh. Put the chopped spinach into ice cube trays to freeze, pop out to store in a freezer bag, and then just take out a cube or two and add later to more of the sorts of dishes others have suggested. Enjoy the bounty!!

JenniTheVeggie

How much spinach are we talking about?

When you throw it in a pan it wilts down.... a lot.

Try this: Spinach, chopped garlic, olive oil and fresh squeezed lemon. Saute in a pan until the garlic is cooked and the spinach is wilted.

TracieJ65

I put spinach in my smoothies! It turns the smoothie a seriously ugly green color but you really can't taste it.

sympha01

Yeah, it cooks down a lot. Those great big 1 lb tubs of spinach were on sale 2 for 1 last week so I got 2. I don't like it raw, I always cook it and even those packages I get maybe 3 or 4 servings out of. Down to my last serving today.

One package got stirred into a big pot of vegetable soup. Done.

The other package I just keep sauteeing a few cups of at a time with my chicken; 3 oz looks like a lot raw but it cooks down to practically NOTHING.

dklibert

Spinach and Portobello Salad
Source: Soup Spice Everything Nice
Serves 1

Ingredients

1 large Portobello
2 cups baby spinach, separated
1/2 tsp garlic, minced
1 Tbsp Parmesan, grated
1 Tbsp Panko bread crumbs
1 to 2 tsp Olive oil
Salt and black pepper
Red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp. Balsamic and Caper Vinaigrette (recipe follows)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Wash Portobello and pat dry. Remove stem and finely chop.

Heat 1 tsp of olive oil over medium heat, add mushroom stem, garlic, a dash red pepper flakes. When aromatic, add spinach, salt and black pepper. When spinach has wilted remove from pan and set aside.

Wipe pan clean, return to medium heat. Rub Portobello with olive oil. Place in the pan gills up, cover and cook for 3 minutes. Flip Portobello, cover and cook for another 3 minutes. Remove pan from heat and flip mushroom gill side up. Place spinach mixture in the mushroom cap and top with Parmesan and panko. Spray panko with olive oil. Place pan in the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Raise oven to broil, broil for a minute or so until bread crumbs are golden brown. Remove from oven.

Dress about a cup of spinach with a tablespoon of dressing. Arrange salad on a plate and top with stuffed Portobello. Serve.



Balsamic and Caper Vinaigrette
Makes 1 cup; Serves 8

Ingredients

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3 Tbsp water
1/2 cup olive oil
1 package Good Seasons Italian Salad Dressing
& Recipe Mix
2 Tbsp capers, drained

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a cruet or mason jar with a tight fitting lid. Shake vigorously until well blended.

Refrigerate unused portion for up to 4 weeks. Ingredients in dressing will separate when refrigerated, especially the olive oil. To reuse, let dressing stand at room temperature about an hour and then shake just before serving.

dklibert

Spinach Artichoke Soup
Source: Soup Spice Everything Nice
Serves: 6

Ingredients

2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 medium onion. chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large boneless skinless chicken breast, diced
1 (13.75 oz) can artichoke hearts in water, drained and quartered
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp vermouth (or white wine)
4 cups low-sodium chicken stock
10 oz frozen spinach, thawed
1⁄2 cup grated Parmesan (plus more for garnish)
1 cup half and half (fat free works too)
Salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes to taste
1/16 tsp ground nutmeg
3 or 4 dashes hot sauce

Directions

Sauté onions and garlic in oil in a large pot over medium-high heat until onions are soft, about 2 minutes. Season chicken with salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes. Add chicken and artichokes to pot; sauté 2 minutes, until chicken is no longer pink. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute.

Deglaze pot with vermouth, scraping any bits from the bottom of the pot. Stir in broth, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, add the spinach and Parmesan, and stir until cheese melts. Turn off heat and add half and half. Taste and adjust seasoning before serving. Serve garnished with more Parmesan.

dklibert

Tomato Florentine Soup
Source: Soup Spice Everything Nice
Makes 8 servings

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes with onion, celery and bell peppers
10 oz condensed tomato bisque
4 cups low-sodium fat free chicken broth
4 cups low-sodium mixed vegetable juice(like V-8)
1 - 1/2 cup small shell macaroni
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups baby spinach leaves, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 Tbsp sugar
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Heat the oil in a large nonstick saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is very tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes are softened and the liquid is reduced by about half, about 5 minutes. Add tomato bisque stir to combine.

