Cooking with Spinach: 2 Easy Recipes

This post is by Kyrstie Barcak of A Fresh Legacy.

We love spinach.  I love it because it is very easy to grow and it is easy to incorporate into almost any meal.  It is one of the things I grab almost every time I go to the garden. Other reasons I love it, and you should too, include:

• It can be eaten either raw or cooked.
• It has a long production period (I have a plant that has been producing for over a year).
• It is one of the foods considered to hold high level of chemicals – if you enjoy it and can grow your own please do so.
• According to Livestrong.com  it is high in Vitamins K, A C and Folate.  A 2 cup serving of baby spinach meets 25 percent of the Recommended Daily Intake for Vitamin C.
• The flavour combines well – try it with pine nuts, anchovies, lemon, capers, any protein, fetta, ricotta, pumpkin, tomatoes, potato.

Here are two quick and easy spinach recipes I like to cook. They are both healthy and family friendly!

Warm Spinach Risoni Salad

Serves: 4- 6 adults
Preparation time: 25 minutes (including time to bake vegetables)
Cook Time: 15 minutes

You will need:

• 300 gram of pumpkin, cut into 1 cm cubes and baked
• 1 capsicum quartered and baked
• 3 medium tomatoes – quartered and baked
• 500 grams Risoni
• 1 tablespoon of oil
• 1 garlic clove
• Finely chopped zest of one lemon
• 1 tablespoon of fresh Oregano leaves chopped
• 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• ½ cup of shredded basil leaves
• 100 grams of fresh spinach leaves chopped
• Salt and pepper to season

To make:

After baking the pumpkin, capsicum and tomato, slice the capsicum into pieces.

Cook the risoni in a large saucepan of boiling water until tender (about 10 minutes). Drain the risoni and put it into a large serving bowl. Add the parmesan, lemon juice and red wine vinegar and stir to coat the grains.

Heat a pan, add oil and then the garlic, lemon zest and oregano followed by the baked pumpkin, capsicum, and tomatoes. Stir gently to coat. Add the basil and spinach and stir until wilted. Season to taste and add this to the risoni, toss gently to mix.

This recipe is based on one by: Australian Woman’s Weekly – Beginners Simple Meals, Step by Step Results to Perfect Meals (ed. Debra Quick), 2002 – ACP Books Sydney.

Potato and Spinach Soup with Harissa Yoghurt

Serves: 2 adults and 2 children
Preparation time: 5-10 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes

You will need:

• 5 medium potatoes, peeled, and cubed
• 1 medium sized sweet potato, peeled and cubed
• 150 grams of spinach leaves, washed
• 4 cups of Chicken Stock (or Vegetable Stock)
• 3 and 1/2 cups of water
• 6 sprigs of fresh parsley – chopped
• 6 sprigs of fresh lemon thyme (or plain thyme)
• Salt and pepper to season

Yoghurt Harissa and Croutons:

• 3 tablespoons of natural yoghurt – You can find my homemade yoghurt recipe here
• 1 teaspoon Harissa paste*
• Crusty bread pieces cut into small cubes – fry in a small amount of oil to brown

Add the stock to a pot with the thyme and bring to the boil. Add the potatoes and sweet potato and simmer for 40 minutes. Add the spinach and continue to simmer for a further 10 minutes. Add the parsley and season with salt and pepper.

Remove any stems of thyme.

Blend the soup with a stick blender until smooth and serve with a dollop of the Harissa yoghurt and topped with the croutons.

*Harissa paste can be purchased from a gourmet deli or market. You can substitute with Chilli paste if you are unable to locate it.

If you are a fan of cooking with spinach you can find 5 more quick spinach recipes I wrote when I had a large amount of spinach in my garden, or visit my Recipe List page for many more.

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