For a few months now, I have been promising my sister, Vanessa, that I would put my creamed spinach recipe up on my blog… Well Vane, I’m finally coming through on my promise, sorry it’s taken me so long.
Earlier today, I dragged my husband, Ryan, down to midtown to satisfy my serious ramen cravings. We went to Ippudo, and it was delicious, as it always is. Being that our breakfast was oatmeal (apple-cinnamon with pecans… Recipe up soon!), and our lunch was a giant, hearty bowl of Ramen, I figured I would make a pretty lean dinner. My creamed spinach is pretty light and very easy to make… This whole dinner took me about 20 minutes to make start to finish!

Creamed Spinach a la Pao
Ingredients
1 8oz. bag of fresh spinach, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1.5 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp corn starch
1/3 cup whole milk
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp parmesan cheese
A dash of nutmeg (if you have fresh nutmeg to grate, even better!)

Directions
Melt butter with olive oil in a pan over med-high heat. Add in the garlic. Once the garlic becomes fragrant (once you see it start to turn golden), add in the chopped spinach. **you can also use frozen spinach- defrost the spinach and squeeze/strain out all the excess water, and then add to the butter/oil/garlic.
As the spinach wilts, combine the cornstarch with the milk and the salt. Once the spinach is wilted, add in the milk, salt, and cornstarch mixture. You will see the creamed spinach begin to come together and thicken as you stir it over medium-high heat… It shouldn’t take longer than a minute or two. Grate some nutmeg over the spinach (if your nutmeg is already ground, add a dash to the spinach).
Turn off the heat and mix in the cheese.
Serve yourself and enjoy this awesome side-dish!

As far as the meat is concerned, I seasoned the petit filets with salt, pepper, and garlic powder on all sides. I then seared the filets in my cast iron skillet over med-high heat for about 3 minutes on each side (the filets were about 2 inches thick). After searing them, I popped them in a 375 degree oven for 8 minutes. I then took the skillet out of the oven and wrapped in foil for another 8 minutes (to let the meat rest so all the juiciness stays in it!).
Slice it up and serve!