When cooking spinach, it’s easy to wind up with water-logged, slimy, and downright unappetizing results, but adding a simple step to your preparation can help solve the issue.

The step is as simple as squeezing the excess moisture out of the leaves after cooking them. For spinach that is still hot, you can use a potato ricer to gently squeeze water out.

Or, put the leaves in a colander or strainer with holes small enough to keep the leaves from escaping, place a bowl on top, and add some weight over that to press the moisture out.

You can also let the spinach cool and squeeze small batches of the leaves with your bare hands. The excess moisture will be removed effectively without making the spinach mushy.