The original recipe from Simply in Season calls for 16 cups of spinach. Unfortunately I don’t get near that much spinach from my CSA. But you know what I do get oodles of? Swiss Chard! So I substituted two bunches of Swiss Chard (one from last week’s pickup, one from this week’s) for this dish.
1 large Clove garlic (minced)
1 medium onion (minced; I substituted about a cup of scallions since, once again, I have oodles of those)
3/4 cup uncooked rice
3/4 tsp turmeric
1 Tbs oil
1 1/2 cups broth (turkey, chicken, or veg)
16 cups fresh spinach (loosely packed; I substituted two bunches of Swiss Chard, which was about 16 cups very loosely packed)
1 1/2 tsp garlic (minced)
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste (I omitted this)
2 cups cooked black beans
1 Tbs chili powder
1 cup Monterey Jack cheese (shredded)
1. Saute’ garlic, onion, rice, and turmeric in oil until onion is tender, stirring often.
2. Add broth and mix well; simmer, covered, until liquid is absorbed (about 15 min for white rice; 40 min for brown rice). Remove from heat, let stand 5 minutes, and fluff with fork.
3. While rice cooks, heat 1 T oil in frypan on high heat. Add garlic and spinach, one handful at a time as it wilts, adding a little water as needed to prevent sticking. Spinach should be moist, with loose leaves, not clumped together.
4. Mix black beans and chili powder in a bowl. Layer ingredients in a 2 quart casserole dish as follows: 1/2 spinach, all the rice, all the beans, remaining spinach.
5. Sprinkle 1 C cheese on top. Cover and bake in a preheated oven at 375F until sizzling, 45 minutes. Or heat in microwave about 10 minutes and let stand for 5 minutes. Serve by spooning into warm flour tortillas and garnish with all the fixins: salsa, sour cream, etc. (Here’s where I again differed. I realized that the Swiss Chard had cooked down too much to really make two layers that would be even across the pie plate, so I just put the Swiss Chard on the bottom, then the rice layer. I heated the beans in the microwave–forgive me–then added the cheese on top and zapped it for another minute).
Servings: 4
The Verdict: Very spicy and yummy! I could have eaten the rice on its own, but the turmeric really paired well with the bite of the Swiss Chard. DH ate his as a dip with tortilla chips.
Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1/4 of a recipe (14.1 ounces).
Percent daily values based on the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) for a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutrition information calculated from recipe ingredients.
Amount Per Serving
Calories 444.61
Calories From Fat (28%) 122.73
% Daily Value
Total Fat 13.98g 22%
Saturated Fat 6.33g 32%
Cholesterol 25.14mg 8%
Sodium 627.01mg 26%
Potassium 1204.85mg 34%
Total Carbohydrates 59.03g 20%
Fiber 11.41g 46%
Sugar 2.37g
Protein 22.91g 46%
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