Esparregado, Portuguese Creamed Greens
Esparregado is Portugal's creamed greens, traditionally spinach or turnip tops cooked down and bound with a roux, sometimes enriched further with butter. The green flavor survives all of that, so it survives losing the fat too. Blended white beans rebuild the creaminess from a whole food, turning a rich side into one that carries real protein and fiber while staying just as smooth. Nutmeg and a hit of vinegar are what keep it tasting like the original rather than like plain pureed spinach. It sits happily beside almost anything, and in Portugal it often turns up next to a simply cooked main as the vegetable that makes the plate feel complete.
Ingredients
- 1 lb Spinach
- 1 1/2 cups Great northern beans, cooked, liquid reserved
- 3 cloves Garlic, sliced
- 1/4 tsp Nutmeg, freshly grated
- 1 tbsp White wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp Lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp Black peppercorns, ground
Method
- Soften the sliced garlic in a wide pot with 2 tablespoons (30 ml) water over low heat until fragrant and no longer raw, about 4 minutes. Cooking the garlic gently first keeps it from turning sharp in a dish this mild.
- Add the spinach in handfuls, stirring, and let it wilt down completely, a couple of minutes. It collapses to a fraction of its volume, so a pound that looks like far too much is right.
- Blend the white beans with about a third of a cup (80 ml) of their cooking liquid until completely smooth. This bean cream is the whole trick: it gives the body that a butter-and-flour roux would in the classic, and adds protein and fiber instead of fat.
- Stir the bean cream into the wilted spinach and warm it through, loosening with a little more bean liquid until it is spoonable and glossy. Grate in the nutmeg, which is the traditional Portuguese note that makes creamed greens taste finished.
- Off the heat, stir in the white wine vinegar and lemon juice and grind over the pepper. The acid cuts the richness of the beans and stands in for salt. Serve warm; it keeps three days and reheats gently with a splash of water.
Nutrition
Estimated per serving: 120 calories, 7 g protein, 6 g fiber, 80 mg sodium. Computed from USDA FoodData Central reference values for the main ingredients. This is an approximation, not a laboratory measurement. How these are computed.
Cost per serving is estimated from US national-average retail prices for cheap staple forms, using BLS dried-bean prices and USDA produce prices. Prices vary by store and season, so treat it as a guide, not a receipt. How this is computed.
