Recipe of the Week: Spanakopita - It's just fun to say.

By the looks of it, I made it with less spana and probably too much kopita. I'm just sayin.

When I was a kid my mom made this spinach soup. And it was delicious. (Boil spinach, throw it in a blender with milk - or I think my mom used heavy cream - and some freshly grated nutmeg and salt and pepper. Blend, serve. I'd probably dollop a little greek yogurt on top.) And I knew deep within that I should probably keep that to myself. Spinach isn't a real selling point on the popularity circle of kids. Not really ever a point of topic: "Hey Susie, pass me that barbie. Girl - my mom made the best spinach soup last night! Hey, where's the crayons?".

But Lucy doesn't care about social acceptance. She's teaching me lots. So, today Lucy came in and asked announced that Jackie could come over for dinner because her mom said she could. My response was something like - "Uh, did you fill her in that we're having spinach for the main course?"

Like I have a main course dotted with an appetizer course and salad course. Its Spanakopita, y'all - spinach IS the salad and the appetizer and also the main course. Geesh. Still Lucy and Jackie both proclaimed that Jackie indeed was good with the menu and then directed "Spinach is so yummy!" She's my favorite kid. Jackie just kind of agreed with this goofy smile. She doesn't talk much. So, Lucy telling her what to do and that she does, indeed, like spinach is working out just great.

The recipe took me a while because it was new. And phyllo dough was involved. That's sort of new to me. And I didn't do it correctly. I think I OVER phyllo doughed it. So, I worked hard on it y'all. And it took a while. And finally, I served up the Spanakopita, some turkey ham, and carrots. You know that Jackie did not even attempt to look at it. With the same goofy smile, she ate her turkey ham with her hands.

"Do you need me to cut that ham up for you? So you can use your fork?"

Blank stare goofy smile. And continued to eat with her hands. Table manners at my house are a constant work in progress. But this situation has me thinking my kids could dine with the Queen of England and hold their own.

Then Jackie played with her carrots. I waited for her to actually eat one, but not so much. My kids ate their ham (with a fork, Thank God) and then got in trouble several times for acting too silly at the table. Max and Lucy both saw the crust as an obstruction to the good stuff. Yeah, that's right, they like spinach. It's possible. And they ate all of the spinach mixture and minimal crusty goodness.

We have a rating system here at the house of awesomeness for new recipes. The kids give me a thumbs up or a thumbs down, and sometimes, I get a thumb midway up, midway down. This recipe was the midway thumb on account of they loved the spinach, but not so much on the phyllo dough. Weird kids, I know. So, I'm going to say that since I got my kids to eat spinach and like it, it's a success.

Without further ado, here's the recipe. It's from the Clean Eating Magazine (March/April 2010, p. 57). And if you like Greek food, this recipe is a perfect Spanakopita. MMMM!
Spanakopita Casserole
Ingredients:

• 1 tsp. olive oil


• 1 tbsp. sweet red pepper, finely chopped


• 1/4 cup sweet onion, finely chopped


• 3 large bags fresh spinach (9 oz each) or 36 cups loosely packed spinach


• 1 tbsp fresh dill, finely chopped


• 1 tsp fresh mint, finely chopped


• 1 large egg white


• 1/2 cup feta, crumbled (I'm sure I used a good full cup of it. Mamma likes cheese!)


• 4 sheets whole-wheat phyllo dough (13 x 18 inches each; Try: The Fillo Factory) I couldn't find it, so I used regular phyllo dough. They actually have a how-to on assembling this here.


• Olive oil cooking spray.

Instructions: (I pretty much did as I was told, so I'm just going to write it verbatim. I kind of winged the phyllo dough assembly, and I think I used too much of a really good thing. So, check out that reference on how to assemble it.)
One: Preheat oven to 375F. Heat oil (yes, it's only gonna take that 1 tsp of olive oil to cook down that 36 cups of spinach.) in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add pepper and onion and saute for about 2 minutes. Add spinach in batches, waiting 2 or 3 minutes between intervals; cover tightly and cook, tossing frequently, for about 15 minutes.
Two: Drain spinach mixture in a colander, removing any ecess liquid, before placing it in a large bowl; set aside. When spinach mixture is cool, mix in dill, mint and egg white. Then fold in feta until well blended. Set aside.
Three: Working quickly (hahahha, I don't do anything quickly, but ok...), roll phyllo out onto a clean work surface. Carefully cut each sheet lengthwise into approximately 4 3" wide pieces. Place 3 or 4 strips across the center of a 1 1/2 quart or 9x9 casserole dish misted with cooking spray, leaving about 3" to 4" of excess hanging over on both ends. The strips should be overlapping slightly. Mist strips wit cooking spray. Turn the casserole dish clockwise and place 3 or 4 strips across the original layer, at a 90-degree angle. Mist strips with cooking spray. Continue turning and layering until all strips have been used, about 4 layers in total, misting with cooking spray after each layer.
Four: Spoon spinach mixture into center of phyllo-covered dish. Fold phyllo haning over edgest into the center of spinach mixture, covering the top (no spinach should be visible now). Mist with cooking spray.
Five: Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until lightly brown and crispy. Let it cool for 10-15 minutes before slicing. Cut into 6 pieces and serve.

The magazine reports that this is 140 calories, 3 grams of fat, 7 grams of protein, 8 grams of fiber, 450 mg of sodium, 5 mg of cholesterol, and 1 gram of sugar. Serves 6.

I hope you try this one, and let me know how you like it.
That's how I roll.
Song of the Day: Right Field by Adam Sandler - ok, so it's not an actual song. But it's a good Friday gig. I dare you to not laugh.