Wow. I am completely BLOWN away by your positive feedback and support for my Fed+Fit Holiday eBook! I’m so thrilled that you love it. I spent a lot of time making sure that each recipe is perfect and easy to follow so that your holiday feast is a tasty breeze.
I’m also happy to hear that you love my menus with corresponding shopping lists and production schedules! Those are totally a bright shiny public display of my type-A’ness. Though I’m providing 5 different menus each for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and NYE (including Autoimmune, low-FODMAP, low-cab, and 21-Day Sugar Detox), I personally make the “Fed+Ft Decadence” for our family holiday feasts. If you want to see what they look like, I’ve included a sample of that one below!
I know that many of you already have your menu planned, but I wanted to share one of my favorite veggie side dishes from the eBook! I’ve always loved creamed spinach but stayed away from it at family gatherings because some of those traditional ingredients (such as conventional dairy, vegetable oil, etc.) make me feel crummy. Tired of either missing out or feeling sick (because I ate it anyway), I got to work devising my own healthy remake.
We start with fresh spinach (2 pounds of it, in fact), steam it down, drain out ALL the water (this is very important), and then saute with some tasty onions and coconut milk. In case you’re wondering, there is NO flavor of coconut in the finished product and your guests will have no idea it’s as healthy as healthy gets. Deliciousness and make-you-feel-like-Popeye’ness aside, this recipe is compliant with a low-carb program, Autoimmune, low-FODMAP (omit the coconut oil), and 21-Day Sugar Detox! Wins all across the board.
Healthy Creamed Spinach Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 pounds fresh spinach
- 2 tablespoons butter ghee, or bacon fat
- 1/2 medium yellow onion diced (omit for low-FODMAP)
- 1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk swap for broth for low-FODMAP
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice from 1.5 lemons
Instructions
- Steam all 2 pounds of the fresh spinach until it is completely cooked down. Do this by working in batches and stirring constantly. Remove from heat and let cool.
- Drain the spinach and, using your hands, squeeze out all the extra liquid possible.
- In a sauté pan, melt the butter. Add the onion and cook until translucent. Stir in the coconut milk and add the cooked and drained spinach.
- Stir to combine. Season with salt and the lemon juice – adjusting to your taste.
Recipe Notes
- Just keep squeezing! The secret to really good creamed spinach is making sure that you get ALL the extra moisture out after steaming.
Nutrition
World’s Healthiest Foods: whfoods.com suggests steaming spinach for no more than 3 minutes, stopping when the leaves become bright green. This way all nutrients are saved, not boiled away in the liquid. While my comment appears months after yours, Morgan, hopefully you might find it one day.
Question: doesn’t steaming and removing all the liquid decrease the amount or viability of the nutrients present in the spinach?
Good question, Morgan! There are definitely some vitamins and minerals lost during the cooking process. There’s a trade-off between having an awesome veggie side dish to serve (that allows you to eat a LOT more spinach per bite than you would a raw salad) and losing some of the nutrients.