Palak paneer

What to get: Palak Paneer
Where to get it: Trader Joe's
Why we approve: It's an easy way to get a relatively healthy side dish. Vegetables. It makes spinach delicious. Gluten Free. Vegetarian.

the non-photogenic palak paneer

The palak paneer story, as read from the label:

Palak paneer is a traditional recipe from Rajasthan, the northwestern province of India. Palak, Indian for spinach, is slow cooked for hours with ginger and garlic until it turns into a purée. It is then simmered with onions, tomatoes, and spices and finished with cubes of paneer, a soft Indian cheese made from whole milk. Serve with basmati rice, naan or pita bread.

Preparation: Boil in bag or microwave. Easy.

Variations: It's really good as a side dish with grilled chicken, but I've also had it in a bowl with a couple of poached eggs nestled into it. Good stuff.

Pros: spinach (eat it!), whole milk paneer (skim and low fat milk are actually no better for you), tasty, no weird ingredients, and tastes as good or better than the same dish from some Indian restaurants!

Cons: sunflower oil. We should dramatically minimize seed oils, and sunflower is no exception. Sunflower oil is high in omega-6s and we already have too many in our diets. However, I've done the math (subtracting the fats from the cheese and the cream, this likely has ~5-6g of fat from the seed oil), and as part of a healthy diet where one is minimizing the 6s, I do approve. I eat this one myself.

This really tastes like decent palak paneer from a restaurant, so enjoy!