Hello, my friends! Are you having a happy hump day?
Last month the hubs and I hopped on the train to Brașov for a day in the sun. It’s a lovely mountain town and a good day off trip. And yeah, I’ll be honest, it was also an excuse to show off my super cute new sunflower dress. A girl’s gotta have her priorities. Right?
Anyway, there’s a lovely Transylvanian restaurant there called Pilvax, right on Strada Michael Weiss, and they have several vegan dishes on the menu. So far they haven’t disappointed.
They only have a few vegan options so we have to be strategic about it and this time I chose a (gasp!) spinach dish. It surprised me too, but it was super tasty and incredibly healthy.
Me vs. Spinach
Now, before I tell you about this dish, I have a confession. Until very recently, I had a hate-hate relationship with spinach. Like, full-on, no thank you, not on my plate.
But this dish changed everything. Well, almost everything. These days spinach and I have more of a love-meh relationship. Progress, people. Progress.
Their version had spinach, mushrooms, red peppers, walnuts and arpacaș (pearl barley), and it was SO good. A few weeks later I decided to make it on my own. It came out tasty-ish, but it was nowhere near as pretty as theirs! Still, it’s a cozy, hearty bowl that’s perfect for fall, so I’m sharing it anyway.
My Version
I swapped the barley for bulgur and the walnuts for roasted peanuts, because that’s what I had, and I added onion, a LOT of garlic, lemon zest and a sprinkle of nutritional yeast for that savory, cheesy kick.
I used fresh spinach because the restaurant did, and I still think I overcooked it a little. So learn from me: add it toward the end and pull it off the heat as soon as it wilts. Bright green is the goal, not swamp green.
Wash That Spinach!
This part is very important, my friends. Fresh spinach can hide a whole lot of dirt and grit, and nothing ruins a cozy vegan bowl faster than a crunchy bite you did NOT sign up for.
I recommend using a salad spinner. Fill ’er up with spinach and water, let it soak, then drain it. Do it again. And again. Keep going until all the dirt and sediment is gone and the water runs clear. Then give it a good spin to dry it off.
Protein Power
I made TVP on the side because a strength training woman needs her protein! Spinach and bulgur are great, but pair them with some seasoned TVP and you’ve got a bowl that actually fuels those gym days.
Bulgur brings fiber and slow-burning carbs, spinach brings iron and folate, and the TVP brings the protein. Healthy, filling and totally plant-based.
Kitchen Tools
Salad spinner
Nonstick pan
Saucepan
Microplane
Kitchen knife
Cutting board
Wooden spoon
Kitchen scale
Ingredients
120 g bulgur (dry)
500 g fresh spinach
185 g onion
8 cloves garlic
3 g lemon zest (about 1 lemon)
11 g nutritional yeast
15 g roasted, salted peanuts
Water for the bulgur (2 parts water to 1 part bulgur)
Instructions
Wash the spinach in a salad spinner: fill, soak, drain and repeat until the water is clear and there’s no grit left. Spin dry and roughly chop.
Add the bulgur to a saucepan with twice as much water. Bring it to a boil, then let it simmer for 10 minutes. Take it off the heat, cover it and let it sit in the steam for a few minutes before fluffing it with a fork.
Prepare your TVP your favorite way while the bulgur cooks.
Chop the onion and mince the garlic. Sauté in a nonstick pan until soft and fragrant.
Add the spinach and stir just until it wilts. Don’t overcook it!
Stir in the bulgur, lemon zest and nutritional yeast until everything is combined and heated through.
Top with roasted peanuts and serve with the TVP on the side.
Enjoy!
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Tell me what you think about this!