Fresh spinach was on sale in the nearby city. So while I was in the city anyway, I stopped in and bought two bags at the B1G1 price. Since we're not huge spinach eaters (I'm learning, I'm learning...) I thought I'd need to freeze a bunch. The last time I froze it I didn't blanch it first, I just rinsed, let dry, then froze. It worked out just fine since I have used it in soup or stew. However, our freezer is a bit too full of meat (though a freezer can never truly be
too full of meat) to pack anything more in there and still be able to find things easily enough. I decided to give drying it a try. The booklet with my dehydrator didn't list spinach in its listing of temps and times. So I winged it. And it worked. This will be great to add to soups/stews/sauces! I also like discovering this option (dehydrating) for use in the summer when I garden.
As for the other bag, and learning to eat spinach more often? Well, it's halfway used up. Last night we had spinach salad with a diced roma tomato and a few slivers of onion alongside pizza. This morning I made J and myself scrambled eggs with diced Spam bits, minced onion, fried mushrooms and a small handful of spinach, topped with a sprinkle of my favorite soft mozzarella. You know what? It was darn good!
I ended up with a 2.5 cup container of a lot of intact leaves and some crushed. You may want to go further and crush into a powder, depending on how you like to use it.
