What I Advise You Do With Spinach

I go through phases with spinach. It's a green not unlike that guy that I meet every-other weekend since Fall quarter but he never remembers my name and even though we got along so well two weeks ago, and two weeks before that, seems we start from the beginning every time. Such is spinach. I used to buy it for salads, but I realized some time ago that I prefer feisty greens like arugula in my digestif.* It's great chopped into ribbons and swirled through my breakfast eggs, and I love beds of the sautéed stuff right below a filet of pan-fried fish. Nevertheless, when I'm buying greens, it's the arugula, the chard, and (when it's available) the mâche that I go for.

But, after tonight's dinner, I will certainly be buying more spinach. It was as a last resort that I bought the fateful bag last Saturday, but my trusty salad man had sold out of the tender greens and only had spinach left. After a surprisingly satisfying sandwhich** on Sunday, I went back to the fridge looking to make a salad. I made the vinagrette in my favorite salad bowl that Taylor ...acquired... for me and put a handful of the greens in too. One bite and I knew, this was not salad spinach.

It sat in the fridge until tonight, and I knew what I had to do: chicken saag. I wanted to eat something rich but not too heavy, so this was the perfect dish. The spinach blends into the tomatoes and spices and the whole thing gets velvety and luxurious, especially after the addition of the butter (don't skimp on the butter!). The saag was my favorite dish at the late Star of India in Petaluma (you will be missed!) and what I ate nearly every week through junior and sophomore years of high school. I loved it and I'd never attempted it, but after studying a few recipes online, I got the method and got to work.

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This is a highly modified version of the recipe at www.indianfoodforever.com

Chicken Saag For Two
This is lovely served over steamed basmati rice.
Also, it will get better with age, so make a
bigger batch if you are in to left overs.

2 chicken breast, cut into pieces
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 of an onion, chopped
1/3" piece of ginger, minced
1 Tbs milk
About 6 cups chopped fresh spinach
4 tinned tomatoes, chopped, with a few Tbs of their juice
2 Tbs butter
1 Tbs curry powder (I like Madras)
8 cardamom seeds, smashed
A few tishes of cayenne pepper
Olive oil
1/2 tsp Garam Masala
Salt

In a little oil, fry up the chicken until golden. Remove and set aside.Sauté the spinach with a few tablespoons of water until it's wilted and the water is boiling. Blend the spinach with the water until the water begins to take on the color of the spinach. Set aside.

Sauté the onion, garlic and ginger a bit of oil until onions are translucent. Add the tomatos and their juice, the curry powder, the cardamom the cayenne and a tish of water. Simmer on low for about ten minutes. If it begins to dry out, add a little water and cover. Add the chicken and the milk and simmer until the chicken is tender.

Add the spinach and the garam masala to the pan. Cook on low until most of the liquid has evaporated and the spinach sticks to the pan. Turn off the heat, stir in the butter, and cover until ready to serve.

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Enjoy!
-La

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*As Taylor has taught me, a clean and well executed green salad at the end of a meal makes for a wonderful finishing course. A salad seems to cleanse my palate, makes me feel like the meal is complete, not to mention, it aids digestion!
** Two slices of TJ's Harvest Whole Wheat Bread (one slice toasted), tomato slices, really good deli cut turkey, salad greens, avocado, sharp cheddar, brown mustard, freshly-ground pepper. Yum!