Oh, how I love to hit the Asian grocery store! Their produce section is always like an alternate universe compared to a traditional American supermarket; there's all kinds of weird vegetables and fruits with strange names I have no idea what to do with, but are completely fascinating to me. I can always count on being able to find a new food adventure there and best of all, produce is usually a lot cheaper than at other stores.
One such treasure I came home with this time was "Taiwan Spinach." It was pretty cheap, just a $1.25 for a large bag and it looked a lot like regular spinach. I looked it up online and found it goes by other names like Chinese Spinach and Water Spinach and is actually a type of amaranth plant. One defining characteristic of this vegetable that makes it different from "regular" spinach is it's hollow stem (it grows in water) which makes it perfect for absorbing flavor. I also found a few different recipes and just created my own based on what I found and what I've got handy in the house.
To go with my Chinese Spinach, I decided to make an egg and squash dish since I had a great deal of yellow squash I needed to use up. Both of these dishes came together fairly quickly and I hope you'll give one or both of them a try!
Chinese Spinach
You'll need:
cooking oil
At least 1 lb of spinach (doesn't have to be Chinese), roughly chopped or torn
2-4 cloves of garlic thinly sliced
2 green onions sliced or a quarter of regular onion diced
sesame oil
chili flakes
salt and pepper
cornstarch/arrowroot/tapioca flour
1 cup of stock or 2 tsp of miso paste dissolved in a cup of water
mirin or rice vinegar
sliced ginger (optional)
Heat up a tablespoon or two of vegetable oil in a large skillet and toss in your onion, stir for a minute and then add the sliced garlic. When the garlic is fragrant, toss in your spinach. When you chop your spinach, be sure to include all the stems along with the leaves--they will provide a more interesting texture and the hollow stems will absorb more flavor. If all your spinach won't fit in the pan at once, just add a little, let it wilt, and then add more until you've got it all in there.
Sprinkle a spoonful or so of your cornstarch or whatever starch or flour you have on hand over the spinach. This will help create a bit of a sauce at the end. Stir around to coat. Now add your stock or miso paste mixed with water to really give it some flavor. If you have ginger you'd like to use, add it now.
Almost done (I told you it's fast)! As the spinach wilts and cooks down, drizzle some sesame oil over it, sprinkle some hot chili flakes, salt and pepper and then add a splash of mirin (basically Asian cooking sherry). If you don't have mirin, use vinegar (preferably rice vinegar) and a pinch of sugar. Once you've got this all stirred around and the spinach looks cooked but still bright green, turn off the heat and you're done.
Squash omelette
While you're working on your spinach, you can have your squash omelette going too. This is also very simple and cooks fast.
You'll need:
1 Tbls coconut oil (or sub whatever oil you have)
1-2 yellow squash (summer squash) depending on size, sliced thin and chopped in small pieces
half an onion, diced
Spoonful of curry or garam masala seasoning
2 large eggs
1/4 cup of milk
1/4 cup of cottage cheese
Salt and pepper
Fresh turmeric (optional)
Heat your coconut oil in a large skillet and add your diced onion. Add your spices and fry for a minute or two. Once the onions are translucent, add the chopped squash and stir and cook until very soft.
Beat the two eggs in a bowl along with the milk and cottage cheese. Add salt and pepper to the egg mixture along with your fresh turmeric if you have it. Pour over the squash and be sure all the squash is well coated and mostly submerged.
Now just let it cook until set. To help the center cook, you can cover the skillet with a lid and keep the heat on low. Once you can move a spatula easily around the edges and the center is no longer runny, it's done! Serve from the skillet or invert onto a plate and cut up like a pie.
Boom, a nice, healthy dinner ready in no time. I served the spinach over rice with a little soy sauce and it was quite lovely. The warm curry flavor of the squash omelette was actually a nice complement to the sharper flavor of the spinach.
Comment below if you've made something similar or have other quick but healthy dishes you recommend!