I love creating this meatless meal for my family. Just last week my grandson was spending the weekend with me. He asked what we were having for dinner and I explained what I was cooking. He asked if I wouldn’t mind going to the market and buying him some fresh spinach. I was very surprised at his request. This is a child that refuses to eat anything. Everyday we have such a hard time getting him to eat.
I asked my grandson about his request and he explained that he would rather have the spinach and chick peas that I made for dinner. He also asked if I would make him a pan of spinach with chopped garlic and sautéed in olive oil. I was very pleased at his request and headed off to the market. This is a child that won’t touch a vegetable on his plate. But now he wants spinach.
If you have a picky eater such as my grandson, try this delicious recipe to change their minds.
Ingredients:
- ½ to 1 Pound fresh spinach, remove stems (3 to 6 cups of fresh spinach)
- ½ Cup fresh button mushroom, cleaned and diced fine
- 1 White or red onions, chopped
- 1 Green bell pepper, chopped
- 1 Red bell pepper, chopped
- ¼ Cup pine nuts (You may substitute the pine nuts for any other nut. Pine nuts are expensive and I have used unsalted cashews in this recipe.)
- 3 Cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 Dried bay leaf
- 2 Ripe tomatoes, chopped fine
- 2 Knoor Vegetable bouillon cubes
- 2 Cups hot water
- 1 Teaspoon paprika
- 1 Teaspoon Adobo with pepper seasoning (You can make your own Adobo by following this recipe.)
- 1 Large green chili pepper, diced with seeds removed
- 4 Cups fresh cooked chickpeas or 2 cans 16 ounces each, chickpeas, rinsed and drained
Directions:
- Dissolve vegetable bouillon cubes in hot water, set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, fill the bowl with water and ice cubes, set aside.
- Place your spinach leaves in a large saucepan and add enough water to cover the leaves.
- Place the saucepan on the stove and bring to a boil.
- Let boil 10 seconds and remove.
- Immediately remove the spinach leaves with tongs and add to your prepared bowl of ice water.
- When cold, remove the leaves and squeeze out excess water and set aside.
- Add olive to a large cast iron pot and heat.
- When hot, add onions, mushroom and garlic and sauté until onions are translucent.
- Add tomatoes, chopped chili, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, bay leaf, clove, and 1 tablespoon of prepared vegetable bouillon the saucepan.
- Heat thoroughly for 3 minutes.
- Remove bay leaf and clove from the saucepan and discard.
- Add remaining vegetable bouillon to the sauce pan with paprika and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to medium high and add your cooked chickpeas to the saucepan.
- Cook uncovered for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove 1 cup of the chickpea mixture and add to your blender.
- Puree the chickpea and add back to your saucepan.
- In a large pie plate or serving bowl, pour the chickpea mixture, and spread evenly.
- Chop the spinach and arrange on top of the chickpeas.
- Sprinkle with pine nuts and season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Serve with warm flour or corn tortillas.
Image: flickr.com
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I love spinach. This looks good. Voted.