SPINACH STEW: with or without ground beef

I have been juicing for a while now, trying to get rid of the many many extra pounds that I have gained since I got married. Thank god my husband gained weight too!! I’m Turkish and we eat a lot of vegetable stews, all sorts and although I was born and raised in America, my husband is Turkish straight from Turkey and I’ve taught him to like burgers, tacos and macaroni and cheese but he still likes a healthy Turkish meal every once in a while and I’m not going to lie, so do I. I'm trying to cut out all the bad processed foods from my life, so I drink juice twice a day and for dinner I try to cook something healthy. I love kale, but I just don’t like the taste of raw spinach juiced and I don’t like it in salads either. If you hate spinach like I do, this recipe might be the deal breaker! If you already love spinach, you will LOVE it even more! 

This recipe is great because you can also make it vegetarian, all you have to do is eliminate the ground beef.

       SPINACH STEW WITH GROUND BEEF

            

Ingredients: (Serves 3-4)

2 tablespoon vegetable oil

300 grams ground beef (optional)

1 small onion, diced

3 tablespoons tomato paste or 1 cup tomato puree

1 lb/500 grams spinach, fresh or frozen

2 tablespoons rice

1 teaspoon salt

ground black pepper to taste

2 cups hot water (plus more, if necessary)

Plain yogurt, for serving. (Sour cream can be substituted)

FYI plain yogurt can be found in many supermarkets, just make sure you don’t grab a flavored one. It’s super healthy and it makes the spinach taste 10x better, it truly complements the spinach beautifully. If you like garlic and don’t mind the smell, mince a clove of garlic into the yogurt and sprinkle some salt and it’s mouth watering!

Prep Time: 5 minutes 

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

 Directions:

• Heat the vegetable oil in the pot. Add the diced onions and ground beef. Breaking up the ground beef and mixing it with onion, saute it over medium-high heat until the onions are translucent and ground beef is no longer pink.

• Add the tomato paste and 1 cup hot water; mix lightly to dissolve the paste in water.

• Add the spinach, pepper, salt, and rice. Add the rest of the hot water and stir to combine.

• Bring to a boil over medium heat; then lower the heat and simmer until the spinach and rice are cooked (the spinach turns from bright dark green to yellowish dark green and rice grains become longer and completely soft to the bite). Add more water along the way, if necessary, to prevent the stew from drying, and depending on how thick vs. soupy you like your stew.