Spinach Me Right Round Baby, Right Round!

Oh the food puns never end!

So, if you saw the Crop Share "spoiler" already you'll know we're getting loose New Jersey spinach!  Don't worry, it's not THAT kind of spinach, so if you're picturing Snookie, just stop.  This will be first of the season spinach from as close to home as we can get it this time of year, and it's grown in super sandy soil, so that means it's gonna be messy and gritty.

"Ahhhhhh!!!  No gritty spinach, EVER!!!"

I'm with the bunny, I hate grit in my spinach, and I've had way too many spinach salads at restaurants where I'm pretty sure I exfoliated the inside of my mouth, and last time I checked, that wasn't a body part you're to exfoliate.  But don't fret!  Because we have a fool proof, no fail way to wash your spinach so that you can kiss the grit goodbye!

Click through to read our tips on how to Beat The Gritty Spinach Blues!

Then once you have that spinach all washed and lovely, what's a cook do to with it?  Here's our top 5 favorite spinach recipes...

Asian Salmon Bowls with Spinach

Baked Chicken & Spinach Flautas

Go Green Smoothie

Italian Greens & Beans

Strawberry, Spinach & Almond Salad with a Poppy Seed Dressing

Pearly Sunny Smoothie

Have you missed my smoothie kick that I was on early in the year?  I didn't fall off the wagon due to eating a bunch of donuts for breakfast, nope...I broke my blender.  One of the pitfalls of being short and having high cabinets is that I drop stuff, A LOT.  Shouldn't I just put my blender that can easily separate into all of it's pieces if it's not level into a bottom cabinet?  No, because that would make sense.  Putting it on a high shelf in my laundry room was clearly the best option.  And when one smoothie mongering morning I went to take it down, the top wobbled off and some how I managed to drop the whole blessed assembly.  Now it won't even make a buzzing sound, I cracked the container, and some how managed to bend the entire rotary unit.  *sigh*  Sadly, it took me entirely too long to figure out that I can make smoothies about just as easy in my food processor.  I say about since it doesn't have as much liquid capacity, but apparently my counter tops are willing to hold a bevy of it when it spills out behind my back.

So this morning I finally used up the Bartlett pears from a few weeks back, and put the navel oranges to good use  in my morning version of an Orange Julius.  Those things were my jam as a kid since the entire food court of my local mall consisted of Orange Julius and the Pretzel Hut.  No soft pretzels in my kitchen this morning, but this smoothie definitely checked the box for delicious and healthy!

Pearly Sunny Smoothie

Ingredients:
3 pears, cored and cubed
3 navel oranges, juiced
1 cup almond milk (or milk of your choice, I use Almond Breeze)
1 Tbsp local honey
8 ice cubes

Blend up your pears and orange juice until smooth, then add in your milk, honey and ice and blend until no ice chunks remain.

Yields two full pints/32 ounces.

Sesame Vegetable Noodle Bowls

Despite my recent plague, I still took myself to the grocery store and for reasons I'm still not quite clear on, I apparently developed an all-Asian menu for dinners this week.  Hey, I can't eat most of it out at restaurants (curse you gluten-hating immune system!), so why not make it at home.  Lots of naps and pitiful coughs apparently lead to good things in the kitchen, because these noodle bowls I made last night may be one of my most favorite concoctions as of late.  Loaded with good green veggies, it's like ramen but healthy and it leaves you feeling somehow full yet light.  I used rice noodles, but you could easily use udon or any other of your favorite Asian-style noodles.  This would also be fantastic with shrimp, chicken or tofu, if you're looking to add an extra hit of protein.  Or throw all of it together into a pot with 2 cups of vegetable or chicken stock and 2 cups of water, and have yourself a noodly soup of goodness.

Sesame Vegetable Noodle Bowls

Ingredients:
1 package rice noodles, soaked in hot water until soft
1 tsp chili oil
1 leek, quartered lengthwise and sliced
4 oz Shitake mushrooms (or any mushrooms of your choice), sliced
1/2 bundle of kale, leaves removed from stem and rough chopped
1 cup cabbage, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and grated thin
2 green onions, greens chopped
1 Tbsp soy sauce (I use Kikkoman's wheat/gluten free version)
2 Tbsp sesame seeds

For sauce:
2 Tbsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 Tbsp lime juice
4 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp Sriracha
1 knob ginger, peeled and grated

Prepare sauce first by whisking all ingredients together and set aside, and soak rice noodles in hot water or put in on the stove over medium heat (not enough to boil) until noodles are just soft.

In a large skillet, heat chili oil over high heat.  Add sliced leeks and cook for about 2 minutes.  Then add mushrooms and cook until they begin to brown.  Toss in kale, cabbage and carrot and cook for about 1-2 more minutes or until kale is wilted.  Add in green onions and soy sauce, and cook for an additional minute.  Remove from heat and toss with sesame seeds.

Drain noodles and toss with veggies in skillet.  Pour over sauce and toss until fully combined.  Serve each portion with additional Sriracha and sesame seeds, if desired...and in this house, we do desire!

Southwest Stuffed Peppers

I actually whipped up these stuffed peppers last week as my even lighter and more veggie-tacular version of the Cream Cheese Chicken Enchilada Stuffed Peppers, but failed miserably at actually getting this to the blog.  But we got onions and there's onions in this recipe, so hey it's still relevant!  Especially as we head into summer with all the squash and corn, this will be a great way to use it all up.

Southwest Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients:
2 tsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, sliced
5 green peppers, 1 sliced, 4 hollowed and lids removed to prepare for stuffing
2 cups corn (or 1 can)
1 yellow squash or zucchini, sliced (if you have a zoodler or a julienne peeler, use that!)
1 1/2 Tbsp cumin
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 chicken breast, cooked and shredded (great for leftover chicken or rotisserie chicken)
1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
8 Tbsp salsa (be fancy and make your own Homemade Salsa)
1 Tbsp lime juice
1/2 cup, plus extra, shredded cheese of your choice (we use Daiya cheddar for dairy-free)
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
Salt & pepper, to taste
Hot sauce, to taste -- optional


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

You'll want to prep all of your veggies first, that way this recipe goes at light-speed.  It makes a TON of filling, so you can easily freeze any extra that won't fit in your peppers and use later for enchilada stuffing or bring it up to a boil with some stock and diced canned tomatoes for a filling soup.

Prep them veggies!

In a large skillet, and I mean large, heat olive oil over medium high heat.  Add in garlic and saute for about 1 minute or until fragrant.  Add in onion and pepper and saute for about 3 minutes.  Add corn, yellow squash and cumin and saute for an additional 3 minutes.  Next, pour in beans, shredded chicken, broth, salsa and lime juice.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until no liquid remains.

Stir in cheese, cilantro, and any hot sauce if you'd like a kick.  Then season with salt & pepper, to taste.  Remove from heat.

Take your 4 hollow peppers and stuff each with generous portions of the filling and top each with a sprinkle of cheese.  Place upright into a baking dish and bake at 350 for about 20-30 minutes, until skin on peppers starts to shrivel at top and look wrinkly and the cheese on top is nice & bubbly.