Eat Your Spinach Sides — Fall Fest
2012, Food Network
For some, the delicate leafy green means quiche, nourishing green smoothies and heaping salads. And for others — we're lookin' at you kids — it can be a hard sell, met with wrinkled noses and "No dessert until you eat your spinach!" tantrums. Today, we're coming up with spinach sides that, believe it or not, can make everyone happy. Cook it into your favorite recipes, saute it on its own, eat it nice and raw — you get the picture. When it wilts into its supple alter ego, all kinds of sides can come to be.
This season, grab baby or big-leaf spinach by the handful, for more reason than the ample health benefits. Whether you disguise spinach or make it the star of your dish, this recipe roundup will give you — and, hey, maybe even the kids — reason to love it.
For those who love the classic composition of Creamed Spinach, Sunny Anderson's is decadent, creamy and works as a weeknight side or Thanksgiving star. Sandra Lee's Parmesan Creamed Spinach adds a dose of sharp cheese, as well as a touch of pumpkin pie spice.
Antonis Achilleos
Squeeze a juicy lemon over Food Network Magazine's Spicy Chickpeas and Spinach, which comes with a spice blend of paprika and chipotle.
Experiment with a special variety of rice while getting your spinach too: Red Rice with Spinach and Dried Cherries by Food Network Magazine tosses in a heap of spinach, creating a wholesome side and a pop from complementing colors.
Crusty at the top and creamy in the middle, Ina Garten's Spinach Gratin is worthy of your most loved casserole dish. Swap the frosty packages of frozen spinach for the fresh stuff.
Do more with your baked potato than the sour cream-bacon-cheese trinity. Food Network Magazine loads up its Ham-and-Spinach Spuds with a creamy spinach mixture that belongs in the warm embrace of a baked russet.
Robin Miller's Sauteed Wild Mushrooms with Spinach brings a satisfying meatiness to standard sauteed spinach, while a drizzle of sesame oil takes Food Network Magazine's Garlic-Sesame Spinach from wilted to wonderful.
Bring on the spinach in a side salad. Go for Food Network Magazine's Warm Spinach Salad, full of sauteed red onions, mushrooms and salty feta, or Alex's Lightly Wilted Spinach Salad, which plays with the green's transformational abilities.
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