Saag & Feta

Saag paneer is a staple at many Indian restaurants and for good reason - it’s delicious! I like to call it the spicier, sassier Indian cousin of creamed spinach. Cheese is not a prevalent ingredient in South Asian cuisine and as far as I can tell paneer might be the lone exception. Even as a kid, the only other cheese I knew was the good old American kind that came wrapped in individual slices. Paneer is a fresh farmers cheese that doesn’t melt when cooked. It is firm and creamy in texture but also bland in flavor making it the perfect neutral vehicle to absorb whatever sauce it’s stewed in. I came across this recipe from Priya Krishna’s Indian-ish cookbook which recommended using Feta instead in place of paneer, a recipe developed by her mother after a trip to Greece. The swap out is an ingenious one. The vibrant and tangy notes of the Feta is a definite upgrade from the more subtle paneer resulting in a dish that can be describe as a cross between Greek spanakopita filling and Indian saag!

Here is the link to the recipe. My only suggestion would be to grind the coriander seeds after first toasting them otherwise the seeds can be a tad fibrous when biting into them.