Easter Spinach Salad

If you’re looking for a special dish to serve for Easter, try this salad/side dish featuring fresh spinach and plain madzoon (yogurt). It’s healthy, creamy, and only takes a few minutes to make!

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Easter Spinach Salad

This recipe is adapted from Rose Baboian’s Easter Spinach Salad in the ‘Armenian-American Cook Book’. It is called a 'salad', but it's more-like a unique creamed spinach side dish.
Course Salad, Side Dish
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 7 minutes
Cool 10 minutes
Total Time 32 minutes
Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

  • 10-12 oz. fresh spinach thick stems removed and discarded; leaves washed and drained with excess water removed. If the leaves are large, rough-chop them.
  • 2 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 2 small cloves garlic finely chopped
  • 1 cup plain, Greek-style yogurt
  • ½ cup flat-leaf Italian parsley chopped
  • salt and black pepper to taste
  • ¼ – ½ tsp. Aleppo pepper optional

Garnishes

  • sesame seeds optional
  • parsley sprigs optional

Instructions

  • In a large non-stick skillet, gently heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for about 30 seconds or until it starts to brown Do not let garlic burn!
  • Add the spinach, a little at a time, stirring to coat with oil and garlic. Sauté until spinach is wilted, about 3-4 minutes. Remove skillet from heat, drain any excess liquid and allow spinach to cool, about 10 minutes. Note: Even though it looks like a huge amount of spinach, it cooks down very quickly.
  • In a mixing bowl, whisk yogurt until it is creamy. If yogurt seems a bit thick, stir-in a little warm water to loosen it up. Add salt and black pepper to taste, and Aleppo pepper, if desired. Stir to combine.
  • Add cooled spinach and mix in the chopped parsley; adjust seasonings, if necessary. 
  • Transfer spinach mixture to a serving bowl. Garnish with sesame seeds and/or parsley, if desired.
  • Serve warm or at room temperature.

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