Spinach, Catalan-style

Hope each of you are having a great weekend, Randy and I have worked outside and am getting things looking pretty spiffy around the courtyard. Flowers are blooming and everywhere we turn, we find another weed to pull, but…….it feels so good to be working outside, enjoying the breezes and afterward, sitting out and enjoying the beauty that lies around us. What a perfect setting to be reminded of all the blessings God has granted to all of us, no matter our circumstances. This week, Randy met a friend of ours from California, Morgan. They enjoyed an evening of dinner and conversation, remembering our trip out to California, when, Morgan and his wife treated us to a tapas bar………what an experience for us all. It was my first time to enjoy the wonderful flavors of so many different foods, one of which was chocolate shrimp. Now, this was indeed one of the most unusual dishes I had tasted, the shrimp coated in a chocolate sauce which truly came alive in our mouths. I was so amazed by the taste, that I came home telling everyone that I had gone to a tapas bar and had garlic shrimp. Well, I received several notes from “well-meaning” friends who told me in no uncertain terms that I had no business going to a topless bar and that they were so disappointed in me. So to clarify my actions, it was a tapas, not topless, bar, where they serve small portions of different dishes to be shared with your table of friends. Because we got such a laugh out of this, Morgan brought me my very own “tapas” cookbook. So will share one of the dishes that I am preparing……the spinach…this is such a great way to spur the conversation with your friends and a wonderful way to be able to taste several different dishes all at once..so let me encourage you to step out of your comfort zone and find a tapas grill. It will be an evening to remember.

2 tables olive oil

1 golden delicious apple, peeled, cored and cut into 1/4 ” cubes

1/4 cup pine nuts

1/4 cup seedless dark raisins ( I like to use the golden raisins, just a little more smooth)

1/2 teas salt, plus more to taste

10 ounces baby spinach, washed

Heat the olive oil over a high flame in large pot. When the oil is hot, add the apple cubes and cook utnil they are a little browned, less than 1 min. Add the pine nuts and cook until they are brown, about 20 seconds. Keep the pot moving so the nuts don’t burn. Add the raisins and the salt and stir together. Add spinach, mix and saute very fast until it starts to wilt. Then remove the pot form the heat; the spinach will continue to wilt off the heat. Add salt to taste and serve immediately. Great side with shrimp or any kind of fish, or stuffed pork tenderloin. Try a tapas grill and see how exciting meal time can be….thanks Morgan and Christie for introducing us to this wonderful new adventure of food. We have such fun memory of you guys taking us that night.

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