On the night before Christmas Eve, after our big gingerbread project, my family sat down to some Indian food.  I made Chicken Tikka Masala (replacing eggplant with chicken), homemade naan, and a spinach dish inspired by this Saag recipe.  It certainly wasn’t a traditional meal for us, but it turned out to be a great way to kick off over 48 hours of non-stop Christmas activity!

Since the chicken was a bit spicy, I kept the spinach dish fairly mild.  The ginger provided a lot of the flavor here, and the yogurt made it creamy without any additional fat.  Using frozen chopped spinach saved a lot of time.  The original recipe provides a lot of variations for this dish and it could easily be a main course with the addition of tofu or legumes.  I usually have chopped spinach on hand, so I’ll try one of those variations soon and let you know how it goes!

Indian Spiced Spinach

1 T canola oil
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
1 T minced fresh ginger
2 t minced garlic
2 t coriander
1/2 t turmeric
1 (20 oz.) package frozen spinach, thawed
1 c. water
Dash salt
1 c. nonfat plain yogurt

Heat oil in a large frying pan.  Add onion, and saute for 15-20 minutes, until browned.  Add ginger and garlic, and saute for 2-3 minutes.  Add spices, and saute for 1 minute.  Add spinach, water, and salt.  Simmer for 10 minutes, until spinach is cooked.  Add more water if necessary.  Add yogurt and stir to mix well.  Reduce heat, and cook just until heated through.

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