Julie’s Spinach Rice
From the kitchen of: JULIE KALAITZANDONAKES
Julie Kalaitzandonakes is retired and is planning to spend 6 months of the year living in Greece. Until this is finalized, Julie keeps busy as a Columbia Public School Substitute teacher when school is in session, is a docent at the University of Missouri Museum of Art and Archeology and Boone County Historical Society, reads, gardens and knits. She worked at Stephens College in Advancement Services as well as at Datastorm Technologies as a Customer Service Manager. Julie and her husband Nicholas have two children who both currently attend college.
Food is important in every culture. I tease my Greek born husband Nicholas that he is a lucky man. He’s lucky, not because he married me….but because I didn’t know how to cook when we married 30+.years ago. Early on in our marriage when his parents would visit, cooking brought Maria and I together. We leapt past our language barriers to create wonderful meals together. I was her admiring sous chef. I was a blank slate and very willing to learn. Years passed and my confidence in cooking all things Greek was even being praised by my mother in law. I could make many traditional dishes. And the lucky part for my husband was that they all had his Mother’s Cretan influence baked, roasted, boiled or braised right in to the very soul of the dish.
After our first child was born, my in-laws came to visit and help us for three months. I decided to take this time to create some recipes. No more a handful of this, or a pinch of that. I wanted to be able to pass on this love to my own children.
When asked to share a recipe that means something to me, I knew it had to be vegan. Greek Orthodox families eat a vegan diet a couple of days each week and for a number of weeks around Easter and Christmas every year. My favorite dishes are these weekly staples that my mother-in-law Maria passed on to me and through me to her grandchildren. I hope you enjoy!
SPINACH RICE
Ingredients
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes (I use fresh when they are in season).
2 bags of fresh spinach (cleaned and chopped)
1 medium yellow onion (peeled and chopped)
½ cup chopped spring onions
2 cups short grain (medium) rice
½ cup fresh lemon juice
Lemons for the table
1-2 TBS chopped fresh dill (I use two…try it with one if you like the flavor add two the next time…dill has a pretty unique taste and many of our Cretan versions of traditional Greek recipes include this spice-We love it!)
3 TBS fresh parsley
Fresh cracked pepper
Salt
3 cups of water
1 cube of Knorr brand vegetarian bullion
½ cup of olive oil. (I lighten it up to ¼ cup)
Instructions:
Remove damaged spinach leaves. Wash spinach and drain well. Tear leaves into pieces and chop stems. Set aside.
In a deep pan, heat oil on stove and add all the chopped onion. Gently fry 5 minutes.
Rinse rice. Drain well. Add to pan with onions and cook for five minutes. Stirring constantly. Add remaining ingredients (except fresh lemon juice) and bring to a boil. Stir, reduce heat and cover tightly with lid. Simmer gently on low. After 15 minutes remove from heat. Leave covered and let stand 5-10 minutes.
Add lemon juice, give it a stir and you are ready to serve. We eat it as an entrée hot. It is also great cold or reheated. Makes a nice side with grilled meat or fish