Spinach Hot Toss

Right now, you may be internally questioning the legitimacy of the term "hot toss." Conversely, it's possible you have assumed that "hot toss" is, indeed, a legitimate name for some type of dish, and you just don't know what it is. I suppose it mightn't have crossed everyone's mind to read the title of the post, either, and thus many of you are unsure of the nature of my monologue. I'm going to clear the air, so to speak.

Perhaps nobody has used the term "hot toss" before, and that's okay. But it's about time we do. If we can give ridiculously descriptive names to recipes such as "Ground Beef, Onion, and Garlic Casserole Layered with Peas, Carrots, and Rosemary-Mashed Potatoes Seasoned with Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper, Topped with 18-month Hand-Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and Baked in a 10-inch Round Earthenware Dish," or absolutely not even a little descriptive monikers like "Dutch Baby," surely I can, in good conscience, coin a concise yet slightly descriptive handle along the lines of "Spinach Hot Toss" (it's hot, contains spinach, and you toss it together). And we should all feel at liberty to use it. Legitimate? I think so.

I am a simple woman. I enjoy instant gratification, small pleasures, and justifiably unpretentious living. This is a simple meal. Filling, nutritious, but simple. And it costs under $5 to make 2 servings. It's no $.99-cent 12-pack of instant ramen noodles, either. (I say that with both pride and conviction.)

I am not pretentious.


SPINACH HOT TOSS

Extra-virgin olive oil or other cooking oil
chopped onion
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
some kind of herbs/spices (I used a little oregano and a bit of smoked paprika)
whole lotta frozen chopped spinach
few garlic cloves, pressed
some finely chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans are best)
small handful of cooked black beans (or other cooked legumes)
about as much frozen corn as you had beans
again as much cooked rice, barley, quinoa, or other starchy bits
bunch of grated cheddar cheese
fresh tomato, chopped up
fresh basil (or cilantro, depending on your spice palette)

1. Chuck your onions in a pan with some olive oil, over medium heat.

2. Stir them a bit and cook them until they get yellow and start to crisp. Or brown them. It doesn't really matter, just don't burn them.



3. Add a little bit of seasoning and stir it around, and then dump in the spinach, nuts, garlic, beans, and corn. Mix that up good (I forgot the nuts).



I used more beans than I wanted to (I really wanted to use up what I had leftover in my fridge, which was more than I should have), and not nearly as much spinach as I wanted to (I ran out), but it's not like the dish is ruined or anything. Anyway, it should look greener than mine.

4. Keep cooking that, and stir it every so often, until the spinach and corn is all thawed out and everything's nice and hot in the pan. Then mix in your grain/seed/starchy bit. I used pearled barley, since I had some on hand. I did have to cook it first, but that's kind of a non-involved process so I didn't care. Again, I used a little more than I intended. Oh well.



5. Take it out of the pan, put it in a few bowls, and mix in a whole bunch of grated cheddar. And then chop up some fresh tomato, and a little bit of basil, and put it on top.

Looks good, no? Except my dish ended up being more about grains and legumes, and less about spinach and cheese. I like the version with more spinach and cheese better. But it's kind of hard to mess this one up. And it takes like, 10 minutes. And why the heck wouldn't you want to make it?

I mean, Hot Toss. Come on.