Italian Spinach

I call this one Italian spinach because I first had really good
sauteed spinach at an Italian restaurant. They also had the
only broccoli I have ever really liked, but that is another blog.
I went home and experimented and read cookbooks until
I got something I was happy with and this was it:

One bag pre-washed baby spinach, preferably organic, 5-7 oz.
1 Tbsp. good olive oil
2 cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced
1/2 lemon, juiced
several gratings of a fresh nutmeg (use a microplane grater,
something every kitchen should have)
3-4 Tbsp. grated Parmesan, preferably Parmesan Reggiano

This makes two helpings.

Heat the olive oil over medium heat until it shimmers a little.
Add the garlic and cook 1-2 minutes, until it just starts to turn
color to golden. Throw in all of the spinach and start turning it
with tongs or a big wooden spoon. Keep turning it as it wilts.
After a couple of minutes, it should all be wilted so you can turn
the heat off and add the lemon juice, nutmeg, and Parmesan.
Mix it all together and turn it onto a plate.

I sometimes add a little fresh ground black pepper or 1/4 tsp.
cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes for a little more zing.

You will notice a big taste difference if you use organic baby
spinach instead of regular bagged spinach. Also, if you use
the larger spinach leaves you should pull off the big woody
stems. That is one of my biggest pet peeves in restaurants
is that no one stems spinach. Ok, it is fussy and takes a little
bit of work but really, who wants to eat spinach stems?

The easiest way to stem spinach is to fold the leaf in half,
turn it upside down, and pull the stem straight down.

If you want to use regular, unwashed spinach, dunk it like
you're baptizing it vigorously in a big bowl of water, let it float
to the top, pull it out and discard the sandy water, then repeat.

(One of my favorite baptism quotes was by a newspaper man
covering a revival in 1800s Florida who proclaimed, "The chief
problem with the Baptists is that they do not hold their converts
under water nearly long enough...." N.B. I love the Baptists and
their blessed missions work and think their idea of local church
autonomy is genius, but I still find this quote to be funny.)