Sauteed Spinach

Before making this recipe, I've had sauteed spinach twice in my life:  once on our 9th anniversary last year at an amazing little wine bar in downtown Grapevine, Texas called Into the Glass, and once on our 10th anniversary trip this year to San Francisco at a local crab house.  Both times, I felt like I was eating something so fancy and decadent.  I never thought I would be able to find a recipe that tasted as good as these two places, but I was wrong.  Thanks to Ina Garten from the Food Network, we can feel like we're on our anniversary any time.  Of course, I made some modifications like always, so the recipe here is my revised version.  Oh, and it's SUPER easy and FAST to prepare.  It takes less than 5 minutes, but tastes awesome.  My kind of recipe.

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients:
*2 bags (9 oz. each) pre-rinsed spinach leaves
*1 1/2 to 2 Tablespoons olive oil
*5 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
*1 3/4 teaspoons kosher salt
*1/2 teaspoons black pepper
*1 Tablespoon unsalted butter (the real deal--it's okay.  It's just 1 Tbs., and the rest of this dish is fresh.  Margarine is salted, so you really need unsalted butter.)
*1/8 teaspoon lemon juice

Directions:
In a VERY large stock pot, heat the olive oil over medium/low heat (level 3).  Add the garlic, and cook for only about 45 seconds so that it doesn't start to brown.

Add all the spinach, the kosher salt, and pepper.  The pot will be full.  Toss it with the garlic and oil.  Cover, and cook for 2 minutes.

Uncover, turn the heat to high, and add butter and lemon.  Toss.  Cook for 1 minute, stirring with a wooden spoon, until all the spinach is wilted.  By the end, the spinach will have cooked down a lot.

Using a slotted spoon (you just want the spinach, not the liquid stuff left behind), lift the spinach to a serving bowl.  Serve hot.