To cook Nigerian vegetable soups with spinach is easy
First of all, let’s not forget that spinach is not waterleaf. Spinach is different from water leaves. Spinach can be eaten raw, can be made into a vegetable salad, and enjoyed. I don’t know if waterleaf can also be eaten raw.
In Nigeria, spinach is not common in the market. Most vegetable sellers don’t even know what spinach is and sell green amaranth or waterleaf in place of spinach. When I need to cook with spinach, I check supermarkets. Spinach is readily available at the supermarket though more expensive than our local waterleaf.
SIMILARITIES BETWEEN SPINACH AND WATERLEAF
Every Nigerian vegetable soup that’s cooked with waterleaf can be cooked with spinach. Both waterleaf and spinach have something in common. They are both very good as softeners for other green leafy vegetables. Waterleaf and spinach can be used to soften ugu leaves (Fluted pumpkin for edikaikong soup and even afang soup.
Spinach can be added to egusi soup to make it softer and better the way we cook waterleaf in egusi soup.
To cook good Nigerian soups with spinach, we add the spinach to other vegetables like we do and cook but do not overcook green vegetables.
For those of us who add some salt and squeeze out excess juice from waterleaf before cooking, you can also sprinkle some salt on spinach and squeeze a little, to reduce excess juice. Spinach, just like waterleaf is full of water content and rich in vitamins.
That is how to cook Nigerian vegetable soup with spinach.