Recipe: Dad’s Greek Spinach & Rice

Whenever I go home, I ask my dad to make some of his famous spinach and rice recipe, inspired by many trips to (and many meals eaten in) Greece. It’s healthy and it’s delicious. Over the holidays, he showed me how it’s done so I could make it here in London and share it with you.

Ingredients: 

• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 kilo spinach
• 3 medium onions, chopped
• 2 large cloves garlic
• 1 cup fresh dill or 1 tbsp dry dill
• 1 cup basmati rice
• 1 cup water
• Parsley to garnish
• Lemon wedges to serve

*The olive oil and oregano we used came from my dad’s friends Jehny and George at The Spartan Table. Highly recommended!

Wash your spinach, measure your herbs and chop up your onion and garlic, then set the heat on the stove to medium. You’ll want a large frying pan for this.

Start by heating your oil in the pan. Once it’s hot, saute the garlic.

Add the onions and cook until soft.

Next, add the dill. Mix it in and cook for another minute or so.

Then start adding the spinach. You’ll probably have to add it in stages. Wait until it cooks down, then add some more.

Keep going…eventually it will all fit!

Add some salt and pepper to the top and then pour in the basmati rice.

Mix it all together.

Pour in your water.

Cook on low until the rice is soft. Then garnish with parsley and add a slice of lemon to serve. Great as a side and excellent the next day for lunch too!

Enjoy!