With National Spinach Day approaching on March 26, this is the perfect opportunity to boost your health by adding more green to your plate. Available year-round, spinach is a nutrient-dense, versatile ingredient that is used across the globe to prepare a variety of delectable and healthy dishes.
Especially in this notoriously difficult time of the school year, it is important to make time for rest and recovery. Plus, with St. Patrick’s day around the corner, maybe adding a handful of spinach into your life with these three recipes might keep the leprechauns away.
Efo riro:
Nothing beats a warm, comforting bowl of stew on a chilly day, and this savory, hearty Nigerian spinach stew makes the perfect fuel to power through these last few weeks before spring break.
Boil 12 ounces of protein or mushrooms until tender, then blend two roma tomatoes, a red bell pepper, a habanero pepper and half of an onion.
In a pan, heat palm or olive oil on medium heat, stir the rest of the chopped onion for about two minutes, then add the blended vegetables and stir for another minute.
Next, season the stew with bouillon powder, crayfish, black pepper, cayenne pepper and salt, cook on medium heat for five minutes and add cooked protein or mushrooms and boil for another five minutes. Finally, add 8 cups of fresh chopped spinach or thawed frozen spinach and stir until the spinach is tender. Enjoy this stew with rice or fufu.
Sigeumchi namul:
In many Korean households, banchan are traditional side dishes that accompany each meal. To make sigeumchi namul, a popular yet simple banchan, blanch a handful of spinach, then strain and rinse it in cold water.
After squeezing out excess water, cut the spinach into bite-size pieces and season with minced garlic, chopped green onions, soy sauce, toasted sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds. Serve with rice and top with silgochu (dried shredded red pepper) if desired.
Pide:
Turkish pide is a flatbread loaded with various vegetable or meat toppings such as peppers, spinach, sautéed mushrooms, olives, eggs, cheese, sucuk (dried cured beef sausage) and ground meat.
To make two pideler, first preheat the oven to 500-550 degrees Fahrenheit. In a bowl or stand mixer, combine 1 cup of warm water, 1 teaspoon of sugar and 2¼ teaspoons of active dry yeast. Bloom the mixture for five minutes, then add 2¼ cups of bread flour or all-purpose flour, mix with a wooden spoon and knead on a lightly floured surface.
Drizzle with olive oil, cover the dough and let it rise for one to two hours until it doubles in size. While the dough rises, cook and season any meat or vegetables, then stir in the spinach, cheese and aleppo pepper until well combined.
Next, divide the dough in half, shape each of the halves into ovals on parchment paper and spread half of the filling over each flatbread, leaving a 1-inch border around the outside and folding the sides of the dough inward to keep the filling intact. Brush with egg wash and bake for 23-35 minutes, or until golden brown.
