Sauteed spinach – good for you, quick, and delicious

Garlic Sauteed Spinach

Garlic sauteed spinach, April 2012

When I was growing up, Popeye cartoons tried to motivate kids to eat the only spinach option typically available: canned, which I thought tasted truly awful. I don’t remember seeing the beautiful, varied leafy greens, including spinach, that are in produce departments today.

Sauteed fresh spinach is wonderful. Our town’s upscale destination restaurant, Tuscan Moon, serves a delicious version that inspired this recipe. Sauteed spinach is a tasty, quick, and nutritious side dish that’s great with barbecued ribs, roast lamb, fish, or steak.

This recipe has instructions to boil the juices until they’re slightly reduced. This is to preserve the nutrients and flavorings and avoid having a pool of liquid on the plate or in the bowl.

Fresh spinach from your garden, farmers market, or grocery store produce aisle is best, but bagged (regular, not baby) works too.

Garlic Sauteed Spinach
5.0 from 1 reviews
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Recipe type: Side
Author:
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce (reduced sodium if desired; gluten-free if necessary)
  • 2 bunches or 1 9-ounce bag fresh spinach, washed well and large stems removed
Instructions
  1. Place olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. When oil is warm, add garlic and heat until fragrant and very light golden, not browned (a minute or two).
  2. Add soy sauce, then add spinach, as much as will fit into the pan. Then as the spinach cooks down, add a handful or two at a time until it’s all in the pan. Increase heat to medium high. Saute until all of the spinach is wilted and dark green all the way through, 3 to 5 minutes.
  3. Push spinach into a loose pile to one side in the skillet and allow the liquid to drain out of the spinach, tipping the pan slightly. Let the liquid bubble and reduce down a little. Place spinach in serving dish or onto individual plates with tongs or a slotted spoon and drizzle the liquid over it.
Serving size: 82 g. Calories: 83; Fat: 7g; Saturated fat: 1g; Unsaturated fat: 0g; Carbohydrates: 4g; Sugar: 0g; Fiber: 2g; Protein: 2g; Cholesterol: 0mg.

 

Shared at Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free Slightly Indulgent Tuesday and The Gluten-Free Homemaker Gluten-Free Wednesday.

 

 

 

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3 Responses to “Sauteed spinach – good for you, quick, and delicious”

  1. Miachel says:

    So dang tasty! And I love how quick and simple it is.

    Thanks, Eileen. 🙂

  2. Christina says:

    I recall the first time I ate fresh spinach and could not believe how fantastic it tasted. I must have been in high school already. We had only ever eaten that strange canned slime before. I love sauteed spinach!


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