Canada
Hi, I’m Luana. I work on the Earthbound Farm Marketing team, and I’m the person behind much of the content you see on our blog and in our newsletters. I love food, enjoy cooking and am always looking for delicious and simple ways to eat more veggies.
Recently when my husband was traveling for work, I had grand plans one night to cook something fabulous for myself, all from scratch. However, that plan quickly fell apart after I went to a particularly blissful yoga class and lost the will to go to the store. When I opened my fridge and pantry doors to stare and hope for a miracle, I noticed that I had some Earthbound Farm spinach that I needed to use up, but I wasn’t really in the mood for a salad. I knew I wanted something comforty but reasonably nutritious. So I came up with this creation, all from items I already had. It ended up being so incredibly satisfying that I now look forward to making it anytime my husband goes out of town. It made me realize how easy it is to “plus up” simple meal options for one with lots of organic veggies.
Here’s what I do, which is super easy to tweak based on what you have around: I take a can (that’s right I said it!) of organic “hearty vegetable” soup, which serves as a simple base. The one I typically use has some tomato, peas, barley and carrot, but anything similar will do. From there, I dice a small organic zucchini, which I throw in with the soup and simmer for about 5 minutes, covered, stirring occasionally until the zucchini starts to soften. Then I add a large handful of Earthbound Farm Organic Baby Spinach, a handful of frozen, shelled edamame and let it simmer for another 5 mins. Then, I kill the heat, stir in a quarter cup of couscous, and let sit covered for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, I dice half an avocado and grate some Parmesan.
By adding the couscous, much of the liquid (and flavor) from the base soup is absorbed, so it becomes less of a soup and more of a stew consistency. I dish it up into a shallow pasta or soup bowl, sprinkle on the Parm, which melts into the soup, followed by the avocado. Sometimes I also add toasted pine nuts, which add flavor and crunch. Another riff off this is to omit the couscous step and cube any leftover baguette or artisan bread you have on hand (browned with a little olive oil and kosher salt on the stove top) to make croutons. The croutons, which you can add after the stew has cooked, with the avocado and Parm, will help soak up some of the liquid, again, creating more of a stewy experience.
This makes a large entrée for one, if you’re really hungry; or a light meal with leftovers, which is delicious reheated for lunch. It has become one of my favorite, simple cold weather meals for one. It’s also a great way to use up your package of Earthbound Farm baby spinach. (A small handful of our organic frozen spinach also works great here, too.)
Enjoy!
