Spinach, Spinach Everywhere (Tofu Saag)

Good times at Albert Heijn

Arthur was in a good mood all through the day, with lots of smiles and giggles. He chuckled throughout his bath and grinned and trilled during his trip to the grocery store.

He wasn't terribly hungry for his booby breakfast, but we did try a second breakfast of solids half an hour afterwards. First on the menu was more parsnip purée. Arthur was not impressed.

Don't let the face fool you; he spent most of the "meal" looking at me in wide-eyed horror

Next, he got a serving of his favorite: egg! This time, though, I served it scrambled (previously, he had only had it hard-boiled. So it actually ended up being a new introduction as well, because it was cooked in olive oil. It took him a few tries to catch on to the fact that it was egg, but once he caught on, he was a big fan. And another food in his portfolio!

Arthur tried some more tomato today as well, but this time it was raw! He wasn't terribly thrilled about it, so I'll give him some more at another time.

We actually added two new foods to Arthur's diet today. Spinach was on sale, so I bought a big bag of it yesterday. Arthur certainly enjoyed it in the bag; I put it on his lap in the stroller and he kept beating it with his arms as if it were the drums. So I was curious what he'd think about the taste of it.

I let it cook in some boiling water for a few minutes, then chopped it up finely. He wasn't terribly sure about it, but I guess we'll keep trying.

Our thoughts on spinach

So, today Arthur had:

• parsnip purée

• scrambled egg

• olive oil (new food!)

• raw tomato

• spinach (new food!)

Quite a lot for one little guy!

Arthur wasn't the only one to have spinach. I tried out a new recipe from an old site: VeganDad's tofu saag. I adapted the recipe ever so slightly. Here's how I made it.

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Tofu Saag (serves 2)

Ingredients

• 450g (minus a little taken out for Arthur) fresh spinach

• 325g firm tofu, diced

• 400g (1 can) canned diced tomatoes

• 1 medium red onion, diced

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 1 small chunk (maybe thumb-sized) ginger, minced

• olive oil as needed, for cooking

• spices and seasonings to taste: curry powder, fenugreek, cayenne powder, salt, MSG

Instructions

1. Sauté the onion, garlic, and ginger in olive oil in a large pan.

2. Add washed spinach leaves, still wet from washing, to the pan, and cook them down, maybe 10 minutes or so.

3. Add the canned diced tomatoes and seasonings.

4. Purée a bit with a stick blender.

5. Add tofu, and cook for 15 minutes.

6. Serve warm over rice.