My Turkish-Inspired Spinach Entrée

Here is another one of my Turkish-inspired dinner favorites, Yumurtali Ispanak.  It has chopped spinach, ground beef, seasoned salt, and cheese.  The Turks make it with ground lamb, and crack eggs over the top, but I usually skip the eggs.  (I don’t like the texture of egg whites.)  This entrée is super easy and quick to make.  It’s one of my favorite ways to eat cooked spinach, and the one I make most often.  (I also like Indian Saag Paneer.)

 

Ingredients

1 lb lean ground beef or ground lamb

2 bags frozen chopped spinach, about 1 lb each

Lawry’s seasoned salt

5-6 eggs (optional)

Shredded cheddar cheese

Nutmeg (optional)

 

Directions

 

1.  Place ground meat in a large skillet, or Dutch oven pot.  Sprinkle with about ½ tsp of Lawry’s seasoned salt, and brown meat. 

 

2.  Add frozen spinach.  Sprinkle with about ½ tsp of seasoned salt, and cover.  Cook on medium for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Color of the spinach will change from bright green to a darker color. 

 

3.  Stir to ensure spinach and meat are evenly mixed, and evenly distributed in the pan.  Crack eggs into top of spinach mixture, spacing evenly. 

4.  Sprinkle eggs lightly with nutmeg.  Cook until eggs are firm, about 10 minutes. 

 

4.  Sprinkle with shredded cheese before serving. 

 

 

Serving without egg, sprinkled with cheese

 

 

 

Rose Mary’s Zucchini and Beef over Rice

 

 

 

 

 

 

This meal deserves a much better name, but I haven’t come up with one.  Back in the mid-90s I made a vegetable dish with zucchini, tomatoes, red peppers, and onions, topped with Parmesan cheese.  I think this entrée evolved from that dish.  Prior to this, I lived in Turkey, which influenced the dish as well.  When I first started making zucchini and beef, I carefully measured my meat and rice, to track what I ate according to Weight Watchers (pre-points).  This is the kind of dish that you want to make a big batch, to ensure you have leftovers. 

 

Zucchini and Beef Ingredients

3-4 medium zucchini, sliced very thin

2 lbs ground beef

1 large can of crushed tomatoes

1 can diced tomatoes

1 medium onion, chopped

2-4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced (or minced)

Lawry’s seasoned salt

 

 

Directions

1.  Place ground beef in a large skillet.  Break meat apart.  Sprinkle with about 1 tsp Lawry’s seasoned salt. 

  



 

2.  Add chopped onions to meat.  Brown ground beef in skillet.  When meat is cooked, drain if desired.  I usually use good quality, relatively low fat hamburger, and don’t drain the meat because the fat imparts a lot of flavor. 

3.  Transfer meat and onions to a large pot, like a Dutch oven.  Add tomatoes, garlic, and about 2 tsp Lawry’s seasoned salt.  You could use a variety of tomato products.  Sometimes I use a can of diced tomatoes and a can of spaghetti sauce. 

4.  Cover and simmer on medium heat for about 45 minutes, until meat texture is tender. 

5.  While hamburger-tomato mixture is cooking, wash zucchini, then slice very thinly.  I use the long slot on my grater.  You could use a mandoline. 

6.  After meat and tomatoes have simmered, add zucchini.  Stir zucchini into mixture to coat.  Cover and return to simmer.  Cook until zucchini is tender, about 20 minutes. 

7.  Serve over rice.  I serve over Turkish-style rice pilaf.  Skip the rice for a low carb meal. 

 

 



 

If a lot of fat cooks off the hamburger, tip the pan so the oil drains away from where you’re serving from.  If you have leftovers, you can easily scoop the hardened fat off and discard.