Sautéed spinach was never my favorite, until I made this. It actually started out as a filling for a rolled-up cube steak recipe. The filling was great….the rolled cube steak? Not so much. So I made a few adjustments and now this makes a regular appearance on our kitchen table.
4-5 strips bacon
1/2 to 1 cup onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 to 1 cup celery, finely chopped
1/2 to 1 cup mushrooms, chopped
3-4 cups fresh spinach, roughly chopped
1/8-1/4 tsp celery salt
Cook the bacon, either in the oven or in a large skillet on the stove. Reserve a few tablespoons of the bacon grease. Set bacon aside and chop when cooled.
Heat about 2 tbsp of bacon grease in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute onion 3-5 minutes, then add garlic, celery, mushrooms, spinach and celery salt. Stir well and saute until spinach is wilted.
Add chopped bacon and salt and pepper to taste.
The beauty of this side dish is that you can add/subtract ingredients as you like. Omit the mushrooms or add some leeks. I usually leave out the celery (my husband isn’t a fan) but I always use the celery salt….it gives it a nice flavor. This also works well with kale or chard, though you’ll want to cook them a bit longer to let the leaves get more tender. Add a splash of chicken broth if the pan dries out too much. If you don’t have any bacon, start with some reserved bacon grease from a previous day, or simply use olive oil.