A few weeks ago I wrote up some recipes from a spanish cookbook I have. One was a combination of spinach, ham/bacon, pine nuts and raisins. Our spinach is so delicious I just love having something simple like that particular dish on hand, ready in the fridge to include with any meal, lunch or dinner. You can eat it heated or room temp. I put it on the Kibbeh recipe from last week’s box and that was fantastic. In Marcella Hazan’s “Italian Kitchen” I found a vegetarian variation on this dish; Spinach and Chick-Peas with Olive Oil and Lemon. Spinaci e Ceci 1 1/2 LB fresh Spinach 1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil 2 TB Salt 1/4 cup freshly squeezed Lemon Juice 19 oz can Chick-Peas
Wash the Spinach well, but do not chop.* Put the Spinach in a pot with 2 TB Salt. Add no water except for that which clings to the Spinach. Cover and cook over medium heat until the spinach stems are slightly softened but not too limp, drain the liquid. Drain the chick-peas and squeeze off their peel, one by one.Put the spinach, chick-peas, olive oil and lemon juice in a saucepan, cover, and cook over medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes. Stir occasionally. Taste and correct for salt. Serve while still hot. * I made this according to her directions and found that since our stems are so long it did not work out as well as I would like, so I would suggest chopping some of the stem and adding them to the pan so your leaves/stems aren’t so unwieldy. Also, I found it was a little bit too much salt, but play with it and see what you think!