How It All Started

Bob Phillips

The title of this blog was inspired by one of my Spanish professor's at Miami University of Ohio, Dr. Robert Phillips, who died in the e...

Monday, March 9, 2015

Something like the Ghanaian Spinach Stew posted on the NYT website

I try to read at least some of the New York Times online everyday, and occasionally I try a recipe I find there. The Ghanaian Spinach Stew looked good, and I thought I could probably substitute some of the mixed greens I froze over the summer from my CSA for the spinach. I ended up making a variety of substitutions as it turned out, and in fact, ended up adding an ingredient just because it seemed like a good idea. Ultimately, I wound up with a pretty tasty dish that still had some resemblance to the recipe provided.

Rather than list all the substitutions, I'll describe what I did from the beginning:

I chopped up and sauteed half a medium onion, along with some garlic scapes (frozen from the CSA) and a dried, chopped chili pepper. I followed the recipe's instructions to cook until the onion was caramelized, at which point James and I both started to cough from volatilized pepper. I turned down the heat, and put on the mostly useless stove hood fan. (James adds: Our fan does not have an outdoor vent, so it is essentially a Playskool fan. One of these days...)

Once the air was brought back under control I added a can of tomato paste, some ground ginger, and a can of diced tomatoes. I had planned to used pumpkin seeds (as the recipe called for) but realized the ones I bought were not raw, but rather roasted and salted, so I decided to throw in a can of chick peas instead. Finally I put in some of the frozen greens and cooked until everything was heated. The dish was spicy hot, so it worked well served over some leftover rice and paired with some Long Trail Ale.

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