When it comes to spinach, there seem to be two camps: Those who are irked and those who are delighted when a mountain of fresh spinach cooks down to a mere molehill.

I belong to the delighted camp, not least because the sweet, earthy taste of cooked spinach can be a balm for the taste buds after a parade of rich holiday foods and cookies.

Rather than feel scammed by Big Spinach, I love its vanishing act and use it to my advantage, as in these spinach egg bites. Since fresh spinach consists of mostly water, chopping it up and cooking it, and subsequently removing the water, concentrates its essence into something to be celebrated: a dense fistful of green.

When you’re on the run, though, frozen chopped spinach helps you get there much faster, without sacrificing too much flavor or nutrients.

Since it’s already been processed — washed, chopped, blanched then frozen — it can be used right away, so long as you thaw it. (I like to do this in the refrigerator the night before, though you could leave the unopened package in a bowl of cold water for speedier thawing.)

There are many ways to eat a condensed mound of spinach. These egg bites just happen to be the cutest. They were a real lifeline for me last year when I was so busy that I found myself skipping meals. But, I tried to remind myself, not every breakfast, lunch and dinner needs to be a big home-cooked affair, especially when you’re on the run. So it helps to have something nutrient-dense and protein-packed stocked in the fridge or freezer, ready to reheat and eat at a moment’s notice.

And it’s nothing new: Many great dishes of the world start with greens and herbs bound by egg. Spanakopita, the savory Greek spinach and feta pie, comes to mind, as does kuku sabzi, the frittatalike Persian dish. Stouffer’s spinach souffle is arguably America’s best interpretation of the form. Borrowing from all of those, these egg bites are tender in texture and dense in green flavor, not least because they’re mostly spinach and scallions.

As with most spinach and egg dishes, this recipe is very adaptable. You can swap out the scallions for dill or parsley, and the Parmesan for cheddar or feta. Make them your own and let them power you through the year.

Spinach Egg Bites

Lovers of the sweet, earthy flavor of leafy greens can rejoice in these fluffy egg bites, which are mostly spinach and scallions bound by a little egg. Many great dishes of the world start like this: Spanikopita, the savory Greek spinach and feta pie, comes to mind, as does kuku sabzi, the herby, frittatalike Persian dish. These egg bites are a great make-ahead breakfast or high-protein snack on their own, and they’re also a lovely lunch or light dinner alongside a green salad. They’re adaptable, too: You can swap out the scallions for dill or parsley, and the Parmesan for cheddar or feta. Make them your own.

By Eric Kim

Yield: 12 egg bites

Total time: 45 minutes

INGREDIENTS

Olive oil, for greasing
2 (10-ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed
4 scallions, thinly sliced crosswise
6 large eggs
2 cups (16 ounces) cottage cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
Pinch of ground nutmeg
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

DIRECTIONS

1. Arrange a rack in the center of the oven and heat to 375 degrees. Generously grease a 12-cup muffin tin with olive oil and place on a sheet pan.

2. With clean hands, squeeze the spinach over the sink to remove as much water as possible. Drain well and add to a large bowl, along with the scallions, eggs, cottage cheese, Parmesan and nutmeg. Season with salt and pepper. Stir until well combined. Add the flour and baking powder, and stir just until incorporated.

3. Fill the muffin tin with the spinach mixture — 1/3 cup each — and bake until set, 20 to 25 minutes. Allow to cool completely before running a sharp paring knife around the edges of each cup to help release the bites. (Alternatively, you could use a silicon muffin mold.)

4. These egg bites stay fresh in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and in the freezer for up to 3 months. To reheat, just microwave them for 10 seconds at a time until warmed through.

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Today is Wednesday, Jan. 21, the 21st day of 2026. There are 344 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Jan. 21, 1976, British Airways and Air France inaugurated scheduled passenger service on the supersonic Concorde jet.

Also on this date:

In 1793, during the French Revolution, King Louis XVI, condemned for treason, was executed by guillotine.

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In 1861, Jefferson Davis of Mississippi, with a dramatic farewell speech, resigned his U.S. Senate seat after his state and others seceded from the Union. He would later be elected president of the Confederacy shortly before the Civil War began.

