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Spinach with Lemon Soy Sauce Dressing
Learn how to make this quick and delicious Japanese spinach side dish with a refreshing lemon and soy sauce dressing. Use tamari or gluten-free soy sauce to make this vegan dish gluten-free.
It is never a bad thing to consume more vegetables in our lives. I try to make sure I serve more vegetables to my family, and having an arsenal of easy recipes like this spinach with lemon soy sauce dressing is a huge help in my kitchen.
We only need three ingredients to make this dish: spinach, soy sauce, and lemon. And it also takes at most 15-20 minutes for all the prep work and cooking time. So you can imagine why I serve this dish almost every week.
The ingredients for spinach with lemon soy sauce dressing
Let’s break down a little bit about each of the three ingredients we will be using in this recipe:
- spinach
- soy sauce, and
- lemon
I use regular spinach, but feel free to use the same amount of baby spinach if you want to.
I created this recipe based on a Japanese dish, horenso with ponzu sauce, or a Japanese spinach dish with yuzu soy sauce. Hence, I usually use Japanese soy sauce to make the lemon and soy sauce dressing.
Tips: Use tamari or gluten-free soy sauce to make this a gluten-free friendly dish.
Yuzu is a citrus fruit that is common in many East Asian dishes. Unfortunately, yuzu is hard to procure outside Japan, Korea, or China. I use it whenever I can get my hands on some, but most of the time, I use lemon to make the dressing.
How to make spinach with lemon soy sauce dressing
1. Prepare the spinach
Trim the roots from spinach. Rinse them under cold running water to remove the dirt. Cut spinach into 2-inch pieces, then place them into a large cooking pot.
If you use baby spinach leaves, rinse them under cold running water and place them into a cooking pot.
2. Cook the spinach
Add 1/4 cup of water into the cooking pot, cover with a lid, and turn the heat on to a medium. Cook for about 5 minutes or until all the spinach has wilted. Remove the cooked spinach from the pot, strain as much water from the spinach as you can with a strainer, place it in a bowl and set it aside.
3. Prepare the dressing
Mix three tablespoons of soy sauce with a tablespoon of water and one and a half (1.5) tablespoons of lemon juice in a small bowl.
4. Make the dish
Pour the dressing over the spinach and mix well. Cover the bowl and let the spinach rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour before serving.
Spinach with Lemon Soy Sauce Dressing
Ingredients
- 2 bunch (450 gram / 1 lb) spinach
- 3 tablespoon soy sauce (Note 1)
- juice from 1/2 lemon (~ 1.5 tablespoon)
Instructions
- Prepare spinach: Trim the roots from spinach. Rinse them under cold running water to remove the dirt. Cut spinach into 2-inch pieces, then place them into a large cooking pot.
- Cook spinach: Add 1/4 cup of water into the cooking pot, cover with a lid, and turn the heat on to a medium. Cook for about 5 minutes or until all the spinach has wilted. Remove the cooked spinach from the pot, strain as much water from the spinach as you can with a strainer, place it in a bowl and set it aside.
- Dressing: Mix three tablespoons of soy sauce with a tablespoon of water and one and a half (1.5) tablespoons of lemon juice in a small bowl.
- Pour the dressing over the spinach and mix well. Cover the bowl and let the spinach rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour before serving.
Notes
- (1) Use tamari or gluten-free soy sauce to make the dish gluten-free.
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