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Nigerian Spinach

A spicy spinach stew with tomato sauce, onion, garlic, mushrooms, and cayenne pepper.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Spinach and mushroom work together. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 778 recipes. Both carry trans-2-decenal, which smells waxy, orange. The science ↓

Nigerian Spinach

Time25 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the sauce

  1. Cover the bottom of a large pan with a thin layer of vegetable oil.

  2. Brown a minced clove of garlic and 1/3 cup onion.

  3. Add 1 cup tomato sauce (or tomatoes).

  4. Chop 1 pint of fresh mushrooms and add to sauce.

  5. Season with 1/4 tsp black pepper and 2 tsp cayenne pepper.

  6. You may add more cayenne for a really hot taste.

Simmer and finish

  1. Simmer for 25 minutes.

  2. Chop 1 bag of spinach and add to sauce.

  3. Cook until spinach is done.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

227Calories
6 gProtein
15 gFat
22 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Mushroom1/2 cup sliced (35g)15
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Spinach1 cup raw (30g)7
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Cayenne1 tsp (1.8g)6

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Spinach + mushroomtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together778 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  2. Spinach + peppertop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,400 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

  3. Tomato + mushroomtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,719 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  4. Spinach + tomatotop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,350 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  5. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Spinach
Forms the leafy body of the stew and wilts down to a tender texture.
Onion
Browns in the oil to build a sweet, savoury base for the sauce.
Tomato sauce
Provides the liquid and acidity that forms the body of the stew.
Mushroom
Adds savoury, meaty depth and moisture as it softens in the sauce.
Cayenne pepper
Adds heat that carries through the simmered sauce.

The step that matters

Simmer for 25 minutes. Simmering lets the tomato sauce reduce and the mushrooms and onion soften and release their flavours, so the stew tastes rounded rather than raw. Adding the spinach afterwards keeps it from overcooking into a dull, grey mush.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (spinach, tomato, sauce, mushroom, pepper):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Shallotfits better
  3. Lettucefits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against spinach, tomato, sauce, mushroom, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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