This dish did not want to look pretty. I tried! Can you take my word that it tastes 1000 times better than it looks? If not, you’ll just have to make it for yourself, to see!
Above: saag, easy veggie salad, and Polenta for One.
(Side-note: I love raw pine nuts. They are like candy!)
Here’s one of the ugliest recipes that I adore: Saag is an Indian dish, usually made with spinach. When I attended college in Philadelphia, I often ate at a cute Indian restaurant, which had incredible (and vegan!) saag.
I also once had really good saag at the Boston Vegetarian Festival.
Sadly, Texas doesn’t seem to offer anything as yummy and vegan-friendly… or at least I haven’t found it yet. Therefore, frustrated and saag-less, I decided to make my own version of the dish. Right in time for the “May Flowers” part of the poem, I’m calling this “Spring Green Saag.”
Spring-Green Saag
(Serves four, or two Katies!)
- 1 package frozen spinach, thawed (10-12 oz)
- 1 medium onion (160g)
- 2 tsp curry powder
- 2 tbsp minced garlic
- 1/2 tsp salt (or more if desired)
- 1/4 tsp dry ginger (or 1 tsp fresh)
- 1-2 tsp olive oil, or more if desired (I probably use about a tbsp)
- 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup yogurt of choice, depending on desired creaminess (I use Wildwood unsweetened soy)
Add onion and oil to a hot pan. Sauté 3 minutes, or until it begins to brown. Stir in the garlic, curry, and ginger, and sauté for another minute. Then add your spinach, as well as 2 tbsp water. Cook another minute, or until most of the water has absorbed. Remove from heat and stir in yogurt, as well as 1/4 cup water or milk of choice. You can also add a little coriander and turmeric, if desired, for more flavor.
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first of all: I don´t think the saag looks that bad, I mean, it is spinach, so what do you expect?
second of all: who would want a food that is awesome looking but tasting horrible? See?!
I adore Indian cuisine and it is my first choice when it comes to eating out. So many dishes are vegetarian/vegan and the staff is always so friendly and offers to prepare the dishes with oil rather than ghee.
I am a big fan of Thai and Arabian cuisine, too. And I love my wok 🙂 I added some red cabbage into yesterdays stir-fry, because I loved the pictures you posted when including it and it was superb!
Oh how wise you are! Haha I’m experimenting with cake batter doughnuts, and one batch came out sooooo pretty… but one of my taste testers took a bite and spit it out!
Katie, I don’t care what you say–I think the saag looks beautiful and AMAZING!!! 🙂 Not only is it Indian food (the cuisine I would pick if I could only have one type of food for the rest of my life) but it’s green. Seriously, I cannot stop eating leafy greens lately; I am DEFINITELY going to make this. Maybe I’ll even make it today…there is a Celtics playoff game this afternoon, which will provide an opportunity to convince the fiance to have some green food! Haha! Wow, I feel like I’m already practicing for motherhood, finding creative ways to make healthy food fun for a picky eater.
Hi,
I’m Indian and I have to admit your ‘saag’ does look delicious.
However, technically (and conventionally) saag is made with
mustard greens, not spinach, which gives it a unique taste!
yum, I am def going to try this.
I love tons of ethnic food, right now I am digging Thai and good Mexican. Where I live the ethnic food places dominate, I can’t even think of more then one American restaurant, it is so fun!
mm indian is my absolute favorite! i didn’t realize you went to bryn mawr, as you mentioned in a post a few days ago – i grew up right by there in ardmore! what was the indian restaurant you went to? i used to always go to khajuraho in ardmore. i also adore ethiopian food, and west philly has tons of amazing, cheap places. i miss that area!
Wow, I cannot believe I can’t remember the name of it… it was a tiny place in West Chester, on Gay Street.
I miss that area too!
Hey, I know how you feel! I made an AWESOME saag paneer last week, but mine looked worse… since it contained tomato paste, and I pureed part of it. Yeah, I didn’t want to blog about that… but I still want to share the recipe, because when I shared it with friends, it stopped conversations! (I didn’t take pics. It looked THAT bad!!)
I guess I could just put a whole lot of decorations on the plate, or something. 😀
Haha I tried! It even looked horrible with a bunch of flowers in the back.
Have you ever posted audio or video of yourself to the internet?
no
I LOVE saag!! My momma is Indian and so I used to have saag and dal and stuff all the time!! I’m definitely gonna try your version!! 😀
And these new products better be coming to the uk, or I guess I WILL have to make that move to Texas to live with you!! 😛
awwwwwwww, lucky you!! Indian cuisine is my favorite!! (though I can´t stand spinach)
I think the Saag sounds and looks really good!
I just loev Mexican food, but also Italian and Chinese. Who am I kidding I love almost all food.
i just tried that so delicious no added sugar coconut vanilla ice cream last weekend! while i was glad that it wasn’t as sweet as normal, i felt like it had a bit of a chemically aftertaste 🙁 what did you think?
I actually haven’t tried it! They don’t sell it near me yet. To be honest, I’m not even sure I’ll try it… I’ve heard that it’s sweetened with erythritol, and I don’t know too much about that…