Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Thawing & Draining Frozen Spinach

Spinach is a nutrient-rich, miracle food. Of course, raw, fresh spinach is best. But, I think frozen, chopped spinach is a convenient and easy way to pack your recipes with leafy greens. I use frozen spinach at least once a week in my breakfast dishes and sometimes as a side dish. Search the Recipes Archive for recipes using frozen spinach. Below is a step by step tutorial on thawing and draining frozen spinach.

Empty contents of box or bag into a strainer set inside a medium bowl. If you don't have a strainer, put the spinach directly into the bowl.

Fill the bowl with cool water from your tap and let sit for five minutes.

If using a strainer, lift the strainer from the bowl and dump out the water. Return the strainer to the bowl. If not using a strainer, use your hand or a pot lid to drain most of the water, being careful not to lose too many pieces of spinach.

Fill the bowl with water again, using your hands to gently break up bits of frozen spinach. Again, let the spinach sit for five minutes. Again, drain the water. (If frozen bits remain, repeat the steps above one more time.)

Lay a clean dishrag on the counter. Using your hand, transfer the spinach by handfuls to the dishrag, squeezing out excess water as you do so. Fold the dishrag lengthwise over the spinach.

Twist either end of the dishrag and then "wring" out the spinach over the sink. If needed, move the spinach to a dry portion of the dishrag and repeat the wringing step.

You will have a well drained ball of spinach that wont turn your recipes into a soggy mess!

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