Stir in the broth, macaroni, and salt; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, until the macaroni is tender, 8-10 minutes. Stir in the spinach, pepper, nutmeg and sugar. Cook until the spinach just begins to wilt, about 30 seconds. Remove from the heat. Serve sprinkled with the cheese.

jofjltncb6

I love my spinach sauteed in bacon grease. True story.

ETA: cooked just right, it's light and crispy. Too short and it's just wilted and mushy...and too long and it's burnt. There's a magical few seconds where it's just right...and then it's almost as delicious as bacon.


As for lower cal ways to eat it, it's delicious in a salad w/ other veggies drizzled in good olive oil and balsamic vinegar...with grated parmesan cheese.

sam_the_girl

I go through a bag of spinach easily in a week or so. I take almond milk, half a banana, raw spinach and a tablespoon of almond butter (or like PB2, equivalent) and blend it up. Delicious! You can't taste the spinach, seriously! If you take a frozen banana it's better since it's a smoothie This is my breakfast every morning. Sometimes I throw in protein powder

dklibert

Cream of Vegetable Soup
Source: Soup Spice Everything Nice
Makes 4 quarts, Serves: 8

Ingredients

2 Leeks, cleaned and sliced
1 onion, chopped
2 medium heads of Cauliflower, chopped
1 Carrot, peeled and chopped
1 Celery rib, chopped
4 cups low sodium, fat free Chicken Broth
Water to cover
2 tsp salt, or to taste
1/2 tsp White Pepper, or to taste
3 Tbsp. of light Butter
2 cups baby spinach leaves

Directions

Cover first five ingredients with chicken broth and water. Add salt and pepper. Cover and cook until vegetables are tender. Chop spinach. Add butter and spinach to veggies. Blend with a stick blender until creamy but so that you still see bits of spinach. You can use a blender too, just blend in batches. Serve hot, but it is not bad cold.

Nutritional Information per serving*: Calories 90.4, Total Fat 2.3 g, Saturated Fat 0.8 g, Polyunsaturated Fat 0.6 g, Monounsaturated Fat 1.0 g, Cholesterol 1.9 mg, Sodium 565 mg, Potassium 569.3 mg, Total Carbohydrate 14.4 g, Dietary Fiber 5.0 g, Sugars 2.6 g, Protein 5.3 g.
WW P+ 2

dklibert

Salsa Chicken Soup with Spinach and Legumes
Adapted from: Taste of Home recipe called Spiced-Up Healthy Soup
Makes: 14 Servings; (3-1/2 quarts)

Ingredients

1 medium onion, chopped
1/3 cup brown rice, uncooked
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons canola oil
8 cups chicken stock
1 cup water
1 large boneless skinless chicken breast
1 cup dried red lentils, rinsed
16 oz Pace chunky salsa mild
1 (15 oz) can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
8 cups fresh baby spinach

Directions

In a Dutch oven, saute onion and rice in oil until onion is tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Add the broth, water, chicken and lentils; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Remove chicken and set aside.

Add the salsa, garbanzo beans and cilantro to soup; cover and simmer 10 minutes longer or until rice and lentils are tender.

Shred chicken with two forks. Add spinach and chicken to soup. Simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes or until spinach is wilted.

dklibert

Italian Style Vegetable Soup
Source: Soup Spice Everything Nice
Serves 12; generous 1 cup serving

Ingredients

1-1/2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 med. onion, chopped
2 carrots, diced
2 celery ribs, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp kosher salt, or to taste
1/4 tsp black pepper, or to taste
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes, or to taste
2 Tbsp. flour
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
1 tsp Italian seasoning
8 cups vegetable stock
1 (15 oz) can petite diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup frozen green beans
1 cup frozen green peas
1 cup whole wheat penne pasta
2 cups baby spinach leaves

Optional garnishes:
Parsley, chopped
Lemon zest
Parmesan cheese

Directions

Heat olive oil in a large dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrots and celery, sauté until onion in translucent. Add garlic; continue to sauté about a minute. Add flour and stir to combine. After flour has cook a minute, add tomato paste. When tomato paste is fragrant, add Italian seasoning, stock, tomatoes and green beans; bring to a boil. Add green peas and penne, and return to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and cover. Simmer for 20 minutes. Turn off heat add spinach. Serve with Parmesan or with parsley and lemon zest as a garnish.

