I first thought of this as a way of using up some almost off baby spinach, and I happened to have some feta and plenty of onions and garlic, so this is what happened. Since then I’ve been having it on toasted breads of various types, but you can also use it as a stuffing for grilled mushrooms or chicken breasts (kiev style). And while this started off vegetarian as an open-faced sandwich on toasted “chapata cristal”,  later on I tried it with crispy bacon added to the mix and turned it into a fabulous grilled sandwich on sourdough rye. As you can see, it’s pretty versatile.

Ingredients and instructions below…

• 175 grams baby spinach leaves, wilted
• 200 grams feta cheese, crumbled
• 2-4 cloves garlic, minced
• freshly ground black pepper
• mixed dried herbs (optional)
• olive oil
• crusty bread

Wilt the spinach and set aside (I usually do this in the microwave, you can also just let it wilt in a pan on med-low heat, remove before it actually starts cooking). Heat the olive oil in a pan and add minced garlic, sautée until lightly browned, then add the wilted spinach and toss. Add the crumbled feta and remove from the heat, letting the cheese soften. Season with black pepper and serve on toasted crusty bread.

For the bacony “grilled cheese” option just add 200 grams chopped bacon to the garlic and sautée them together until both the bacon and garlic are nicely browned. Remove from heat and add the wilted spinach and feta. Spoon onto bread, top with some thinly sliced sweet onion and a bit of salsa az and pan grill with a bit of butter until the bread is nicely toasted.

And this was just turning the open faced sandwich and tomato and onion salad into an all-in-one with a bit of mayo. It’s my new favourite sandwich.