Making the Most of a Mistake

So… I learned something new this week.  On Monday morning, I went to make a breakfast smoothie.  I’ve read that dark leafy greens are a natural anti-inflammatory.  Sometimes I have issues with my knee, and I have been reading a lot about natural ways to deal with knee pain and swelling.  So I figured that I could make a few Green Monster Smoothies this week.  When I grocery shopped on Sunday, I picked up a bag of (what I THOUGHT was) baby spinach.  Turns out I bought large leaf spinach.  I thought, “That won’t make a difference!”  How wrong I was.  You see, the beauty of the Green Monster Smoothie is that you can’t taste the baby spinach.  It just tastes like bananas and milk.  But I learned that you CAN taste the large leaf spinach in the smoothie!  Yeck!!!  Smoothie had to be poured down the drain.  :(

Since I had a bag of spinach that wouldn’t work in smoothies, I decided to play a little tonight. 

Meet brown rice topped with sautéed spinach and smoky maple bacon tempeh.

This was a super-filling dinner and actually was delicious.  I’ve decided I really like tempeh.  (If you’re new to tempeh, it’s a vegetarian replacement for bacon.)  I think that the sautéed spinach was actually the star of this meal, so that’s what I am sharing tonight!

Sautéed Spinach

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp EVOO
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 3-4 cups large leaf spinach (or baby spinach will work, too)
• salt and pepper to taste

Preparation: Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat until hot.  Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute.  Add spinach.  Immediately reduce heat to low.  Toss the spinach with tongs or a spatula, and allow it to wilt in the still-hot pan.  (It only takes about 2 minutes!  Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste!)

I hope you all are having a great week!  Tomorrow’s Hump Day!!!