Sautéed Pumpkin & Spinach

Sometimes many of the combinations and things I cook, and the dishes I come up with are borne out of happenstance, experimentation, making do or laziness. Take this dish of fried (sautéed) pumpkin and callaloo, the small piece of pumpkin was left back from a larger piece I had used earlier in the week and the 1 bag of spinach would not have sufficed to be cooked by itself, hence I decided to combine them. In this instance, it was a matter of making do with what I had on hand.

Given that these are 2 quick cooking vegetables that can also yield moisture, it took just a little more effort to combine them perfectly. The ‘trick’ is to cook the pumpkin first to a stage where it is almost done cooking and then add the spinach. Wilting the spinach before adding it to the pumpkin cuts down on the cooking time and allows both of the vegetables to finish cooking at the same time and melding well.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 tablespoons oil
• ½ cup finely chopped onions
• 1 tablespoon finely minced ginger
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 ½ teaspoons of whole jeera/cumin seeds
• Salt and pepper to taste
• ½ pound pumpkin, peeled and cut into large chunks
• Boiling water
• ½ pound of spinach/callaloo leaves

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oil in pan until shimmering and then add onions, ginger and garlic, reduce heat to low and cook until the ingredients are softened. Raise heat and add jeera/cumin and cook until the spice becomes golden, fragrant and begins to pop.
2. Add pumpkin, toss to mix with ingredients, season with salt and pepper, cover, turn heat to low and cook until a knife inserts easily into the pumpkin.
3. While the pumpkin cooks, put the callaloo/spinach into a colander in the sink and pour boiling water over it to wilt the leaves. Drain well and then squeeze out the moisture from the spinach. Chop finely and set aside.
4. Remove the cover from the pumpkin, raise the heat to medium and let the moisture gathered, dry out. Add the callaloo/spinach and toss to mix, and continue to cook on medium heat for 5 – 7 minutes until any moisture yielded dries out. Taste for salt and pepper and add just as the dish is done cooking.

NOTES

• When the pumpkin is cooked at direction # 5, you can use the back of a spoon to mash it to a pulp.

If you do this, the pumpkin will need extra time to cook, as it will yield more moisture.

• The callaloo/spinach can be chopped before being wilted at direction # 3.