Salmon spinach and rice

This salmon spinach and rice recipe is our kind of healthy comfort food and the solid lazy dinner idea. It’s simple, it tastes like something you can’t stop eating and it’s pretty nutritious too. There’s spinach in it, so it must be. Pretty sure, there’s a written rule for that in life. You know how most salmon and rice recipes are “Asian-inspired” – this one’s more Mediterranean inspired. It’s also gluten-free and dairy-free.

When we were a kid our family used to make a similar recipe all the time when there was spinach or sorrel available and it was SO good! It’s similar to the Greek spinach and rice recipe (aka spanakorizo) but slightly modified and a bit more veggie-heavy, because we used some cauliflower rice in it.

So if you’re in the mood for a Mediterranean recipe made with salmon and rice and spinach – this one’s for you and you must make it. Plus you won’t have to stand by the stove to stir or the sink to clean up. It all happens in one large pan / skillet and is the solid lazy meal.

We know, we should sell cars or jewelry or essential oils or anything. We'll be good at it, especially if they were made out of food. Watch out Tesla, here we come Flinstone style.

Speaking of, a few weeks ago, we actually tried watching The Flinstones with our nephew. It was one of our favorite cartoons when we were a kid. Ah, the good old days when the dinosaurs we played with weren’t toys, but living beings. Yeah, that’s how old we feel.

So, we tried watching it and we couldn’t. First of all, because our nephew was jumping right next to us on the couch and our eye started twitching from stress.

And second, because of how old it all looked and sounded. We usually love old things, because they are more real and, we find, high quality. But it did take some time to adjust. And we didn’t have that time, because the little guy then changed “the channel” to some dogs trying to be superheroes. There – 3 reasons we couldn’t watch the cartoon. And we were disappointed in myself. We know, you wish we had more life-changing conversations like this, don’t you?

Salmon, Spinach and Rice Ingredients

But we’re here to do some work in the kitchen, so let’s get back to this salmon spinach and rice recipe aka the solid lazy dinner with salmon! Here’s what you need to put it together:

Salmon. We need fillets, anything from the salmon without bones, okay?

Spinach. We used fresh spinach, not baby, the father type. Also, frozen spinach can be perfectly good in the recipe as well.

Rice. You need white rice like Arborio to make this tasty dish happen. Long-grain, brown or any other type just won’t provide that same type of comfort or consistency, so stay away from them when making this recipe.

More vegetables. Now in this salmon spinach and rice skillet, we’ve got some invisible cauliflower and lots of green onions. Aka spring onions, aka scallions. As we found out a few months ago – those are all the same thing. And we also threw in some spring garlic as well, because life’s not the same without garlic, even during spring. If you have, also please, please – use fresh mint. It’s so good in rice dishes. Dill might work as well, because this is also a salmon recipe and fish usually goes well with dill. Can’t make any promises though, we're just throwing it out there.

Salt, pepper, water, dried spices. You can also use stock for the recipe. With these types of recipes, when you’re cooking from scratch and starting with water – you’ll need to add more salt than you’re comfortable with. We're always surprised at how much salt they “gobble up”. But if you want to be on the “safe” side – use stock. We know, lots of quotation marks, makes us feel like a “real” writer.

How it comes together

You are going to love how easily this salmon spinach and rice recipe comes together for dinner. If you can put things into a pan and cover it with a lid, you can call yourself a chef from now on, because that’s almost everything you need to do here.

Before you put the things into the skillet though, wash the vegetables and chop them thinly. That makes the cauliflower, garlic, spring onions, fresh mint if using and of course – the spinach. We lied, you don’t need to cut the spinach too thinly. It might scare it away, especially if it’s a baby. You can even leave it whole. Once you heat it up it will shrink like it’s on a weight loss show.

Now that you’ve got it all washed and chopped and ready, throw it into a pan. Add the salmon, the washed rice, salt and water (or stock) and if you want – some spices and dried herbs.

Give it a good stir. Cover the pan, put it on the stove and turn the heat up.

Once it starts boiling – reduce the heat and let the salmon, rice and all the other participants simmer to perfection.

Which would take around 15-20 minutes. No longer. Or until the rice is tender. If needed add a bit more water / stock. (we didn’t have to).

If you wish in the last few minutes add another clove of garlic to the salmon spinach and rice skillet – to make the garlic smell more intense. That’s something you want for your home. Once all is cooked – flake the salmon and stir gently through the rice dish.

Serve immediately as is, or add some black pepper and chili flakes on top and enjoy!