Recipe | Beef and Spinach Stew

I try to incorporate vegetables into my meals in any way I can. Spinach is one of those greens that I do not like in salad and don’t like it just boiled because they become soggy. In this recipe, even though the spinach is cooked, it’s not soggy. This is because I decided to chop it’s really tiny and that makes a difference. This recipe is not only delicious but nutritious and easy to cook.

Recipe: Beef and spinach stew
serves 2–4

Ingredients

½ pound of beef or lamb cut into cubes
1 onion diced
5 cloves of garlic
1–3 Thai chillies or any chillies of your choice  (optional)
1–2 pounds of fresh spinach or a whole pre-packaged pack chopped
3–5 scallions chopped
1 teaspoon curry powder
Salt and ground pepper to taste
2 tablespoon clarified butter or olive oil
Beef or Chicken stock
Optional spices: 2–3 cloves, whole cumin, bay leaves

Method

Fry the beef in oil until nicely brown and keep aside. Fry onion in the same oil until lightly brown. Add garlic and curry powder or Turmeric powder and fry until the powder releases its aroma. Add the beef and 3 cups of water or beef stock. Sometimes I like to divide this by adding one cup of beef stock and two cups of water. It’s up to you, the more stock the merrier. Bring the water or stock to a boil and let it cook until the beef is tender. Depending on the size of the beef, this should take about 30 mins to an hour. When I’m short on time, I cut the beef into smaller pieces.

Once the beef is tender, the water should have reduced by half, add the chopped scallions and spinach. The stock is going to look like it’s too less for the spinach but keeps stirring and it will all come together. Once the spinach has incorporated into the stock, about 5 mins, the stock will be stew and is ready to be served. You can serve it with any rice of your choice. In the picture above, I made Egyptian rice which is very similar to Japanese rice. Or maybe it is the same thing, I have to find out.