Spinach Pea Pilau Recipes

SPINACH PILAF

Steps:

• Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Saute onions until lightly browned. Reduce heat, add ground spices, and stir briefly. Add cooked rice. Cook just enough to heat rice through, stirring well to combine.
• Melt remaining butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Saute spinach with salt just until leaves are wilted. Toss into hot rice and onion mixture and serve immediately.

SPINACH AND CHICKPEA RICE PILAF

Steps:

• Zest the lemon, set the zest aside, then squeeze the juice into a small bowl. Thaw the spinach in the microwave and then squeeze out the excess liquid.
• Mince the garlic and dice the onion. Sauté the onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat in a deep skillet until the onion are soft and translucent (about 3-5 minutes).
• Add the smoked paprika, oregano, cumin, and dry rice to the skillet. Stir and cook over medium heat for about 2 minutes to toast the rice and spices. You should hear the rice popping and it should begin to look slightly translucent.
• Drain the chickpeas and add them to the skillet along with the spinach. Add about 2 Tbsp of the lemon juice and the vegetable broth to the skillet, then stir the ingredients to combine.
• Place a lid on the skillet and turn the heat up to medium-high. Allow it to come to a boil, then immediately turn it down to low or just above low. Let the skillet continue to simmer for 15 minutes, with the lid in place. After 15 minutes, turn the heat off and let it sit undisturbed for an additional 5 minutes.
• Remove the lid and fluff the skillet with a fork to redistribute the chickpeas and spinach. Sprinkle the lemon zest and crumbled feta over the skillet just before serving.

SPINACH AND CHICKPEAS WITH COUSCOUS

Steps:

• Heat 1/4 cup broth in a large saucepan. Add onion, garlic and curry powder and saute until onion begins to soften, about 4 minutes.
• Add remaining broth and spinach. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in chickpeas and black pepper, continue simmering until spinach is tender and chickpeas are heated through.
• Pour boiling water over couscous, cover and let stand for 5 minutes.
• Divide couscous among bowls.
• Serve spinach-chickpea mixture over couscous.

SPINACH & PEA PILAU

Steps:

• Thoroughly rinse the rice in a bowl or sieve with several changes of water until the water runs clear. Drain well. Heat a large pan on the stove, tip in the spices, then dry-fry for about 1 min until they are toasted (not burnt) and beginning to release their aromas. Tip the rice into the pan, stir well over the heat, then pour in 4 mugs of water and add 1 tsp salt.
• Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer for 8 mins until the rice is almost tender and the water has been absorbed. Stir in the spinach and peas, then cover and leave for 2 mins so the peas defrost and the spinach just wilts.

GREEK RICE PILAF

Steps:

• In a heavy skillet, saute the onions in oil on medium heat until they begin to soften.
• Add the garlic, mint and pepper and saute for 2 more minutes.
• Stir in the spinach, lemon juice, rice and green peas.
• Add the dill.
• Cover and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• When the spinach is limp and the rice is hot, top with the feta and serve immediately.

SPINACH AND PEAS

Steps:

• Prepare an ice water bath; set aside. Line a baking sheet with a cooling rack; set aside.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add a generous amount of salt and the peas. Cook until bright green, 3 to 4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to ice water bath to stop the peas from cooking. Drain, shaking off excess liquid; set aside. Add the spinach to the boiling water and cook, just until wilted, about 1 minute. Drain, squeezing out excess moisture, and transfer to wire rack to dry.
• Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the shallots and cook, stirring frequently, until translucent, but not brown, about 2 minutes. Stir in peas, and cook 1 minute. Add the spinach, tossing to combine, and heat through, 1 to 2 minutes more. Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

CARROT, TOMATO, AND SPINACH QUINOA PILAF

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a sauce pan over medium heat; cook and stir the onion in the hot oil until translucent, about 5 minutes. Lower the heat, stir in quinoa, and toast, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Stir in the water, bouillon granules, black pepper, and thyme; raise heat to high and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 5 minutes.
• Stir in the carrots. Cover and simmer until all water is absorbed, about 10 more minutes. Turn off the heat, add the tomatoes and spinach, and stir until the spinach is wilted and the tomatoes have given off their moisture, about 2 minutes.

SIMPLE MIDDLE EASTERN CHICKPEA PILAF

Steps:

• Drain chickpeas and rinse thoroughly and set aside.
• In a large saucepan, sauté onion and garlic in olive oil until soft and a light golden color.
• Add chicken stock or broth and bring to a boil.
• Stir in uncooked rice, drained chickpeas, salt, and pepper. Cover and reduce heat. Simmer on low heat for twenty minutes.
• After twenty minutes, remove from heat and let sit, covered, for 3 to 5 minutes.
• Remove lid and fluff with a fork. Serve immediately.

SPINACH RICE PILAF

Steps:

• Trim the stem end off the onion. Leave the root end in tact to hold the layers of the onion together. Cut the onion in half lengthwise and remove the peel. Working with one-​​half of the onion at a time, make horizontal cuts into the onion before making vertical and then crosswise cuts to finely chop the onion, using the root end as a sort of a handle. Set the onion aside.
• Peel and mince the garlic. Set aside.
• Pick over and trim the spinach. Rinse it clean , spin or pat it dry. You really want the spinach dried off to avoid having to cook off the water later. Cut the leaves into thin ribbons. Set aside.
• In a medium pot over medium-high heat, melt the butter. Add the onion and salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft, about 3 minutes.
• Add the garlic to the onion and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in the spinach. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the leaves are wilted and any liquid that has cooked out of the spinach has evaporated, about 4 minutes. If there's a lot of liquid, turn up the heat and boil it off.
• Add the rice and stir to coat it and make sure it's as well-combined with the spinach and onions as possible. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Add the dill, if you like. Cover and reduce the heat to low. Cook, undisturbed, for 15 minutes. Without removing the cover, remove the pot from the heat and let sit 5 minutes.
• Remove the cover. Fluff the pilaf with a fork. Stir in the pepper, if you like. Serve the pilaf hot or warm.