To be honest, this simple carrot, spinach and rice stew was a complete surprise—easy and deliciously satisfying—with just 5 ingredients that you simmer together until thick and mushy. The recipe is from Mark Bittman's Quick and Easy Recipes from the New York Times (affiliate link), a wonderful cookbook my sister picked up at Goodwill for $1.50 and I quickly absconded with the last time I visited her.
In his headnote, Mark describes this as a "stew of carrots, spinach, and rice you cook to death." I feel like the long cooking gives this thick stew the consistency of porridge. (In my opinion, a good thing.)
I almost wrote about this simple quick and easy vegetarian stew from Mark Bittman for last Friday's 38 Power foods group on spinach, but opted instead for a crustless spinach and feta quiche, (which was also easy and delicious.)
How Many Calories and WW Points in this Vegetarian Carrot Spinach Stew?
This carrot, spinach, and rice stew is definitely Weight Watchers friendly. According to my calculations, each serving has about 201 calories and:
6 *SmartPoints (Green plan)
6 *SmartPoints (Blue plan)
3 *SmartPoints (Purple plan)
5 *PointsPlus (Old plan)
To see your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, Click here!
To lighten it even further, you could use less butter or leave it out altogether. The only real change I made to the recipe, was adding a little fresh lemon juice at the end to brighten it up a bit, which is totally optional.
Rod + I both gave it two thumbs up, happily eating up the whole batch in a couple of days. Simple + Satisfying comfort food.
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If you like this Simple Vegetarian Stew, you might also like these WW Friendly vegetarian recipes WW Friendly Ratatouille, Citrus Couscous Salad, Quinoa and Black Bean Southwest Skillet, 5-Ingredient Asparagus Minestrone Soup and Slow Cooked Lentil Chili
If you've made this Vegetable Rice Stew, please give the recipe a star rating below and leave a comment letting me know how you liked it. And stay in touch on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for the latest updates.
Carrot, Spinach, and Rice Stew
Ingredients
- ½ pound carrots, peeled and cut into ¼-inch dice
- ¾ cup long-grain rice, preferably brown basmati (uncooked)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 pound fresh baby spinach, roughly chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons butter
- fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- In a large saucepan, combine the carrots and 4 cups water placed over high heat.
- Bring to a boil, then stir in the rice and a large pinch of salt. When the mixture returns to a boil, add the chopped spinach, and then lower the heat to a gentle simmer.
- Cook, stirring occasionally, until the rice and carrots are very tender, about 30 minutes. (The mixture will become like a thick porridge or stew.)
- Once the mixture becomes thick and "stew-like" stir in the garlic and butter and cook another 5 minutes to allow the flavors to blend.
- Taste and adjust seasonings, adding salt, pepper and fresh lemon juice to taste.
- Serve immediately.
Equipment
Recipe Notes
*Points® calculated by WW. *PointsPlus® and SmartPoints® calculated by Simple Nourished Living; Not endorsed by Weight Watchers International, Inc. All recipe ingredients except optional items included in determining nutritional estimates. SmartPoints® values calculated WITHOUT each plan's ZeroPoint Foods (Green plan, Blue plan, Purple plan) using the WW Recipe Builder.
More Easy Healthy Weight Watchers Soup and Stew Recipes
- Instant Pot Wild Rice and Vegetable Stew
- Simple Garden Vegetable Soup
- Jamie Oliver Vegetable Soup with Beans
- Healthy Tuscan White Bean and Vegetable Soup
- Vegetarian Friendly Chickpea Lentil Soup
- Simple Chunky Tomato Soup
Martha is the founder and main content writer for Simple-Nourished-Living.
A longtime lifetime WW at goal, she is committed to balancing her love of food and desire to stay slim while savoring life and helping others do the same.
She is the author of the Smart Start 28-Day Weight Loss Challenge.
A huge fan of the slow cooker and confessed cookbook addict, when she's not experimenting in the kitchen, you're likely to find Martha on her yoga mat.
This post contains affiliate links to products I like. When you buy something through one of my Amazon links or other (affiliate links), I receive a small commission that helps support this site. Thank you for your purchase!
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Alyssa (Everyday Maven)
Sounds wonderful and so simple! I love Bittman for stuff like that. I may have to make this but in the slow cooker - I bet that would be awesome 🙂
Tara
Is the rice cooked or uncooked?
Martha McKinnon
Tara, it's uncooked. I've updated the recipe to be more specific.
Charlene
Good recipe! And I like that it didn't require high sodium. But how much is a serving for those of us who are counting Points Plus or calories? 1 cup? 1 1/2 cup?