Dining In - Creamed Spinach

Creamed Spinach - Chloe's Vegan Italian Kitchen

I'm actually swooning over spinach after tasting this. It's unbelievably delicious! I'm definitely making this again and will add to the holiday menu next year. This simple, gluten-free dish was certainly creamy, like its name suggests, and with a pinch of salt it had the perfect flavor. It only took about 15 minutes to prepare and as soon as I was done I caught myself eating almost half of it before I could serve it for dinner! Oops. Luckily my non-vegan boyfriend shared my sentiments, but sadly we devoured it all within minutes. I blame myself for serving up significantly less than the original batch, but this just means it will be bookmarked for future meals. With a bit of olive oil and raw cashews it serves up some healthy fats that go so well with sweetened cooked onion, fragrant garlic, and wilted spinach. This recipe is from Chloe Coscarelli's latest cookbook Chloe's Vegan Italian Kitchen (buy yourself a copy here to fully enjoy!).

1/2 cup raw cashews
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
10 oz. fresh spinach
Ground black pepper
Sea salt
Pinch of ground nutmeg (I left this out and didn't think the dish was missing anything)


Start by blending the raw cashews and water together on high speed in a blender for about 1 minute. It will resemble a white milky liquid when done. Tip: boil cashews with the water for 10 minutes first or use hot water to get a creamier consistency. I still ended up with some larger pieces of cashews because my blender is not the best, but I actually really liked that texture in the dish. 

Heat olive oil in large skillet on medium heat and add in onions. Cook until onions are softened and then add in spinach. Watch as the spinach shrinks down and turns a dark green color, stir occasionally. It will take about 5 minutes to cook the spinach. Once done add the garlic and cook for another minute, while stirring. Next add in the cashew cream and continue cooking for a minute or 2 more so it's heated throughout. 

Remove from heat, season with salt and pepper (and nutmeg if you so choose) and do a taste test, but don't get carried away like I did :) Add more seasoning, as needed.