Easy creamed spinach

I love creamed spinach, but many of its preparations tend to be overly rich and unnecessarily complicated. I wanted to find a way to reduce the fat a bit so that we could eat it without thinking of it as an indulgence and streamline it so it could easily be made alongside other meal components didn’t require a sink full of dishes. The result is  a simple way to get a satisfyingly creamy and flavorful side dish that you can pair with anything.

What’s not to love about this cheap and tasty green?

Spinach is one of those vegetables that can often be found for a pretty reasonable price. The bags in the above picture are regularly $2.99 (which is not good for 9 oz), but often go on sale as low as a dollar. And they are exactly that at Jewel this week! What is even better is that Fresh Express often puts out coupons. There aren’t any insert coupons right now, but you can print $1.00/2 coupons by joining their Salad Swap promotion then by entering bag codes. Once you enter 15 codes in 30 days, they send you 25 $2.00/2 coupons, which is what I used to get two bags for free this week. No shopping trip is more satisfying than one that includes free produce! When there isn’t a deal on these super convenient pre-washed bags, a bunch of flat leaf spinach is usually a dollar or two at a store with reasonable produce. It will just need to be washed well and any larger stems should be removed. Everything else you need is both relatively inexpensive and most likely already in your kitchen. Milk, onion, garlic, butter, flour, salt, pepper, and nutmeg – that’s it!

Maybe we should call it “milked spinach”

First, you’ll need to wilt the spinach. I am using slightly more than a bag and a half, which is a pound. And I guess you could use frozen spinach. A 10 oz box would probably be a close equivalent, but I am not 100% sure. I’ll have to try that and update.

Melt a tablespoon of butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the spinach by the handful and toss it around until it is all just barely wilted.

Set the spinach aside, and don’t worry if it gets cold.

Melt another four tablespoons of butter in the same pan and add a finely diced small onion. Saute until the onion is soft, but don’t let it brown. Add a couple cloves of minced garlic and saute another 30 seconds or so, until fragrant.

Add ¼ cup flour and cook for about four minutes, stirring constantly. You can use a whisk if you are concerned about lumpiness, but I haven’t found it necessary for this.

You want the flour to be cooked and not floury tasting, but you really don’t need it to brown. It is somewhat counter intuitive, but a lighter roux actually is a stronger thickener than a dark one.

Add a cup of room temperature milk in a slow, steady stream. I am actually using 1% here and it thickens just fine, so choose based on how rich you want it to be (or what you have, of course). Again, you can use a whisk, but this is coming out fine for me without it.

It should thicken quite nicely as you go and turn into a really concentrated sauce. In case it isn’t obvious, those are onions, not lumps.

Add your spinach back to the pan with the sauce and stir to combine. Isn’t it amazing how small a pound of spinach looks when wilted?

Season with ¼ teaspoon of ground nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste. I usually end up using about ¼ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper.

We had it this time with spice rubbed salmon and rice pilaf, but this is great alongside steak, roasted chicken, pretty much anything!