Spanakorizo - Greek Spinach & Rice

Spanakorizo - Greek Spinach & Rice

This Spanakorizo or Greek Spinach & Rice recipe is a delicious vegetable side dish that features long grain rice prepared with onions, leeks, fennel, spinach, fresh dill, and tomatoes. It's topped with lemon juice and a touch of lemon zest before serving for a hearty side.

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Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Greek

Keyword: Greek Spinach & Rice, Spanakorizo

Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 20

Total Time: 30

Servings: servings

Calories: 244kcal

Author: Eva

Ingredients

2 tablespoon butter (use plant-based butter for vegan)
2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
3 leeks sliced
1 cup green onions diced
½ cup shallots sliced
1 fennel bulb diced
1 tablespoon garlic minced
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoon fresh oregano basil and parsley, chopped
¼ cup fresh dill chopped
2 cups baby spinach chopped
2 cups kale chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste
15 oz crushed tomatoes
½ teaspoon sugar
½ cup long grain white rice
2 cups vegetable broth
1 bay leaf
1 lemon juice and zest

Instructions

In a large pot, melt the butter and the olive oil.
Saute the leeks, green onions, shallots and fennel until tender.
Add the minced garlic, salt and pepper and fresh herbs (dill, oregano, parsley) to the pot and stir.
Add the spinach and kale to the pot and stir until wilted.
Next add the tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, sugar, rice, broth and the bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes until the rice is tender and most of the liquid has evaporated.
Remove from the heat and add the juice of ½ a lemon to the rice and stir.
Serve with kalamata olives, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and fresh lemon zest.

Video

Notes

Note, ½ teaspoon sugar is added simply to neutralize the acidity of the tomatoes and tomato paste.

To make this dish vegan/lenten, plant-based butter can be used, or the butter can be omitted entirely.

If you wish to try without the tomatoes, you would add the fresh herbs at the end of cooking rather than at the beginning so they would have a more forward presence in the dish.

Nutrition