Sauteed Zucchini and Spinach

It's best to enter late summer armed with a well-diversified portfolio of zucchini recipes. Just in case. You never know when a neighbor or friend might drop by with a smile and a small basket of what turns out to be a slip of paper promising you six truckloads of extra summer squash from the cute little innocuous vine they planted a couple years ago during their home gardening phase. Or when your own innocuous-looking vine will stop swooning melodramatically from dehydration and unexpectedly produce ten to twelve billion squash that you must then foist onto your own friends and neighbors. These things happen. And when you've reached week number three of grilling, stuffing, lasagnaing, baking, and of course eating all of that zucchini, you'll want this. Trust me. You'll love it. Here, have a truckload of zucchini.

Ingredients
Olive oil
1 medium to large zucchini, cut into sticks
1 medium spring onion, sliced crosswise into rings
(or sub about 1/4 cup quartered & sliced red onion)
1 garlic clove, smashed
1-2 handfuls Aztec spinach (or sub baby spinach)
Salt & freshly ground white pepper

Heat a wide pan over medium-high heat. When very hot, add a glug of olive oil. Wait till the oil heats up too (it will shimmer a little), then add the zucchini sticks and toss to coat with the oil. Spread them out evenly in the pan, and let them cook for a couple minutes until they start to lightly brown. Flip them over to start browning a different side, and add the garlic somewhere (I usually pour just a little more olive oil over the top of the clove to start it sizzling). Reduce the heat to medium.



A minute or so later, when the zucchini sticks are golden on most sides, add the onion. Continue to saute, stirring occasionally, until the onion softens and turns translucent. If the zucchini start to dry out at some point, you can add a pinch of salt to draw out more liquid, and/or a bit more oil.

When the zucchini is well-browned and the onion has caramelized, add the spinach. Toss to combine, and saute, stirring, until the spinach is about midway through wilting (some leaves wilted, some still not quite there). Turn off the heat, add salt and pepper to taste, stir once more, and serve.

Serves 2.