Indian Spiced Spinach

I love serving curry for dinner, but depending on the type, I need to come up with a veggie to serve on the side.  Salad is always an option, but it's nice to serve something with Indian flavors.  While I love the more typical Indian veggie dishes like palak paneer, baingan bharta, dal, or vegetable curry, some of them are pretty time-consuming, meaning I don't want to tackle them on the same night that I'm making a meat or chicken curry.  This spinach is the perfect solution -- it's got great Indian flavor, but it cooks up super fast with a minimum of prep time.  Try it out next time you're trying to add a little green to your plate! Or, serve it on top of a baked potato with a poached egg to make a complete meal.

This spinach would be fantastic alongside: mango-chicken curry, meatball curry, salmon with red curry sauce, slow cooker green curry pork, egg noodles in rich chicken curry sauce, murgh makhani, quick 'tandoori' chicken, sloppy bombay joes, and slow cooker butter chicken.

Indian Spiced Spinach (adapted from 101 Cookbooks, original recipe here)
Serves 2

1 T ghee
1/4 tsp yellow mustard seeds
1/4 tsp whole cumin seeds
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 shallot, minced
1 large clove of garlic, minced
1/4 tsp salt
8 ounces baby spinach
Squeeze of lemon juice

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds, cover with a lid, and let them toast for a minute or so.  Stir in the red pepper flakes and let cook for a minute.
2. Stir in the shallot and garlic and cook until translucent, stirring often.  Season with salt.  Add more ghee if needed.
3. Stir in the spinach, and cook until it wilts.  Squeeze in the lemon juice and taste and adjust for seasoning.