A Spinach Revelation, and a Failed Experiment

I usually take advantage of my Mondays at home to cook for at least part of the week. Yesterday, however, I got sidetracked. First, I made granola. Then, I made cake (more about that another day). While I was making the cake, I was also making my first batch of rhubarb ginger jam. In the midst of all that, I ran errands, did some work, gardened in the drizzle, did laundry (including the caked-with-dirt-from-gardening-in-the-drizzle gardening clothes). Somehow, I forgot to make dinner. I had the fixings for a nice salad, but it was chilly and damp, not really salad weather.

What I did have, I realized as the afternoon edged toward evening, was a lot of spinach. A pound and a half, to be precise. I thought about spinach and green garlic soup; I thought about my tried and true spinach soup, but I wasn't in a soup mood. And then I remembered that Deb at Smitten Kitchen had written a few months ago about baked spinach, which she called, in fact, the "best baked spinach," and that seemed like just the ticket. The full recipe called for 3 pounds of spinach, and I only had half of that, but I figured the recipe was easy enough to halve, which I did. I'm going to send you over to Deb's post for the instructions. Suffice it to say that the spinach is, in fact, delicious. Also easy, though there are several steps (which makes sense, since the recipe is one she pieced together from several Julia Child recipes.) Once the spinach is wilted, you saute it in a bit of butter.

After it's dried out, you add a bit of flour, and once that's absorbed, some stock or cream, depending on how decadent you're feeling. (I used 1/2 asparagus stock and 1/2 1/2 and 1/2.) (I couldn't resist writing it that way.) Then you mix with some cheese, put it in a baking dish and top it with some breadcrumbs and more cheese, and you're done.


I didn't have any baked spinach to compare this too, but it was delicious, and I will absolutely make it again, this time, a full recipe. And I might not even share.

But then we come to the failed experiment.

One of Deb's suggestions was to use the spinach as a bed for a poached egg. This seemed like a fine idea to me except that I can't really make poached eggs. Alex, on the other hand, is a poached egg master, so I just cede the making of poached eggs to him. Last night, however, he wasn't there, and I was on my own if I wanted a poached egg. I thought about just making a soft-boiled egg instead, but then I remembered recently having read something about making poached eggs in the microwave and I decided to give it a try. I found what I had read--a short piece in Bon Appetit. Unfortunately, I began my experiment after I'd read the piece but before I read the comments, which suggested that it might be more complicated than it appeared on the surface. The Bon Appetit method involved putting the egg in water in a cup, covering with a saucer, and cooking on high heat for 1 minute, and voila-- a perfect poached egg was supposed to appear.

My microwave is ancient, however, and nothing cooks in one minute. My general calculation is that something that takes 1 minute in a newer microwave takes at least 3 minutes in mine. As a compromise, I set the timer for 2 minutes. But when the buzzer went off and I checked, the egg was only partly poached. I put the saucer back on and turned it on for 2 more minutes. About a minute in, there was a crash loud enough to send the cats scurrying to the basement in fear. When I opened the door, thankfully I didn't find a smashed dish and egg everywhere. I did, however, find the saucer catapulted to the side, along with some water and a bit of egg. What was left of the egg was closer to hard boiled than soft-boiled. It was rather sad looking, in fact.

Only then did I think to look at the comments, both of which said there were too many variables, and it hadn't worked. I had to agree with them.

Still, all was not lost. A piece of Hungry Ghost eight grain bread, topped with half the spinach, topped with the remains of the egg, turned out to be a delicious dinner.


Two lessons learned: The spinach is a winner.

And, at least for the moment, I will leave the poached eggs to Alex.

Meatless Monday: Vegetarian Tortilla Pie

It began with the tortillas. One of my colleagues picked up a packet of corn tortillas from a local Mexican restaurant at lunch one day and brought them back to the office. The package was hefty, so she offered me some, which I took home, put in the fridge and half forgot about. But one day, a week or so later, I was thinking about what to make for dinner, and I remembered the tortillas. I had a yen for some sort of tortilla pie or casserole, with vegetables and beans and cheese, something warm and comforting, hearty and wholesome. I looked up recipes and found all manner of variations--with meat, without meat, with tomato sauce, with large quantities of salsa, etc.-- but I didn't find exactly what I was looking for.

No matter. This is the kind of dish where improvisation works fine. After all, how wrong can you go with tortillas, vegetables, beans and cheese? On one burner of the stove, I set to sauteing some onions and garlic, to which I added 2 cans of black beans and a package of frozen corn. On the next burner, I sauteed some spinach with a bit of garlic.

Then, I made what turned out to be a crucial decision. I had a little can of chipotle chilies in adobo sauce in the house. I pureed these and added a teaspoon to the bean/corn/onion mixture, which gave it a kick without excessive heat. (This meant I didn't have to dump in a whole jar of salsa later to avoid blandness.) Once everything was cooked, I began to layer. On the bottom of the dish went a layer of tortillas (3 or 4), overlapping. I covered these with half of the bean/corn mixture. Then I added about half of the spinach. Grated cheddar followed, along with dabs of salsa.

Another layer of tortillas followed, and then the beans and corn, spinach, cheese and salsa. You could add more salsa, tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes, if you wanted the mixture to be wetter. You could put other vegetables in with the beans and corn. I'm still wondering why I didn't think to add red peppers. You can skip the spinach, if that's not your thing, but it's an easy and delicious way to get some greens in painlessly (if you (or your children) are looking for painless ways to greens consumption). Don't skimp on the cheese, which is a mistake I made the second time I made this. (It was still good, but not quite as delicious as the first time.) Finally, add one more layer of tortillas across the top, and grate more cheese to finish it off.

