Popeye would Approve Sauteed Spinach

When I was a kid I hated spinach, probably like most other kids. I can’t remember when I started to like it, but I believe it was early in my college years and I had some Spinach dip. Now I use it in a lot of dishes. The recipe below is for Sautéed Spinach with pan fried garlic and shaved parmesan. So simple to make and yet is full of flavor.

Sauteed Spinach with Garlic and Parmesan

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

- 1 lb of fresh baby spinach

- 4 cloves of fresh garlic

- shaved parmesan

- 2 tablespoons of EVOO

- S&P

Procedure:

1- Slice each garlic clove thin length-wise and sauté over medium heat until a light golden brown. Takes maybe 5 minutes. Be careful not too burn it though!

2- Add spinach and toss until slightly wilted. This takes only a few minutes. Add S&P to taste.

3- Transfer to serving dish and toss in several tablespoons of shaved parmesan.

You’re DONE! It’s that easy. With pan-frying the garlic, it infuses the EVOO which coats the spinach as you toss it. The parmesan will get slightly soft from the spinach, but adds a nice salty-nuttiness to the dish.

My thoughts on this dish: I love spinach now almost anyway you can make it and incorporating it with two of my other favorite ingredients – garlic and parmesan – you get a home run in my opinion. This makes a great side dish for when you’re making pasta, but would like a vegetable on the side rather than a salad. It’s probably even easier than making a salad because you don’t need to cut all the veggies!

Everything is Better with Roasted Garlic Butter

Roasted Garlic is probably a gift from the “gods above”. It is simply divine. Near the start of our relationship, BD and I were doing surf and turf at home - filets, king crab, loaded baked potatoes, and I think we also made prosciutto-wrapped asparagus that night as well. There wasn’t any real occasion…it was simply what we were in the mood for. I remember we had one of the best cuts of filet I’ve ever had. It was pricey when we bought it, but worth every penny.

For whatever reason that night, I suggested making Roasted Garlic Butter for on top of the filets. I know I must have seen it somewhere – probably the Food Network – but I can’t remember where exactly now.

I’m not going to call this a recipe, but below is how you can make roasted garlic butter. It’s super easy and tastes so yummy on steaks, potatoes, veggies….almost everything!

Roasted Garlic Butter

(print recipe)

Ingredients:

- Head of Garlic

- EVOO

- Butter

Method:

1- Slice the very top of the garlic off so that the cloves are exposed.

2- Place on a sheet of foil and drizzle some EVOO over the top of the head.

3- Wrap foil around garlic and place in the oven at 350 for 35-45 minutes. (Your nose will know when it’s done)

4- Allow to cool and then unwrap foil carefully.

5- Take bulb and squeeze the roasted garlic from the bulb and into a dish.

6- Mash garlic until smooth. Then add 4 tablespoons of butter* and mix together.

7- Place in fridge or freezer to set for at least 10 minutes.

* This gives you a fairly strong garlic flavor. If you want it a little less potent add more butter until you achieve the amount of flavor you desire.

Kitten ^..^