Spinach and Ground Meat Fried Rice

"Meat, vegetables, and rice, all in a single bite!"

Yes, this is the opening line for this dish, in the book "Bento Love" and I totally agree! The boiled spinach can prepared ahead. No marinating is required for the meat. Leftover rice from the previous day can be used.

Not a spinach lover? You can still give this dish a try, as even though plenty of spinach is used, the taste is not too empowering. Instead, the browned ground meat and fried garlic give this dish its fragrance. The taste of the fried rice can be adjusted to your taste. More soy sauce and salt if you prefer a saltier dish, or less if you like.

The ingredients listed below serves 2 adults and 2 kids, slightly different from that listed in the book.

4 servings of rice for 2 adults and 2 kids

1 bunch of spinach

200g Ground Meat (I prefer Ground Turkey)

1 tbsp Minced Garlic

2 tbsp Soy Sauce

1 tbsp Vegetable Oil

1 tbsp Butter

Dash of pepper and salt

• If rice is still warm, spread in a shallow dish, or freezer, to cool.
• Blanch spinach in boiling salted water.
• Rinse under cold water.
• Drain and squeeze out excess water well.
• Chop finely. I use a pair of scissors to cut up the spinach.
• Heat up a frying pan.
• Add oil to the well heated pan.
• Add butter.
• Saute garlic until fragrant and add meat.
• Stir-fry over medium heat.
• When the meat is browned, add rice. Mix well.
• Add spinach, stir-fry well, breaking up any clumps.
• Season with soy sauce. Adjust according to your taste.
• Season with salt and pepper.

In fact, I forgot to add salt when blanching the spinach. The spinach was prepared in the morning, to be used in the evening. Half an hour before dinner, I started frying the meat. After mixing the meat and spinach with rice, I seasoned the dish with soy sauce first. I tasted it, and then added the salt. Add the seasoning gradually, adjusting according to your taste. The dash of pepper was a nice touch to the fried rice .... the boys didn't complain about the fried rice being "spicy"! They finished their bowl of fried rice, accompanied by a bowl of miso soup!

This new dish is going to be a regular on my table!

Popeye will be proud of me!