Recipe road test: Spinach, mushroom and lemon pilaf

This week’s recipe is for spinach, mushroom and lemon pilaf from Olive magazine’s 30 Low-Fat Recipes booklet, free with the February 2008 issue.

Spinach, mushroom and lemon pilaf
30 minutes * EASY

onions 2, finely sliced

garlic 2 cloves, crushed

50g butter

chestnut mushrooms 150g, sliced

cinnamon 1 stick

cloves 4 whole

cardamom pods 4, bruised

basmati rice 250g

lemon 1/2, zested and juiced

vegetable stock 450ml

spinach 200g, washed and roughly chopped

- Cook the onion and garlic in the butter in a large shallow pan until soft and golden.

- Add the mushrooms and cook until softened. Add the spices and cook for 2 minutes, then stir in the rice, lemon zest and stock. Cover.

- Cook on a gentle heat for about 15 minutes until the liquid has been absorbed. Stir through the spinach and lemon juice, cover for 2 minutes until wilted and serve.

Serves 4

PER SERVING: 350 kcals, protein 8.1g, carbohydrate 56.6g, fat 11.7g, saturated fat 6.6g, fibre 2.4g, salt 1.45g.

Road test
A note on ingredients: All ingredients except the spices and the rice were organic. I used Yeo Valley unsalted butter, Joubère vegetable stock, Tilda rice, and Bart spices. I substituted crimini mushrooms instead of chestnut mushrooms.

Method: The method was very clear and easy to follow. It took slightly longer than 30 minutes when allowing time to prepare the vegetables.

Results: The lemon and spices provided tang and zip, the butter and mushrooms a full richness, and the spinach a slight sweetness and a nice contrast in colour.

Verdict
This was a big hit! I would definitely make this again, perhaps substituting swiss chard (silverbeet) instead of spinach or possibly adding some nuts. It works as a main but could also work well as a side dish with a nice piece of chicken. I am not sure that this fully counts as a low-fat meal given that it has 11.7g of fat and 6.6g of saturated fat per serve, but it’s certainly wholesome. You could probably experiment with reducing the fat but you would want to take care that it does not end up sticking to the pan and burning.