Spinach “Crack”

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I call this dish spinach “crack”.  Sort of like how Boho Gelato’s peanut butter sea salt caramel ice cream is called crack, with good reason.  Except that this crack is good for you (what?!).  Now, I don’t advocate eating healthy desserts or eating something that’s good for you just for the sake of eating something healthy — however, I do advocate eating healthy when it’s tastes good.  And damn, does this sesame spinach taste good.  It’s downright addictive.  I can’t keep any in the fridge for more than a day!  Unfortunately it’s not the most photogenic of foods but I tried to jazz it up in the picture with some bright panda chopsticks (aren’t they the cutest?).

It started out with a recipe I found somewhere for horenso no goma-ae, a Japanese spinach dish topped with sesame seeds, which are normally mixed with soy sauce and rice wine vinegar, and possibly sugar.  At some point, I got tahini involved in the mix, and it created something very addictive.  I made it alongside okonomiyaki the other night, and my boyfriend/official non-vegan Taste Tester confirmed that even for the non-vegan, this dish is definitely addictive.
Serve as a side, or make loads and just eat the whole thing for dinner.  But whatever you do, don’t plan on keeping any around.

Spinach Crack

Makes 1 serving as a side, or more if you can (somehow!) make it last, but don’t count on it

Ingredients

  • 500 g washed spinach leaves
  • 1/2 cup sesame seeds
  • 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp sesame tahini
  • 1/2 tsp agave nectar
  • 1/4 tsp toasted sesame oil, optional

Instructions

  1. Blanch the spinach by submerging in boiling water for 2-3 minutes, then draining and running under cold water immediately.  This preserves a bright colour.  Squeeze all the water out of the spinach by wringing it in your hands and set aside while you prepare the sesame dressing.
  2. Prepare the sesame dressing by grinding the sesame seeds in a coffee or spice grinder, or a food processor, to a fine dust.  Mix the ground sesame seeds with the rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, tahini, agave and sesame oil.
  3. Add the sesame dressing to the spinach and mix (I find it’s easiest to do this with chopsticks) until the spinach is coated.  Top with additional sesame seeds if you want.

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4 thoughts on “Spinach “Crack””

    • I haven’t tried it warm, mainly because I always blanch the spinach, but I bet you could steam the spinach and have it warm. It would probably be nice that way too! :)

      Reply

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Caitlin Galer-Unti

Hi, I’m Caitlin and I’ve been vegan since 2008 and vegetarian my whole life. Since going vegan, I’ve lived in 4 countries and travelled to over 30! I’ve also published two bestselling vegan books (The Essential Vegan Travel Guide and The Barcelona Vegan Guide) and had my work featured in The New York Times, Vegetarian Food & Living and Vegan Life magazine. I’ve veganised my life and I’m here to help you design your life around your vegan values. 

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