Buttery and garlicky with a subtle tang supplied by a little lime or lemon juice which is added just before serving. But it isn’t just the flavors that make this side dish such a wonder. It’s the crunch of garlic. Thin, thin slices of garlic fried in butter. Can you imagine?
The secret here is using the freshest ingredients. Not canned mushrooms and not frozen spinach.
Canned mushrooms are already cooked and they will not soak up a lot of flavor during cooking. Frozen spinach is simply too mushy already.
But if I could choose only one — canned mushrooms and fresh spinach OR fresh mushrooms and frozen spinach? — and I have to make some concessions, I’d take the fresh spinach and just cook the canned mushrooms a bit longer.
Why? Because this dish is better if you can still get a bit of crunch from the spinach stalks. And you just won’t get that if you use frozen.
Garlic Butter Spinach and Mushrooms
Ingredients
- ¼ cup butter
- 4 cloves garlic peeled and thinly sliced
- 500 grams baby spinach rinsed well and roughly chopped
- salt
- pepper
- 250 grams button mushrooms thinly sliced
- 1 lime or lemon cut into wedges
Instructions
- Over medium-low heat, melt the butter in a frying pan.
- Add the garlic slices and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden and lightly crisp. Scoop out and set aside.
- Reheat the butter and toss in the spinach. Sprinkle in salt and pepper. Cook over medium-high heat until the spinach is wilted and much of the water it has expelled has evaporated.
- Add the mushroom slices. Sprinkle in more salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until the mushrooms are softened.
- Taste the spinach and mushrooms. Add more salt and pepper, if needed.
- Divide the spinach and mushrooms among four small bowls. Spoon the remaining pan juices over the bowls evenly.
- Squeeze the juice from a wedge of lime or lemon directly over each bowl.
- Take the butter-fried garlic slices and scatter over the mushrooms and spinach.
Notes
Roasted Salami-wrapped Asparagus
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