How to make Tomato Spinach Saute

Tomato Spinach Saute | Healthy, easy, vegetarian recipe with fresh cherry tomatoes and spinach, garlic, olive oil, red chile flakes. www.LiveBest.info
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Good food doesn’t need to be complicated. Tomato and Spinach Saute is an easy recipe with healthy dividends. This vegetarian recipe is ready in 15 minutes. Serve over pasta or with eggs or baked fish.

✅Fast and flavorful.

✅Healthy and hearty.

✅Economical and easy.

✅Happy and healthy.

Spinach Tomato Saute

However you want to describe it, Tomato Spinach Sauté is all that and more! As many of us seek more plant-based recipes, this is one of my go-to recipes. Filled with Mediterranean flavors, these are the good carbs to eat. 

  1. Smash the garlic clove (allow to rest 10 minutes).
  2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic clove, salt, pepper, chile flakes and tomatoes. Cook until tomatoes are soft, about 10 minutes. Add spinach and lemon juice, stir until wilted, scraping up the browned bits in the bottom of the pan, about 3 minutes.

Cook’s Note: Serve as a side or over fish or shrimp. Fill a tortilla or spoon over pasta or rice.

The ingredients

  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 1 garlic clove, peeled, smashed
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/8 teaspoon red chile flakes
  • 1 cup grape tomato, halved lengthwise
  • 4 cups fresh spinach
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Are vegetables good for you?

Yes! With vitamins and minerals, fiber, and beneficial phytochemical, vegetables are good for us. But emerging research suggests that eating more fruits and vegetables improves happiness, satisfaction, and emotional well-being. People who ate fruits and vegetables 6 to 7 times in a week reported greater life satisfaction than those who ate fewer. They reported feeling better about themselves, feeling confident that they are maintaining their health, and having more energy. Sign me up!

If six servings feels overwhelming, try for one more serving than you currently eat. It may be that your key to happiness is in reaching for an orange or a tomato.

Tomatoes in skillet with garlic and olive oil

saute tomatoes, garlic, dried red pepper in olive oil

Tomato nutrition

It’s true that tomatoes shine in late summer during harvest, but the red cherry and grape tomatoes available year round are worth buying. As a rule, the smaller the tomato, the more flavor and lycopene it has. Cooked with a little oil, the nutrients become more available for your body to use them.

Fresh and canned tomatoes improve health by reducing the risk of heart disease and cancer. Tomatoes are high in potassium which helps blunt the effect of sodium on blood pressure. So tomatoes lead to healthier blood pressure. To be sure, all tomatoes deliver benefits but these tips can help you maximize your health:

  • Red tomatoes have more lycopene and overall better-for-you plant compounds than yellow or green tomatoes.
  • Smaller tomatoes, such as cherry and grape, have more lycopene than larger tomatoes.
  • Oil helps your body absorb the tomato’s potent antioxidants and olive oil appears to have an edge over other oils.
  • Canned tomatoes, including tomato paste and sauce, are some of the richest sources of lycopene because cooking increases lycopene and makes it easier to be absorbed.

Cook’s note: I keep canned tomatoes on hand. They are a convenient, economically and delicious way to boost vegetables consumption.

Spinach is a leafy green to love ❤

Packed with lutein, folate, potassium, iron and vitamins A, C, E and K, spinach is a leafy green to choose often. Going with this green strengthens our cells against cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure, and bone loss plus enhances vision.

So, let’s get to cooking! To make this easy spinach tomato sauce, slice (or poke them with a knife tip) the tomatoes to reduce cooking time and release juices. Red chile flakes and a smashed garlic clove add seasoning. Stir in fresh spinach and you’re serving, from one pan, in less than 15 minutes.

How to smash garlic to get the most health benefits

Place the clove on the cutting board. Lay the flat part of a knife blade (sharp edge away from you) on top on the clove, then hit the knife with the heel of your hand. I use a Chef’s knife because of the wide blade. This releases the compounds that give garlic its pungent flavor and healthful benefits. Let the clove rest for 10 minutes before cooking, to allow those compounds to work and you maximize the healthy benefits.

hand and knife smashing a garlic clove

With a few more fruits and vegetables you will feel better now and in the future. Satisfaction guaranteed when you feed your body what it needs. A serving of healthy food is a good way to say “I love you.” This recipe is a winner at that.

Tomatoes and Spinach in a skillet

Serve alongside pasta, chicken, fish or beef oregg and cheese pasta

 

More LiveBest spinach and tomato recipes

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skillet with cooked spinach and tomatoes

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Tomato and Spinach Saute

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 5 reviews

Good food does not need to be complicated. Tomato Spinach Saute is an easy recipe with healthy dividends. This vegetarian recipe is ready in 15 minutes. Serve over pasta, with eggs or baked fish.

  • Author: Judy Barbe
  • Prep Time: 5 mins
  • Cook Time: 15 mins
  • Total Time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: 2 1x
  • Category: Side
  • Method: stove
  • Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 1 garlic clove, peeled, smashed
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/8 teaspoon red chile flakes
  • 1 cup grape tomato, halved lengthwise
  • 4 cups fresh spinach
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Instructions

  • Wash your hands.
  • Smash the garlic clove (allow to rest 10 minutes).
  • Pour olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic clove, salt, pepper, chile flakes and tomatoes. Cook until tomatoes are soft, about 10 minutes. Add spinach and lemon juice, stir until wilted, scraping up the browned bits in the bottom of the pan, about 3 minutes. Serve.

Notes

Cook the spinach about 75%, until some are wilted and others still have some structure.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: half the recipe
  • Calories: 80

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Tomato Spinach Saute | Healthy, easy, vegetarian recipe with fresh cherry tomatoes and spinach, garlic, olive oil, red chile flakes. www.LiveBest.info

Comments

  1. Have been lusting for this for weeks!! Will make it again tomorrow as a main dish. It’s healthy, quick and satisfying.






    1. Author

      Thanks, Patricia! I made it this evening to serve with baked fish. Have you tried it with pasta?
      Judy

  2. Hi Judy. I’m making it again this evening but added about a third of thinly sliced onion and kicked the garlic up to 3 cloves and will serve it with ravioli and meat sauce (bc I like it and my son does too, although not sure how he’ll feel about the spinach, which is too bad bc I’m serving it anyway). Just not sure whether to put ravioli and sauce on top of spinach or other way. It’s hell having a carnivore in the house!






  3. I made this and stuffed portabella mushrooms with it, topped with Gorgonzola cheese and baked. Then drizzled balsamic glaze just befor serving. Delish!

  4. Hi Judy,
    I would like to make this recipe, but I was told by my urologist not to eat spinach because of a history of kidney stones. How can I substitute the spinach in this recipe with kale (which is okay for me to eat)? Can I sub with Tuscan (lacinato) kale, and if so, are there any modifications I should make in the preparation?

    1. Author

      Hi Jan,
      Kale will definitely work in this recipe. It will just take a bit longer to cook. I’d remove the center stalk if it’s tough and them chop the leaves into smaller pieces which may make it easier to eat. Thanks, Judy

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