Recipe: Garlic Spinach, Pine Nuts, and Raisins

Serves 4

This is a side dish recipe. You really should use fresh spinach rather than the frozen, cut ones.

I can't take credit for the idea -- it came from another recipe site. I changed a couple of ingredients and some cooking methods to suit my tastes.

Ingredients

1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup pine nuts
2 cloves (large) garlic
2 bunches of fresh spinach (can substitute equivalent salad packs)
3 tbsp. olive oil (or other high-quality vegetable oil)
1 tsp. salt (or to taste)
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Soak the raisins in warm water for about 20 minutes until they get nice and plump.
2. Meanwhile, peel and thinly slice garlic lengthwise; wash and stem spinach leaves and set aside.
3. Set a small pan or frying pan over medium-high heat. When hot, pour in the pine nuts and roast the nuts for 3-4 minutes, constantly stirring, until the nuts take on a golden brown color. Take the pine nuts out of the pan and set aside.
4. Heat oil on medium heat in a large frying pan or wok. When hot, add the garlic slices and let them fry until they are a toasted brown color. (Some slices may turn color more quickly than others.) Take the slices out with a slotted spoon and set aside to drain atop a paper towel. Leave as much oil in the pan as you can.
5. Return the pan and oil to burner and increase heat to medium high. Add the salt and pepper and stir for a few seconds to mix. In batches, add the spinach and stir-fry. As soon as a batch wilts and there is more space in the pan, add another batch until all the spinach is in the pan. Make sure the spinach is well mixed with the oil, salt, and pepper.
6. Add the pine nuts from step 3 and the garlic from step 4. Drain the soaking raisins from step 1 and add them to the spinach. Stir until all the ingredients are well distributed. Take off heat and serve.