Wilted Spinach with Black Mustard Seed and Lemon

Simple, healthy and, most importantly, delicious ….

Love spinach? Want to do something a bit different with it? Look no further ….

Here’s a side dish I prepared to go with my Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Banana-Date Glaze. As a result, both are “Indian” inspired and fusions. What makes this dish most amazing, apart that it reduces 6 packed-packed cups of spinach into a cup of wilted spinach, is the fact that it will take you less than 10 minutes, start to finish. Yes, that’s not a misprint: ready in 10 minutes. Try to get out of a McDonald’s salad line-up faster … (god forbid).

Cooking Notes: The only trick to this is the black mustard seed. First, you will locate this ingredient in almost any Indian or spice shop. If you can’t find it, regular yellow mustard seed will work just as well. The second key is the Indian-technique that requires you to roast the seed — this changes it from what you think mustard tastes like into a nutty and perfectly pungent spice that pulls the dish together. Why is this a challenge? Well, imagine cooking popcorn in oil without a lid … with that picture in mind, USE A LID!

Prep time:   5 minutes
Cook time:  5 minutes
Total time:  10 minutes
Servings:    6-8

Wilted Spinach with Black Mustard Seed and Lemon

INGREDIENTS:

• 3/4lb (335g) baby spinach, washed well and drained
• 1 tablespoon avocado oil
  → substitute grape seed oil or something with a high smoke-point
• 1 teaspoon (5mL) black mustard seed
• 1/2 teaspoon (2mL) chile paste
• 1 clove garlic, finely minced
• Lemon zest of one lemon (very finely removed)
• 1 tablespoon (15mL) extra-virgin olive oil
• juice of 1/2 lemon, freshly squeezed

DIRECTIONS:

1. Before Your Start: In typical fashion when making Indian and other Asian-inspired food, do all your prep to before you start cooking because this dish comes together very quickly.
   → Note: zest the lemon with a fine, sharp rasp (microplane). If using a ‘zester,’ you’ll need less zest. Reserve the zested lemon for ‘juice’ later.
2. In a large frying pan or Dutch oven (something that you can put a lid on), heat avocado oil over high heat. Add the mustard seed and coat well in the oil.
   Immediately cover and soon you’ll hearing the “popping” of the seeds. Keeping the lid on, swirl the pan every 10 seconds or so until all the popping stops — about 2 minutes.
   
3. Remove lid and mix in the the chile paste, garlic and lemon zest. Fry for another minute.
4. Add half the spinach and the additional tablespoon of olive oil.
   … and, using tongs, cook and turn the spinach for a minute or so. Once it has cooked down a bit, add the remaining spinach and continue to turn it all until it has wilted to desired point (about 2-3 minutes).
   Squeeze half the lemon over the spinach and serve.Serve with Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Banana-Date Glaze