Moroccan inspired veggie pie (vegan).

My friend Jim pleased me with the news that he was coming to town this week to visit friends and run some errands. Loving to entertain, and wanting to catch up on what's going on in his life, I invited him to dinner. As I mentioned in a previous blog, Jim is pretty much vegan and doesn’t eat refined foods or sugar. I found that when he was up at the cottage that I not only ate really well, but I was also inspired to invent and cook meals that I hadn’t had before. So here is a new recipe that I created in his honour. I was inspired by Susan Jackson’s vegan recipe for spinach and artichoke pie and the yummy looking picture that she posted. I wanted to move more toward middle eastern flavors for this recipe so here is my version. I made the filling the night before and kept it in the refrigerator until the next day to make assembly easier. It may look a little labour intensive up front but I guarantee you it is very worth it. For those who are "veggie resistant", or think that your spouse/partner won't eat something that is entirely made from vegetables, I challenge you to try this recipe. It really does have a hearty mouth feel and there is no one predominant vegetable that shines through. Not to mention that your palate might be pleasantly surprised by the unusual flavour notes of cinnamon and cumin :)

Ingredients:

1-2 Tbs olive oil for sautéing vegetables

3-4 small potatoes cubed into 1 inch cubes
½ butternut squash cubed into 1 inch cubes
1 pepper diced (red, yellow, or orange)
3 large bunches of spinach
2 onions diced
2-3 Tbs kalamata olives diced
1 large handful of cilantro washed and diced
1 jar of artichoke hearts drained rinsed and cubed
1 can of chickpeas drained and rinsed
¾ cup of tomato sauce
1-2 garlic cloves minced
2 Tbs almond butter
1 ½ tsp cumin
1 ¼ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp ground coriander seeds
1 tsp ground ginger
¼ - ½ tsp cayenne pepper (depending on how spicy you like your food)
1 tsp sea salt
¼ tsp ground black pepper
13 sheets of phyllo dough thawed
Approximately 2 TBS of olive oil for brushing phyllo dough

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Wash the spinach several times, changing the water in between. Drain lightly and place into a large saucepan (I used my wok). Heat on high until wilted. Drain and squeeze out as much of the water as possible. Set aside in a large bowl.

Sauté the onions, potatoes, butternut squash, garlic, and peppers in the olive oil until the potatoes and squash are tender. Dump into the bowl with the spinach. Add in the chickpeas, tomato sauce, olives, almond butter, cilantro, and herbs and spices. Stir until combined. Taste and adjust the seasoning to your taste. Add in a bit more cayenne if you like it spicier, a bit more salt if it seems a touch bland. Set aside.

Line a shallow baking pan (circular or square) with some parchment paper. Lay two sheets of phyllo on the parchment and brush lightly with olive oil. Take two more sheets of phyllo and place then perpendicular to the other sheets. Brush with olive oil. Continue in this pattern with the remaining sheets two at a time until twelve of the sheets have been used.

Heap the spinach veggie mixture into the centre of the sheets. Take the single phyllo sheet that is left and fold in two. Place in the centre of the heaped mixture and brush with olive oil. This will ensure that your “package” will be sealed at the top. Now fold up each of the corners and sides of the other phyllo sheets essentially forming a circular package around the filling. Believe it or not, the less perfect that you do this the more attractive the package in the end. Brush all exposed surfaces lightly with olive oil.

Place on the center oven rack and bake in a preheated oven at 375 for approximately 45 minutes until lightly browned all over. Serve in slices with fluffy cous cous and a wedge of lemon.

Spring time Weigh-In Blues

Ok so now that we are into spring I know that my body SHOULD be starting to kick this carb addiction and begin to crave leafy salady type things (right?!). We are hopefully over this cold weather that makes me want to hunker down under my synthetic duvet and store up energy for some unforeseen grain shortage. I mean, let's be honest here...I won't be able to justify that this extra poundage is just "winter weight", like I do for my little porky yorkie, Ripley, who like myself has put on a pound or two (or ten - for me not her) over the winter. So here I am on this fine spring morning digging through my plethora of cookbooks, as well as the net, in search of a few core recipes that I will be able to use and recycle into new variations in the weeks going forward.

There has been one that has been a standout for me over the past little while that even my veggie-resistant spouse has asked for on more than one occasion. I don't think that it ever came from any one recipe - more like the mother of invention when I was stuck for a meal one night. It does require quite a bit of chopping, but I swear that it is worth it, because it can sit in the fridge for at least a few days, and the flavors meld and are better the second day.

Jen's Healthy Spring Salad

1 Pepper of your choice roughly chopped (red, yellow, orange or green)
1 large tomato that you have taken most of the seeds out of and chopped
1/2 English cucumber chopped

1 large handful of fresh flat leaf parsley chopped coarsely
1 large handful of fresh mint chopped coarsely
1 tin of chickpeas drained and well rinsed (you can also use other types of beans but this is my fav)
1-2 green onions chopped (you can also use red onion or shallots)
Any other veggies that might be sitting around in the crisper that you enjoy including broccoli florettes, cauliflower florettes, cubed zucchini etc.
1/4 cup Kraft fat free Italian dressing (or any other low-cal dressings of your choice other than ranch or anything "fruity". I have also added a combination of good olive oil and white wine vinegar. If you do this, you want to make it more vinegary that you probably normally would.

Serve over a bed of any of your favorite lettuce-like greens or eat on its own.

Variation # 1: add in one cup of cous cous that has been "cooked" by adding in one cup of boiling water and allowed to rest covered for five minutes.

Variation # 2: add in one cup of any other whole grain that has been cooked according to package directions including barley, wheat berries, millet, etc.

Variation # 3: Top with a cooked and sliced chicken breast or a grilled piece of tuna.

If you wanted to make the core salad stretch even farther I would start off on day 1 with the core salad, day 2 I would add in the grains and day 3 I would top with the chicken/tuna.

Cheers and happy eating!