2016 The Year of the Vegetable!

Several years ago I decided to spend a whole year learning to make a new soup each month.  It was a fun and interesting learning experience and I learned how to make several soups that were real keepers.  If I remember correctly (which is often not a safe assumption) the next year I concentrated on Muffins and made a new to me muffin recipe each month. 
Well 2016 is going to be dedicated to expanding my repertoire of vegetables. Each month I am going to either try a new vegetable that we don't normally eat or a vegetable that we eat but in a completely new way. 
JMM was very happy to participate in my muffin and soup years but this is going to be a tough year for him, a vegetable hater. 

For the first vegetable, I'm going to make Lemon Steamed Spinach from Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table. 

2 10 ounce bags of baby leaf spinach
1-1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
Grated zest of 1 lemon
Salt and pepper

Have your steamer set up and ready to go—make sure you don't fill the pot with so much water that it will boil up into the steaming basket.

Put the spinach in a bowl and toss it with 1 tablespoon of the oil, the zest, and salt and pepper to taste. 

Taste for seasoning and, if the spinach looks dry, add some or all of the remaining olive oil. 

Turn the spinach into the pot, cover, and steam for 3 minutes—the spinach will probably need another minute or two before it's tender, but it's a good idea to check early and to give it a turn. 

The spinach should be served as soon as it's cooked. 

MAKES 4 SERVINGS