Creamed Spinach

Spinach is really really good for you and packed with fiber and a ton of vitamins and minerals, unfortunately not many people actually like it ;)

I happen to be one of the lucky few who do, although just plain cooked really isn't my style. Fortunately there are tons of great recipes out there.

One of the recipes I rather like is for creamed spinach. The only bad thing is, as a side dish, it isn't very low cal or especially filling so I don't make it often but I usually have a few half cup servings in my freezer to feed the urge when I get one. It goes really well with grilled meat like steak so depending on your other sides, the extra calories might not be an issue, such as if you had a salad instead of a baked potato with all the fixins, for instance ;)

One of the things I sometimes do is add a half cup serving to another recipe for added oompf (no, not a word), to my chicken pot pie recipe for instance. It adds a bit of extra flavour, nutrition and the flecks of dark green add a visual component that I like as well ... the flavour enhancement is not particularly noticeable but it does add an extra dimension that adds to the overall effect so people who don't like spinach would never even know it's there ... like my son ;) I might even try adding some to my Thai Red Curry with chicken recipe next time I make it, no it wouldn't be authentic, but I bet it might taste good;)

Ingredients:

• 1/4 c butter
• 1 onion, medium (150g) I use rather large vidalia (sweet) onions so only use 1/2
• 1/3 c flour, all purpose is fine
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1.5 c milk, I use 1% or 2% depending on what I have, doesn't really matter
• 1 clove, whole
• pinch nutmeg, fresh grated OR a pinch of ground nutmeg to taste
• 500g frozen spinach, thawed, drained AND squeezed in paper towels to remove excess water

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Melt butter in saute pan and add 1 whole clove (spice not garlic) to scent the butter.
2. Add finely diced onion and saute until translucent, do not brown.
3. When onions are translucent remove the clove and add garlic (minced). Saute a few second (20-30 no more) then add flour and cook additional minute or so to take the raw taste off the flour.
4. Slowly add milk, stirring constantly.
5. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed.
6. Grate a little fresh nutmeg into sauce (to taste) then add drained/squeezed spinach
7. Optional - you may add a little ground clove to taste if you like at this point but the clove taste is supposed to be just a whisper ... personally I like it a bit louder but that's just me.

This inspiration for this comes from Foodwishes, he has an excellent video up showing the original recipe. In my version I have halved the butter used to cut back on fat but this still comes in at about 200 calories for a half cup serving with 100 of those calories coming from fat. I got about 5 servings of roughly 1/2 a cup each from this.

Full nutritional details for my version can be found HERE

IA