A few weeks ago I was scavenging the kitchen, trying to find something in our barren pantry to make for lunch. The end of the month is often not a fun time to be looking for food in our house. In my search I realized that pretty much all I had was half of a container of mushrooms that were almost past their prime, some basmati rice in the pantry, and by luck a carton of frozen spinach. This short list of ingredients ended up being the making of a delicious dish! What's better, it took less than 30 minutes to throw together...most of that time used to cook the rice.
Something I didn't manage to photograph was the spoon of cottage cheese I put on top. I know. I know. You are thinking that sounds incredible bizarre, but in my head I was thinking it would be so good with Paneer, an Indian cheese curd. Large Curd cottage cheese acts as a pretty great substitute for Paneer it turns out. You don't have to add it, or you could top it with some crumbled feta.
Turmeric Basmati with spinach and mushrooms
8-10 button mushrooms, quartered ( or more if you have them)
1 pkg frozen spinach (the box size)
1 cup basmati rice
1 T turmeric
1/4 t cardamom
1/4 corainder
salt to taste
3 T olive oil
1 T large curd cottage cheese (optional)
In a sauce pan, combine rice, 2 cups water, turmeric, cardamom, and coriander to a boil with the lid off. Cook at a medium low temp. until rice is fluffy...about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, microwave the carton of spinach until it is thawed, about 3 minutes. Working in batches, squeeze the liquid out of the water with your hands until the spinach feels dry. Heat 1 T olive oil in a cast iron skillet at med high heat. Add in the mushrooms and sautee until browned.
When rice is cooked, pour the remaining 2 T oil into cast iron skillet. Add to the skillet the rice and spinach and stir all ingredients together. Cook for 2-3 minutes until heated through. Salt to taste and serve immediately. Top with cottage cheese.
xo,
Rachel
