photo by Magnific

By Chef Nancy Berkoff, EdD, RD

Over eighty years ago, the cartoon strong guy Popeye proclaimed the wonders of spinach. Even so, after all the years of encouragement, according to the USDA, Americans are averaging only about 1.5 pounds per year. Fresh spinach season is the time to up our spinach game.

Here are some ideas for round-the-clock spinach menu-ing:

Spinach smoothies may not appeal to all; green may be a bit hard to take in the morning. No problem! Add a handful of fresh spinach into a mostly fruit smoothie. The fruit will cover the spinach color while providing an opportunity to drink your greens.

Chop or shred fresh spinach and mix into your morning tofu scramble and use as a bagel or toast topping. If you need to transport your breakfast (or lunch) on the go, roll into a tortilla or flatbread or fill a pita. If you have the time, toss in chopped tomatoes and a hint of minced garlic, some thinly sliced onions, or diced olives.

Ruby and Emerald salad: toss sliced fresh strawberries or raspberries into a salad bowl of fresh spinach. Add chopped walnuts, almonds or sunflower seeds. If you have leftover salad, this can be combined in a blender, with silken tofu or vegan sour cream to use as a dip or salad dressing.

In Just a Minute: pack as much fresh spinach as you can into a deep microwave dish (that has a tight lid). Add about an inch of water, cover and microwave until slightly wilted, about 1 minute (depending on your microwave and the size of your dish). Remove cover, toss with a small amount of oil or margarine, onion and/or garlic powder, and ground pepper. Cover and microwave until just wilted. Serve hot, over pasta or mashed potatoes or drain, allow cooling, and using as part of a wrap filling.

At the last minute: spinach does well with a small amount of “wilt.” Achieve this by tossing shredded fresh spinach into hot rice, pasta, noodles, barley or quinoa, or soup just a minute before serving. Wilting works well to top pizza or focaccia as well.

Saucy spinach: replace half the basil in your favorite pesto recipe with fresh spinach.

Spinach quiche without the crust: there are several ways to make a spinach quiche filling. The fairly rapid method is to mix shredded spinach, which has been quickly sautéed with a small amount of diced onion and garlic, into leftover mashed potatoes and a spoonful or two of nutritional yeast. Pour into an oiled baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until golden on top. Or, sauté your spinach, and set aside half. In a blender, combine half the spinach, silken tofu, and nutritional yeast. Pour the spinach mixture into a large bowl and then mix in the remaining spinach. Pour into a baking dish and bake for about 30 minutes or until set. If you like you can pour either type of quiche mixture into a crust and then bake.

Simple sauté: sauté a big pan of fresh spinach (as it is going to shrink) with a bit of olive oil and garlic. Serve right out of the pan, dressed with a small amount of balsamic vinegar. If you would like a bit more “chew,” begin by sautéing fresh mushrooms until tender, and then add the spinach. If you have the time, plan to make a pan of spinach lasagna, to take advantage of the freshly-made sautéed spinach. The same goes for a fast spanakopita, layering sautéed spinach with phyllo dough and then baking.

If you have way, way too much spinach, sauté an extra batch, remove from heat and stir to cool. When cool, place in freezer bags, to be used later in the year for soups, stews, quiche, or dips.

Creamy palak: this is a combination of vegan creamed spinach and palak paneer, using extra firm tofu or seitan as the “paneer” (rather than the traditional cheese). Begin by preparing a big pan of sautéed spinach (see above) and set aside. Create a cream sauce on the stove with canned coconut milk, nutritional yeast, and chopped onion, simmered until slightly thickened. Fold the sautéed spinach into the sauce and stir until combined. Take about half this spinach mixture and blend until smooth. Stir in the remaining spinach and set aside, keeping warm. Cut extra-firm tofu or seitan into cubes. Tossed with nutritional yeast and curry powder and either bake at 450 degrees until slightly crispy or sauté or air fry until slightly crispy.

Place the tofu or seitan into a serving dish. Pour the warm spinach mixture over and serve warm. If you have extra spinach mixture, you can purée it with a small amount of silken tofu to use as a dip or the base for a creamy spinach soup.