Indian Tofu with Spinach

Ok, it may not be the prettiest thing you'll ever eat, but in my eyes this dish is the holy trinity of recipes.
It's fast.
It's healthy.
It's phenomenally delicious.

Adapted from the latest New York Times' Recipes for Health column (the entire newspaper has gone spinach-mad in the last week or so), this recipe has immediately become my favorite lunch and/or dinner. It's a one-pot dish that makes a fairly good stab at imitating some high class curries.
And did I mention it's good for you? Sure, you can add the authentic Indian paneer if you choose, but extra firm tofu certainly does the trick for me. Stir-fried for about 3 minutes or so, it gives just enough of a protein base to the dish to make it a satisfying main. Although Martha Schulman insists you should have it on top of noodles or something.
Bah.
Eat it on its own. And think of how much glorious iron you're getting from all the spinach you've eaten (I may use a bag of spinach just for myself...). You'll feel like Popeye afterwards.
Also, Schulman insists on using "drained yogurt" for this. It's completely unnecessary. I used low fat Greek yogurt and was happy as a clam.

Serves 4 as a main dish

Ingredients

3/4 pound firm tofu, cut into 1-inch cubes (remember to drain and pat dry the tofu. The drier you make the tofu, the more it will hold its shape in the frying pan.)

2 tablespoons canola oil

1/2 cup finely chopped shallot or red onion (I recommend using a whole red onion)

4 lengthwise slices peeled fresh ginger (2 inches long, 1 inch wide, 1/8 inch thick), coarsely chopped

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1/2 fresh red chile, chopped

2 whole dried red chilies, like Thai, cayenne or arbol

1 tablespoon coriander seeds, ground

Salt to taste

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

2-3 cardamom pods

1 1/2 pounds fresh spinach, stems trimmed at the end and washed in 2 changes of water, or 12 ounces baby spinach, rinsed

1/2 cup low-fat Greek yogurt

1/4 teaspoon cornstarch

Method

Drain the tofu on paper towels. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium-high heat in a wok or a large, heavy lidded skillet and add the tofu. Stir-fry until golden brown and remove from the heat.

Heat the remaining oil over medium-high heat in a wok or skillet and add the cumin seeds, and both the fresh and dried chilies. Cook, stirring, for about 15 seconds, or until the spices are fragrant and reddish-brown. Add the onion and ginger and stir-fry until it is lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add the coriander, salt, cayenne, cardamom pods, and turmeric, stir for about 10 seconds and add the spinach in batches, adding the next batch after the first batch wilts and stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan to deglaze.

Stir in the tofu, cover, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 2 to 3 minutes, until the spinach is uniformly wilted and the tofu is warmed through.

Whisk the cornstarch into the yogurt. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the yogurt.

Spinach Soup with Bacon and Thyme Croutons

My culinary life has had a bit of an upset recently. Mark Bittman, master of the minimalist cooking approach, has hung up his apron strings at the New York Times. His recipes were a source of many a weeknight dinner for me and his blog will be much missed. This doesn't mean that the Bittster is gone forever, however, he has resurfaced already with a brand new blog about...well...cooking. The point of the blog is still a bit beyond me, but as far as I can gather, he's now writing about simple hearty recipes that you can make easily. Which sounds...remarkably like his earlier blog, but never you mind. I feature here one of his newest creations (or rather recommendations). His entire entry on soup claims to show you the last four recipes you'll ever need for soup. I tend to disagree but regardless, his first item on the list, a spinach and yogurt soup is simply marvelous.

Well, marvelous if you put bacon in it. Which arguably makes everything better. The soup is ridiculously easy to make and wonderful for those late winter nights where there's still a bite in the air but you can tell spring is just beyond the horizon. When you add these croutons to it, well, here's to Bittman and here's to soup.

Ingredients
1 onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
3 cups water
2 tomatoes, diced
1 tbsp oregano
2 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp achiote powder (or chili powder)
12 ounces spinach
1/2 cup parsley, chopped 
1 1/2 cups greek yogurt
3 slices bacon, cooked and chopped into bite size pieces.
salt and pepper 
Thyme croutons (see recipe below)


Method
Put 1 chopped onion, garlic cloves, spices, 3 cups water, and salt and pepper in a pot over high heat.

Boil, cover, lower the heat and simmer until the onion is tender, about 10 minutes.

Add chopped spinach, tomatoes, oil, and parsley leaves; cook until the spinach is tender, 2 to 3 minutes.

Add Greek-style yogurt and purée. Stir in bacon pieces.

Garnish: A spoonful of Greek-style yogurt and chopped parsley and some thyme croutons

For croutons:
Tear up day-old bread into small bite size chunks. Douse with olive oil and a sprinkling of thyme. Put under grill/broiler under golden (c. 3-4 minutes).

