Sauteed Spinach with Cranberries and Feta

 You know I love recipes that look impressive but are secretly very easy, and this Sauteed Spinach with Cranberries and Feta is definitely one of them!

This seemingly fancy side dish is perfect with steak, chicken, or fish, and it only takes a few minutes to prepare. It’s shown here with Perfect Oven Roast Beef and mashed potatoes, which was a delicious combination. This would even be fit for your Thanksgiving dinner, and it wouldn’t add stress or take up precious oven space! I buy a bag or two of spinach every time I do my grocery shopping because I like to have it on hand for salads, sandwiches, or adding it to other recipes. Since I usually have all the ingredients on hand, this is my favorite last minute “Oh no I need a side dish!” vegetable recipe.

In case you’ve never cooked spinach before, you should know that it cooks away to almost nothing. Seriously. The amount of green you see pictured here is about what you get from a 5-ounce bag of baby spinach. When you add it to the pan, you think it’s way too much because you can’t even get it all to fit. As it wilts, it shrinks, and shrinks, and shrinks until you’re left with not even a cup of greens to serve. Using a 6-ounce bag as called for in the recipe will modestly serve two people. If you are serving more folks, make sure you double or triple the recipe!

Remember when I talked about spinach making your teeth feel funny when combined with cheese? I used to make this recipe with goat cheese instead of feta, and it gave a major socks-on-your-teeth feeling. Switching to feta seems to have solved that problem, plus I love the combination of salty feta with sweet and tart cranberries. I hope you love it too. Give it a try with your dinner this week, and leave me a comment letting me know how you like it!

Sauteed Spinach with Cranberries and Feta

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This seemingly fancy vegetable side dish only takes a few minutes to prepare!

• Total Time: 10 minutes
• Yield: 2

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic crushed or minced
• 6 oz. baby spinach leaves
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 2 tbsp. dried cranberries
• 1/4 c. feta I used reduced fat
• freshly ground black pepper to taste

 

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Instructions

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When very hot, add garlic and cranberries, and saute for about two minutes.
2. Add spinach, sprinkle with salt, and stir to coat with oil. (You may need to do this in two batches to let the first batch wilt a bit first.)
3. Continue sautéing until spinach is thoroughly wilted. Transfer to plates, and sprinkle feta and black pepper over the top to serve.

 

Notes

Spinach shrinks A LOT. Definitely double or triple the recipe if you are serving more than two people.

You can substitute 1/2 tsp. garlic powder for the fresh garlic. Just sprinkle it over the spinach with the salt.

• Author: Andi
• Prep Time: 10
• Category: Side Dish