Paleo Authentic Creamed Spinach

When I was younger, you couldn’t pay me to eat spinach. I didn’t like the taste at all. Cooked spinach was the absolute worst, but somewhere along the line something changed. Spinach isn’t the only vegetable I now love that used to hate. I think as we get older our preferences change. I’m not sure how, but I’m glad I like spinach now! Peas on the other hand. I will never like. I used to claim I was allergic to get out of eating peas. Obviously my parents knew I was lying, but sometimes they would humor me and not make me eat the peas.

I wanted to try to make paleo creamed spinach the authentic way starting with a roux. My first try I used coconut flour, which ended up being a huge mistake. It looks perfect until you take the first bite. It tastes deceptively perfect until the slight gritty aftertaste. Bummer. Let’s not kid I ate it anyways because I didn’t want it to go to waste. I fixed the recipe and now no more grit! I’m obsessed with this dish. You will never know there isn’t a drop of dairy in the whole dish! 

Ingredients

4 1/2 tbls lard

1/4 cup arrowroot powder

1/4 cup white onion, diced

1/4 tsp dried thyme

1/8 tsp ground clove

1 1/2 cups coconut milk

15 oz fresh spinach 

Directions

Melt 4 tablespoons of lard in medium skillet over medium heat. Add arrowroot powder and stir continuously until mixture turns light brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in onion and seasoning. Gradually whisk in coconut milk. Continue to stir until the mixture boils and thickens, about 10 minutes. Turn heat to low and simmer for 5 more minutes, stirring frequently. 

For spinach, boil water in a large pot. Add spinach and cook for 2 minutes until wilted. While spinach cooks, fill large bowl with ice. Remove spinach with a slotted spoon into the ice bowl. Drain water. Roll spinach in a kitchen towel and squeeze out all water. Once you can’t get anymore liquid out, transfer spinach to cutting board. Chop spinach with large knife about 20 times. Add spinach to warm sauce and simmer over low heat for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add in remaining tablespoon of lard. Sprinkle with sea salt and pepper.

Enjoy! 

x vanessa

photo by tanya giang