The Quickest Way To Chop Spinach (And It Has Nothing To Do With A Knife)
Ingredient prepping isn't everybody's favorite part of cooking, and that's especially true when it comes to leafy greens like kale, Swiss chard, and spinach. After carefully sifting the leaves to make sure no rotten ones are getting through, you have to wash them. And even then, you still haven't arrived at the chopping part yet.
However, just because you know you have to prep your greens doesn't mean you have to suffer through the process. Luckily, there are all sorts of produce meal-prepping hacks to make the path from raw ingredients to getting dinner on the table easier and often faster than you might realize. In fact, one of the most genius hacks involves fresh spinach and cutting down on the leafy green's prep time in a way that's so simple it doesn't even involve a knife. All you need is a freezer, a zip top plastic bag, and your hands.
Freeze and then crush
Fresh spinach is popular for a number of reasons. For one, it offers a ton of nutrients, like vitamin A, potassium, and folate, as well as fiber and antioxidants. It can be the main event for several foods, such as creamed spinach, or a subtle-tasting nutrient-boosting ingredient in a smoothie. Before incorporating it into a meal or drink, it's often chopped — and that's where this hack comes in.
Fresh spinach has a leafy texture and the leaves themselves range in size from small to somewhat large — and there are also the stems. You might think there's no way to get around the somewhat tedious task of chopping your fresh spinach without a knife. Unless, that is, you're genius enough to freeze the leaves in a zip top bag until they are totally frozen solid and then you can just crush them with your hands. It's easy, it's reliable, and it's oddly satisfying. Just be sure to start crushing right when you take the bag out of the freezer, as spinach thaws quickly.
Spinach takes center stage
The frozen leaves become so brittle it's easy to crush them with just your hands, and then add them directly to your recipe. Now that you're done prepping your spinach, get ready for the easiest clean up of your life, as the mess is pretty much non-existent. Now, it's time to enjoy the fruits (or, in this case, vegetables) of your labor.
As aforementioned, spinach is a great way to add nutrients to smoothies without mixing in any extra unwanted flavors, but chopped spinach is delicious in so many other recipes as well. If you want the spinach to take center stage, this pre-chopped stuff is also ideal in quiche, dip, soup and even savory baked goods. With spinach that is this easy to prep (and avoids the dreaded slime factor bagged spinach can get as it ages), there's no reason not to embrace your inner Popeye.