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This was a delicious meal I prepared pretty quickly for my lunch!
Loaded with fiber, iron and protein this is a nutrient rich meal with lots of flavor! |
This recipe was essentially a "leftover" food item recipe that turned out to be delightful! I had some fresh spinach that I feared would go bad if I didn't do something with it within the next day or so. Here is what I ended up with!
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Like my fancy "takeout" container?
I didn't have time to plate it nicely, ha! |
Ingredients
1 Cup fresh spinach (frozen would also work, make sure it is thawed first)
1 medium sized white potato peeled, sliced into very thin slices
1 carrot
2 cloves of garlic
olive oil spray (I use a mister)
1/2 cup Gimme Lean Meat Substitute (if you eat meat, feel free to use ground turkey, very lean beef or ground chicken)
1/2 cup dry bulgar wheat
Black pepper
Salt
Onion powder
Rosemary
1) Spray a sautee pan with mister to coat with olive oil mist.
2) Add 1 clove garlic and turn heat to medium. Allow garlic to simmer slightly.
3) Spray pan again with mister and add potato slices.
4) Allow slices to brown. Stir and flip frequently so the potatoes don't stick to the pan. (About 4-5 minutes).
5) In a small saucepan bring 1.5 cups of water to a boil. Add spinach and cook until spinach wilts and become a very bright green. Reduce heat and add 1 garlic clove. Simmer for 2 minutes.
6) Using a pasta spoon or any spoon with holes to drain water, transfer drained spinach from saucepan to sautee pan, leaving the excess water in the saucepan. Allow spinach to cook with potatoes.
7) Using the leftover water from the spinach, prepare your bulgar wheat. Add bulgar wheat and bring back to a boil. Once boiling, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes or until the wheat absorbs the water.
8) Using a peeler, peel off the top layer of the carrot and discard. Then peel slivers of carrot until the carrot is mostly peeled. Add slivers to sautee pan.
9) Mist with olive oil spray.
10) Add seasonings to taste.
11) If using, Gimme Lean meat sub or another kind of meat substitute, add to vegetable medley. Break up pieces until it resembles ground beef. If you chose to use a meat, follow the instructions below.
12) Continue to cook for a few more minutes or until the medley and "meat" are browned slightly.
13) Spray bulgar wheat with mister and spinkle a small amount of onion powder. Top with vegetables and enjoy!!
Using Meat:
In a separate pan, brown thawed meat before starting to cook the vegetables. This process takes much longer than substitutes because they are essentially ready to eat. After the meat of your choice is browned, drain excess liquid and add to vegetables at step 11.
** I used the excess water from the spinach because I like to utilize all of the vitamins and minerals present in a food. When a vegetable is boiled, the colored water leftover contains many minerals and vitamins that were leached from the food during boiling. Using that same water to boil a grain that absorbs water allows you to still enjoy the benefits of all of the nutrients in the food.