In 1924, Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin died at age 53, setting off a bloody power struggle that would lead to the rise of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.

In 1950, former State Department official Alger Hiss, accused of being part of a Communist spy ring, was found guilty in New York of lying to a grand jury. (Hiss, who proclaimed his innocence, served less than four years in prison.)

In 1960, the collapse of a mine in Coalbrook, South Africa, killed 437 miners.

In 1977, on his first full day in office, President Jimmy Carter pardoned almost all Vietnam War draft evaders.

In 1985, Galaxy Airlines Flight 203 crashed in a field shortly after takeoff from Reno, Nevada, killing all but one of the 71 people aboard. The survivor was a 17-year-old boy who was thrown clear of the aircraft and found conscious and still in his seat.

In 2010, a deeply divided U.S. Supreme Court, in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, vastly increased the influence of big business and labor unions by allowing unlimited contributions to political campaigns.

In 2017, a day after Donald Trump’s first presidential inauguration, an estimated 3 million to 5 million people rallied at Women’s March demonstrations across the U.S. to support civil rights and to protest Trump’s rhetoric and policies.

In 2020, the U.S. reported its first known case of the 2019 novel coronavirus circulating in China, saying a Washington state resident who had returned the previous week from the outbreak’s epicenter was hospitalized near Seattle.

In 2023, a gunman opened fire and killed 11 people at a ballroom dance hall in Monterey Park, California, during the city’s Lunar New Year festivities. The gunman killed himself as police closed in on him.

Today’s birthdays:

Golf Hall of Famer Jack Nicklaus is 86.
Opera singer Plácido Domingo is 85.
Singer-songwriter Billy Ocean is 76.
Artist Jeff Koons is 71.
Actor-director Robby Benson is 70.
Actor Geena Davis is 70.
Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota is 65.
Basketball Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon is 63.
Singer Emma Bunton (Spice Girls) is 50.
Actor Luke Grimes is 42.
Mixed martial artist Ilia Tuporia is 29.
Singer-songwriter Em Beihold is 27.

Pack your bag for riches to shag

The game demands your best

No need to be vandal to get a good handle

On how to fulfill your quest

Hunt clues will be released at about midnight at TwinCities.com/treasurehunt each day of the hunt.

See the Treasure Hunt rules.

Where has the medallion been discovered in past years?

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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Keyonte George scored a career-high 43 points, Jusuf Nurkic recorded his second career triple-double, and the Utah Jazz rallied to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 127-122 on Tuesday night.

Nurkic finished with 16 points, 18 rebounds and 10 assists in his first triple-double since Jan. 16, 2019, with Portland in a 129-112 win over Cleveland.

Rookie Ace Bailey scored 20 points and Isaiah Collier had 18 points and 10 assists for the Jazz (15-29), who delivered coach Will Hardy his 100th career victory. George scored more than 30 points for the third time in his last six games.

Anthony Edwards scored 38 points for the Timberwolves (27-17), who squandered a 15-point lead and closed out a four-game trip with three straight losses. Julius Randle scored 19 points and Rudy Gobert added 11 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks.

Edwards had a three-point play that pulled Minnesota within 121-119 before George responded with a 3-pointer from the corner with 59.2 seconds left that give the Jazz the cushion needed to halt their four-game skid.

Bailey sparked an 11-2 run with an electrifying dunk and a 3-pointer that gave the Jazz the lead with 7:47 to play in the fourth quarter. The Jazz scored on their first 11 possessions of the final period.

Edwards scored 12 points in the third quarter as the Timberwolves turned a 1-point deficit into a 96-84 lead. The Timberwolves were outrunning the Jazz at home with a 23-9 advantage in fast-break points through three quarters, but couldn’t sustain that effort in the fourth.

Gobert returned after missing two of three games due to a league suspension for too many flagrant fouls and a hip bruise. He received a technical in the fourth quarter for elbowing Nurkic in the face, but wasn’t assessed a flagrant after a video review.

The Jazz were missing leading scorer Lauri Markkanen, Kevin Love and Brice Sensabaugh. The Jazz were 0-10 without Markkanen this season.

Up next

Timberwolves: Host the Chicago Bulls on Thursday.

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