Nutrition Facts
Amount Per Serving: Calories 79.2; Total Fat 2.0 g; Saturated Fat 0.3 g; Polyunsaturated Fat 0.2 g; Monounsaturated Fat 1.3 g; Cholesterol 0.0 mg; Sodium 857.3 mg; Potassium 239.1 mg; Total Carbohydrate 14.0 g; Dietary Fiber 2.5 g; Sugars 4.5 g; Protein 2.3 g; 2 WW PointsPlus.

daniicaliforniaa93

Farfalle with tomatoes, onions and spinach. You can even add chicken.

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/farfalle-with-tomatoes-onions-spinach-10000001995692/

dklibert

Veggie Eggs Benedict
Source: Soup Spice Everything Nice
Serves 2 to 4

Ingredients

1 Tbsp butter
8 mushrooms, sliced
1 broccoli crown, cut into florets
16 grape tomatoes, halved
4 cups baby spinach
Spiced Salt, to taste
2 Light English muffins, fork split and toasted
4 large eggs, poached

For Hollandaise:
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 egg yolks
2 Tbsp hot water
2 dashes Tabasco
1 tsp lemon juice
Salt and white pepper, to taste

Directions

In a large skillet sauté the mushrooms, broccoli and tomatoes in butter. When the veggies have begun to soften add the spinach. Sauté until spinach is wilted and broccoli is tender. Keep warm. Toast the English muffins. Poach or fry the eggs as you like them (I like the white set and yolk runny).

Melt the butter in the microwave on high for about 30 – 45 seconds. In another microwave bowl whisk egg yolks incorporating 2 Tbsp of warm water, lemon juice, Tabasco, salt and pepper. When combined, whisk in the melted butter and place in the microwave. Microwave on high for 15 seconds, whisk well and microwave for another 15 seconds and whisk again. Sauce is ready when thick and pale yellow. Top each muffin with a portion of the veggies, an egg, and hollandaise sauce. Enjoy!

vjohn04

sauté it with EVOO and some slivered garlic. Yum!

Christine_120

I add it to everything. Pasta sauce, soups, scrambled eggs, sautéed mushrooms over chicken. Pretty much anything.

MorgueBabe

I like this = I make it with escarole, kale and spinach.
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/rotini-white-beans-escarole-50400000115201/

LishieFruit89

Trash can!

Sorry - too much spinach and I just wanna gag

CompressedCarbon

Spinach is awesome. Too much spinach is not awesome. I sometimes get carried away at the warehouse stores and end up with too much of the dark green stuff. So I freeze it. In ziploc bags. And then it's there waiting for me to use in cooking later on when my family has forgotten that they don't like spinach.

LunaGreen

You know who loves spinach?... My garbage can.. bleh the ONLY way I would eat that is MAYBE deep fried in bacon grease... MAYBE!!

I envy you for enjoying it enough to humor the idea of buying a giant bag lol, Goodluck!!!

Sullivanwilson

Seriously delicious soup recipes -thank you.

bettermistakes87

I love my spinach sauteed in bacon grease. True story.

ETA: cooked just right, it's light and crispy. Too short and it's just wilted and mushy...and too long and it's burnt. There's a magical few seconds where it's just right...and then it's almost as delicious as bacon.


As for lower cal ways to eat it, it's delicious in a salad w/ other veggies drizzled in good olive oil and balsamic vinegar...with grated parmesan cheese.

I need to learn your voodoo! I seem to always skip straight to mushville population 2: me and sadness.

bettermistakes87

Spinach is awesome. Too much spinach is not awesome. I sometimes get carried away at the warehouse stores and end up with too much of the dark green stuff. So I freeze it. In ziploc bags. And then it's there waiting for me to use in cooking later on when my family has forgotten that they don't like spinach.

Why didn't I think of that? There are some seriously awesome recipes and ideas in this thread, but if it comes down to it I may have to bag it and freeze it so as not to be wasteful. Thanks!

texasgal22

I like spinach in scrambled eggs - but I've not made it with fresh spinach; if you cook it first be sure to drain any excess moisture before putting in eggs to scramble.