This Jamaican spinach soup should be Jamaican you hungry (hopefully the pun didn’t put you off your appetite). Like most Jamaican cuisine, this soup is an amalgamation of island flavors and is complete with a particular kind of spiciness. It is easy and simple to make, all you really need to do is have the ability to chop up some vegetables and apply seasonings, then boom you will find yourself eating amazing and delicious soup.
Health Benefits
Spinach, the primary ingredient in this dish is similar to other leafy green veggie in that it is a great source of folate. Folate is a B vitamin that is needed to help your body generate DNA and certain genetic material. Your cells need folate to divide and replicate. Folate deficiencies are rare in most parts of the world, but they can be dangerous when they occur. A folate deficiency can result in fatigue, irritability, heart palpitations, and trouble concentrating. It can also lead to neural tube defects in infants when women don’t get enough folate during pregnancy.
Ingredients
3 tbsp olive oil
1 onion – chopped
2 stalks celery – chopped
4 cloves garlic – minced
2 tbsps fresh ginger root – minced
1 tbsp turbinado sugar
2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
2 potatoes – peeled and diced
4 cups zucchini – chopped
6 cups vegetable stock
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 cup fresh spinach – chopped
1/2 red bell pepper – minced
How To Make Jamaican Spinach Soup
- Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat.
- Stir in sugar, onion, celery, garlic, and ginger.
- Cook 5 minutes until the onion turns tender.
- Season with nutmeg, salt, turmeric, and allspice.
- Mix in potatoes and zucchini.
- Pour in the vegetable stock.
- Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer 10 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.
- Remove soup from heat.
- Season with cayenne pepper.
- Stir in spinach.
- Blend soup until it turns smooth using a hand blender.
- Garnish with the red bell pepper to serve.
Trivia
Many of the plants that Jamaica is famous for were imported by the Spanish.