Delectable Spinach

Sautéed Spinach with Grilled Polenta

Photos and text by KARA DiCAMILLO/ecoRI.org News contributor

With July around the corner, we are beginning to see more farmers market bounty. While that still mostly consists of lots of greens, it’s nice to see a variety of them such as lettuce, arugula, bok choy and, one of my favorites, spinach. I love spinach because of its versatility and its beautiful color.

As we all know, spinach was made popular by Popeye (in a can, yuck!) and was the major contributor as to why he was so strong. It has loads of health benefits and ranks one of the highest in nutrition because of all of the vitamins it offers.

Over the years, spinach has been popularly used as “Florentine” and “creamed,” but in my opinion that takes away from the slightly sweet yet delicate taste. After all, you actually want to taste the flavor of spinach, not weigh it down with other ingredients.


 

This recipe is so light that you can use it as the main course for lunch or for a side dish with dinner. The grilled polenta adds a smoky flavor, but the star of the show is definitely the spinach.

Sautéed Spinach with Grilled Polenta
Serves 2

1 log of prepared polent
5 tablespoons of olive oil
Salt
Freshly cracked pepper
Pinch of red pepper flakes
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 bunch of spinach, rinsed well
2 tablespoons of goat cheese
Quarter-cup of candied walnuts (see recipe below)

Heat the grill to high. Slice 4 slices of the polenta, about a half-inch thick, and drizzle with about 2 tablespoons of olive and season with salt and pepper. Grill the polenta until lightly charred on each side, about 2 minutes per side.

Meanwhile, in a medium-sized pan heat the remaining 3 tablespoons of the olive oil and add the garlic. Once it has softened and is fragrant, add the spinach in batches and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes. Once it has wilted, add the salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.

To serve, lay the polenta on a plate and top with the spinach, then sprinkle with the goat cheese and candied walnuts.

Candied Walnuts
Heat a quarter-cup of sugar in a small, non-stick pan. Once the sugar has melted, add a half-cup of roughly chopped walnuts. Coat the walnuts evenly with the melted sugar and remove from the heat immediately to cool. These are delicious on salads as well.