With summer officially over, I’ve found myself back in the kitchen.  I’ve been on a bit of a hiatus from cooking, opting for cheap gimbap and fresh fruit from the market below my house instead.  However, now that the cool weather has made its presence known, I’ve stocked up on veggies for warm home-cooked meals.  Lately, I’ve been trying to limit the majority of my food intake to liquid/blended meals, namely smoothies and soups.  After a summer full of drinking, I wanted to give my insides a bit of a detox.  So far, so good.  This particular recipe is one of my favorites for a late dinner: it warms you up without leaving a bulky rock in your tummy before bed time.  I eat it as a warm blended “salad”, but it could easily pass as a curry or dip, as well.  In that case, serve with crackers or toast.  Please also note that this can be made without the nutritional yeast- I realize many people won’t have that lying around in their cupboard- but it does add a lovely Parmesan-esque taste to the dish. Enjoy!

Prep time: 1 minute

Cook time: 5-7 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2-3 large handfuls of spinach
• 75 g tofu
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 6 garlic cloves, chopped or minced
• 1 freshly squeeze lemon
• 2 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 small tbsp turmeric
• salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Heat olive oil in a small pot and add garlic and onions.  Allow to saute for a minute before adding spinach.  Cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally.  Once the spinach has wilted down, add the spices and cook until they have sufficiently flavored the spinach.  Add tofu to the mixture and blend on low for a minute, pulsing.  Pour nutritional yeast into the mixture and pulse for another 15 seconds.  I like mine to be quite chunky and rustic, so I blend until 80% of the veggies are smooth and leave some larger pieces of garlic and onion.  Stir in lemon juice to finish.

The yield is dependent upon how you’ll be serving the dish: it’s enough for a light meal for one or as an appetizer to share.