Meatless Monday Garlic Saut�ed Spinach With Slivered Almonds

This is a really long name for a simple dish with very few ingredients. This dish was inspired by a dish by the name of " Catalan Spinach". I came across this dish in allthatsdelicious, a blog by Priyadarshini. Once I saw this , the name " Catalan spinach" kept going in circles in my head. It was as if I was haunted by the name. The funny part is that I had not even paid attention to the recipe. After days of being haunted, I decided to give this ghost a rest. I went looking for the blog and the recipe. Once I looked at it, I liked what I saw and decided to give it a try. I of course didn't have all the required ingredients and being a firm believer in using what is available in your kitchen, I modified the recipe. The end result was this quick,simple  yet amazingly tasty dish.

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

Spinach: 1 bunch
Olive oil: 1tbsp
Butter: 1 tsp
Garlic: 6 cloves chopped and then lightly crushed.
Almonds:6 -8 slivered
Red Raisins: 1 tbsp
Chilli pepper flakes: 1/2 tsp
Sugar: 1/2 tsp
Salt: 1/2 tsp
Vinegar: 1tsp

Method:

Clean the spinach thoroughly to get rid of any residual sand. Boil 4 quarts water with 1/2 tsp salt. Add the spinach to boiling water. Let it cook for 3-4 minutes.

Then blanch it by putting it in cold water, drain and keep it aside.

Heat a saut� pan/ frying pan on medium heat. Add the butter and the olive oil.

Now add the garlic and saut�  until you smell the fragrance of garlic. 

Add the raisins, chilli flakes and slivered almonds. Saut� until they turn a little brown. 

Now add the drained spinach, sugar,vinegar an saut� for 3-4 minutes until the spinach is warm. 

Add salt as needed.

Serve warm with hot rice/ bread/ baked fish/ bake chicken.

Cooking made easy:

To clean greens effectively ,soak them in cold tap water with a few drops of vinegar for 3-5 minutes. This will make the sand/mud/dirt in the green settle at the bottom.Then rinse couple more times . Chop the greens after cleaning them. This ensures that you don't lose the essential nutrients and vitamins.

Tip for healthy living:

All fruits and vegetables are best cleaned by soaking it for 2-3 minutes in cold water with a few drops of vinegar. Then rinse and air-dry them.

Food for thought:

Once bitten, twice shy.(unknown).