Baked Quinoa with Spinach, Cheese, and Chorizo

I'll admit it, I've been on a bit of a quinoa kick recently. My friends started making salads featuring the trendy new grain and I've jumped on the quinoa bandwagon. It's just so versatile! Taking the place of rice, couscous, pasta, really any starch, it's much lighter and fluffier and works great with just about everything.

This recipe is from the Recipes for Health section of the New York Times, from their own experiments with 'unusual' grains. I substituted the cheeses and added some chorizo which made it a bit heartier for a one-dish meal, but this recipe seems foolproof. I also added some chili pepper in (cayenne and achiote) for the spice lovers among us. But feel free to experiment, adding in your own ingredients to suit your taste!

1 6-ounce bag baby spinach
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 plump garlic cloves, minced
4 cups cooked quinoa (1 cup uncooked) (For Quinoa cooking instructions see here)

2 large eggs
3 ounces cheddar cheese or Gruyere , grated (3/4 cup)
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage
1 ounce Parmesan, grated (1/4 cup)

3 ounces diced dried Spanish sausage (chorizo)
chili pepper (to taste, approx. 2 tsp)

1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Oil a 2-quart gratin or baking dish.
2. Heat a medium frying pan or a wide saucepan over medium-high heat. Wash the spinach and without spinning dry, add to the pan and wilt in the liquid left on the leaves after washing. You may have to do this in 2 batches. As soon as the spinach wilts, remove from the heat and rinse with cold water. Squeeze dry and chop. Set aside.
3. Wipe the pan dry and heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in it over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and stir with the onion until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in the spinach and season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat.
4. Beat the eggs in a large bowl and add 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir in the quinoa, the onion and spinach mixture, the Gruyère/cheddar, the chorizo and the sage. Add freshly ground pepper and stir the mixture together. Scrape into the gratin dish. Sprinkle the Parmesan over the top and drizzle on the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Place in the oven and bake until nicely browned on top, about 25 minutes. Remove from the heat, allow to sit for about 5 minutes, and serve.
Yield: Serves 4 to 6
Advance preparation: The cooked quinoa will keep for 3 or 4 days in the refrigerator. The recipe can be made through Step 3 several hours or even a day ahead. The gratin can be assembled several hours ahead.

Italian Eggs over Spinach and Polenta

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 (16-ounce) tube of polenta, cut into 12 slices (or soft polenta, made by combining 1 cup polenta with 2 cups boiling water, stir occasionally until water is absorbed & polenta is fluffy)
• Cooking spray
• 2 cups fat-free tomato-basil pasta sauce
• 1 (6-ounce) package fresh baby spinach
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Asiago cheese

Preparation

Preheat broiler.
Arrange polenta slices on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Coat tops of polenta with cooking spray. Broil 3 minutes or until thoroughly heated.
While polenta heats, bring sauce to a simmer in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in spinach; cover and cook for 1 minute or until spinach wilts. Stir to combine. Make 4 indentations in top of spinach mixture using the back of a wooden spoon. Break 1 egg into each indentation. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes or until eggs are desired degree of doneness. Sprinkle with cheese. Place 3 polenta slices on each of 4 plates; top each serving with one-fourth of spinach mixture and 1 egg.

Japanese Spinach with Sesame Dressing

from New York Times, Recipes for Health

This appetizer/side dish is very simple and very delicious. The dressing pulls the spinach together and turns what would have been an unappealing "healthy" alternative to fries into something you'll be getting requests for over and over again.
Ingredients

2 6-oz. bags baby spinach (or 1 1/2 pounds, stemmed and washed)
3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sake (can be omitted)
1 tablespoon water (more to taste)
1/2 teaspoon dark sesame oil

Preparation

1. Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Fill a bowl with ice water. Blanch the spinach for 10 to 20 seconds in the boiling water and transfer to the ice water using a deep-fry skimmer. Drain and gently squeeze out water. Chop coarsely.
2. Make the dressing. If your sesame seeds have not been toasted, heat a dry skillet over medium heat and add the sesame seeds. Stir and shake the pan constantly, and as soon as the seeds turn golden and smell nutty, transfer to a suribachi mortar and pestle or to a spice mill. Allow to cool. Grind the seeds just until crushed.
3. Combine the soy sauce and sugar in a small bowl and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Add the sake and water, then stir in the ground sesame seeds. Thin out with water. Toss with the spinach and stir together until the dressing infuses the spinach. Be careful not to bruise the spinach leaves. Divide into four small bunches and place in the middle of four small plates or bowls. Drizzle on a few drops of sesame oil. Serve at room temperature.

Yield: Four small servings
Advance preparation: You can blanch the spinach up to a day in advance. The dish can be assembled and refrigerated several hours before serving.