Another Post About Spinach (Vegan Palak Paneer)
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
A 6:40 wakeup for the little dude today. Well, I guess it was 10 minutes later than yesterday. I was lucky that his dad took him until I got up an hour later. He gave Arthur a bit of formula to keep him going until his big breakfast on Mama, but at least he still had plenty of appetite by the time he got to my boobs.
He was in a pretty good mood all morning; maybe the two naps helped. And it was a beautiful day outside, so I’m sure he also enjoyed his two walks almost as much as he enjoyed punching his mom and pulling her hair while he was nursing.
Spinach was on sale this week, and I bought a huge bag of it, but I only had plans for half of it. So the rest got turned into a puree for Arthur! I just blanched some and blended it with a bit of water and olive oil. And Arthur seemed to like it right away! After he finished the first few spoonfuls, I hid a couple of pieces of shrimp in it to get some more in, and it didn’t seem to impact his enjoyment. But MAN was it messy. He managed to get spinach everywhere, including on the wall, in his ears and nostril, and under his fingernails. And the stuff is COLORFUL.
At dinnertime, while his parents ate a tofu spinach dish with rice, Arthur had his own modified version: spinach purée mixed with rice porridge & some crumbled tofu. and he was a very appreciative dining companion.
So, today, Arthur ate:
spinach
olive oil
shrimp
tofu
rice porridge
milk powder
Tofu was also on sale this week, and I decided to use it with the spinach to try a fancy new dish: vegan palak paneer! I based it off of this recipe, but simplified it a little bit. It was pretty good, though I'm not sure if the taste to effort ratio is quite worth it. Anyways, here's how I made it:
Tofu Palak Paneer (generously serves 2)
Ingredients
325g tofu
Sauce:
250g spinach
70g raw cashews, soaked overnight
1 cup water
2 garlic cloves, peeled but left whole
1.5 inch/3.5cm fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
1 serrano pepper (I subbed 2 small pickled green peppers)
2 small tomatoes (I subbed 10 cherry tomatoes)
1 tsp salt
Masala:
olive oil, for cooking
1 onion, minced
4 garlic cloves, minced
¼ tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
Black pepper
Bay leaf
1 tsp garam masala
½ tbsp fenugreek
MSG, to taste (optional, not in the original recipe)
Instructions
Soak the cashews in water overnight the day before.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the spinach to the water and blanch for 2 minutes, or until they are wilted but still bright green. Drain with a sieve and immediately run cold water over them until they cool down and are no longer cooking.
Once the leaves are cool, squeeze out as much water as possible, then set aside.
Drain tofu and pat with paper towels to remove excess water. Chop the tofu into cubes.
Bring the same pot used for the spinach with more salted water to a boil. Add the cubed tofu to the boiling water and boil for 2 minutes. Drain with a sieve and set tofu aside.
Drain the soaked cashews, then add them to a blender with the spinach and the rest of the sauce ingredients. Purée until completely smooth.
Make the masala. Heat a large deep pan with the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 4-5 minutes, or until translucent.
Add the garlic and cook 1-2 minutes, or until golden. Add the turmeric, cumin, salt, black pepper to taste, and bay leaf. Cook for 30 seconds, stirring the spices into the onions.
Reduce the heat to medium-low. Pour in the spinach sauce and cook for about 5 minutes, until the mixture is thick, stirring occasionally and adding more water if the seems to be drying out.
Stir in the garam masala, fenugreek, and MSG if using, and add in the tofu.
Stir gently to combine and cook for 2-3 minutes or until the mixture is heated through. Season to taste with salt and pepper and squeeze a little lemon or lime juice on top.
Serve warm with white rice.
Comments