These top tortillas will crisp up when you bake it, and they will add some nice crunch to the dish.

This is not the loveliest or most photogenic dish, admittedly. But it's filling and tasty and very easy to make. I recommend eating it with cubes of avocado and a bit of sour cream.

Not long ago, I went to the Mexican restaurant and bought my own hefty packet of Cinco de Mayo corn tortillas ($1.75 for at least 30 tortillas that are much more substantial than supermarket tortillas). With the weather seeming to have forgotten that it's actually late May, I suspect there will still be at least a few opportunities to use them!

Vegetarian Tortilla Pie

10-12 small corn tortillas, Cinco de Mayo or other quality brand if possible
olive oil for sauteeing
2 onions, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans black beans (or 1 cup dried beans, soaked and cooked)
10 oz. frozen corn (or corn from 3-4 ears, if in season)
1 tsp. pureed chipotle chilies
1 10 oz. bag of spinach leaves, washed
4-6 oz. sharp or extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated
salsa to taste
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375

Saute the onions and 2 cloves of garlic in 1 tbsp. olive oil until the onions are soft but not brown. Add the black beans and corn. When mixture is warm, stir in the pureed chipotle chili, making sure that it's spread out through the mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste.

In a separate skillet, heat another teaspoon of olive oil and saute the third clove of garlic, briefly. Add the washed spinach and saute until spinach is wilted. Put into a colander and press to squeeze out any extra water. Chop finely.

In a casserole dish (I used an 8.5" x 12" Emile Henry lasagna pan), put a layer of tortillas across the bottom. It's fine if they overlap. Layer on half of the bean/corn mixture and half of the spinach. Add salsa to taste. Sprinkle not quite half of the cheese over the top. Repeat with another layer of tortillas, beans/corn, spinach, salsa and cheese. Top with a final layer of tortillas with the remaining cheese sprinkled on top.

Bake in 375 oven for approximately 20 minutes. Serve with chopped avocado, sour cream, more salsa, and any other garnish you wish.

Serves 4-6

Deborah Madison's Spinach Frittata: or, Friends with Chickens

At the beginning of the academic year, I acquired a new office neighbor. This was a good thing, as my office is on the third floor of an old house, tucked under the eaves, and for company, I was reduced to calling across what once had been an attic playroom to my colleague on the other side. But then, the empty office next to mine was suddenly populated, and first, I had a neighbor, and after not very long, I had a new friend. (Hi Beth!)

Beth has been a lovely new friend. (She, in fact, was the one who suggested that I go to Navdanya in January!) But in addition to all of her fine qualities, there's another thing: she has chickens. I heard last fall about the building of the chicken coop and the acquisition of 8 hens. I heard about the months in which those 8 chickens, expensively settled into their expensive coop, showed little interest in laying eggs. But then, at long last, they began to lay eggs, just in time for our winter from hell, and then I heard stories of Beth's 8 year old daughter going out to feed the chickens and coming back with frozen hair while reporting that the chicken's water was also frozen. Ah, the joys of outdoor animals in a New England winter!

But through it all, those intrepid hens kept laying eggs. And some of the eggs laid by Tiny, Chinchilinna, Bindi, Fluffy, Hannah, and Fluffy-Lucky-Dr.Dufenschwartz found their way to me. (I am sad to report that of the original 8, Dora was lost to a skunk and Nemo to a hawk; Beth would probably like me point out that 1) her 2 daughters named the chickens and 2) they will stay away from Disney names in future.)

Over the past few months, I've scrambled the eggs and poached them and made them into egg salad. I've put them in quiche and custard and Deborah Madison's chard and onion torta. And yesterday, I had 3 eggs left from the last batch Beth had given me, and I made this frittata.

This frittata has much to recommend it--it's easy and quick, filling and delicious. And if this happens to be early May and new spinach and green onions are readily available at the farmers' market, even better. Although I always like spinach and cheddar together, I used the goat cheese called for in the recipe and was not sorry. The whole thing was done very quickly. You can mix together the eggs while the spinach is cooking down, and as long as the heat is low, you can go off and do other things for the 8 or so minutes that the frittata is cooking. When the mingled and yummy smell of green onions and goat cheese begins to permeate your kitchen, you'll know it's almost done.

Meanwhile, I brought an empty egg carton to work and left it meaningfully on Beth's desk. I'm already plotting what Chinchilinna and co.'s next offerings will become.

Spinach Frittata
from Vegetarian Suppers from Deborah Madison's Kitchen

8 to 10 ounces baby spinach leaves
2 tbsp. butter
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
4 eggs
2 scallions, including 3 inches of greens, thinly sliced
3 ounces crumbled firm goat cheese

1. Put the spinach in a large skillet with a teaspoon or so of the butter, season with a few pinches of salt, and add a tablespoon of water to create a little steam. Cook over medium heat until wilted and tender, about 3 minutes. Drain and chop coarsely.

2. Whisk the eggs in a medium bowl with several pinches of salt and some pepper. Stir in the scallions, cheese and spinach.

3. Melt the remaining butter in a 10-inch nonstick skillet. When it foams, swirl it around the pan, coating the sides. Add the eggs, reduce the heat to low, then cover the pan and cook until golden and puffed, about 8 minutes. If, at this time, it's cooked to your tasted, slide it out onto a serving plate without turning it over. If you like your eggs cooked more firmly, slide the frittata onto a plate, invert the skillet over it, then, grasping both the plate and the skillet in your hands, invert the whole thing. Cook the second side for a few more minutes, then slide the frittata onto the plate, cut into quarters and serve.

Serves 2-4, depending on what else you're serving and how hungry you are.