Spring Forward

There is nothing like the beginning of daylight saving time to remind you that the freshness of springtime is not too far away.  Despite losing an hour yesterday, I was incredibly productive - perhaps it was the sunshine and fact that it stayed light outside later (giving me the illusion of a longer.  Or that I was on my 3rd of 5 days off from work (one of the perks of working 3 12-hour nursing shifts).

When I am working those long days (which are more like 15 hour shifts when you add on the commute), I don't have time for much in the evening except eating dinner, checking email, and falling into bed.  I'm determined to get things done when I have several days off in a row; not just chores, but things I like doing.

My day included household cleaning and organizing, oxi-cleaning my down coat and pruning the dreaded rosebushes in front of my building and sweeping away the garbage and dead leaves that accumulated over the winter.  I was delighted to see signs of life after this gray, snowy Chicago winter....the chives I planted last year burgeoning from the cold soil, my parsley showing new green growth, and droppings from our local Peter Cottontail who has survived another city winter.

I began my Sunday making spanakopita, a traditional Greek spinach pie, and tzatziki sauce.  This was my third attempt at making spanakopita and I have concluded that this is one of those dishes that gets easier the more you do it.  My good friend MB, who gave me the joy of watching her gorgeous little boy, inspired me to make try making this dish myself after providing me with spinach pie for lunch one day.  Thanks, MB!

If you have never worked with phyllo dough (or don't know what it is), it is a temperamental, fragile beast.   It is an incredibly thin puff pastry that comes packaged as rolled up sheets.  It can be intimidating, but do not let that stop you from experimenting with it to make a large variety of dishes, from appetizers to entrees to dessert.  Consider it a blank canvas or a basic foundation upon which you can build different flavors and textures as you please.  Making the spinach/cheese filling for spanakopita or sugar and walnut mix for baklava is an absolute breeze, so handling the phyllo is the only task that is tricky.

The challenge begins the minute you open the plastic wrap that confines this devil.  Unrolling the pile of phyllo sheets can be troublesome because the sheets may stick together. 

Here are a few lessons I have learned:

• Do not get frustrated - patience and gentleness is key when using phyllo.  The first time I made spanakopita, I ended up ripping a bunch of sheets because I was too forceful when separating the sheets, thanks to my frustration.  It just makes it worse. It will end up like this....

• Defrost the unopened box of phyllo overnight in the fridge.  On the day you plan to use it, place the package on the counter for 1-2 hours before using it.  This makes separating the sheets easier.

• Work quickly.  Don't get hasty, but also don't leave the phyllo sitting around unopened or it will dry out.
  
• For spanakopita, I prefer spraying cooking spray on the top of each phyllo sheet rather than oil.  It eliminates a lot of fat from the oil and eliminates the risk of ripping when you brush the sheets.  See below for this step.
  
• I recommend searching on YouTube for a video of someone preparing spanakopita, so you have a better idea of how to layer the phyllo.

Also...if your grocery store packages and sells their own blocks of feta, these tend to be cheaper than the brand-name pre-packaged feta.  You can look at the different containers of feta packaged by your grocer and buy only as much as you need - you will see the price is different on each container based on weight.

Spanakopita

Ingredients

• Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 bunch green onions, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (or more if you are a fan of garlic like I am)
• 2 pounds spinach, rinsed and chopped (frozen chopped spinach is great to use for this recipe)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 8 sheets phyllo dough
• *1/4 cup olive oil (optional -- using a cooking spray like Pam or any other high-heat spray like grapseed is much less labor-intensive and cuts down on the calories)

Directions 

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly oil a 9x9 inch square baking pan (or coat with cooking spray - see below).

Drizzle olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. 

Saute onion, green onions and garlic, until soft and lightly browned. Stir in spinach and parsley, and continue to saute until spinach is limp, about 2 minutes.

Remove from heat and set aside to cool. 

In a medium bowl, mix together eggs, ricotta, and feta. Stir in spinach mixture.

Lay 1 sheet of phyllo dough in prepared baking pan, and brush lightly with olive oil***. Lay another sheet of phyllo dough on top, brush with olive oil, and repeat process with two more sheets of phyllo. The sheets will overlap the pan. Spread spinach and cheese mixture into pan and fold overhanging dough over filling. Brush with oil, then layer remaining 4 sheets of phyllo dough, brushing each with oil. Tuck overhanging dough into pan to seal filling.  

***  Here you may substitute cooking spray for olive oil.  Brushing the oil can be time-consuming and tear the dough.  If you want to cut down on time and calories, generously spray each layer with cooking spray, rather than oil, as described in the above directions.

Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until golden brown.  Cut into squares and serve while hot with side of tzatziki sauce.

Source: Allrecipes.com


Tzatziki Sauce
I personally have often found spanakopita to be somewhat bland, even at the most authentic Greek restaurants.  To give it extra creaminess and flavor, try making this easy tzatziki sauce.  This healthy, versatile Greek-yogurt based sauce can be used not just for spanakopita, but also as a sandwich spread, veggie dip, and even salad dressing.  

Do not hesitate to buy 0% (non-fat) Greek yogurt.  This yogurt is so thick because it has been strained that you do not miss or notice the lack of fat.  It also contains a lot of protein, making it an incredibly healthy and delicious guilt-free way to get calcium and protein.  The next time you want a yummy dip to accompany your veggies, leave the fat-loaded ranch dips on the shelf and grab a container of Greek yogurt instead and make this sauce.

Ingredients

• One 16 oz. container Greek style yogurt
• 1 medium cucumber
• 3 cloves garlic - grated
• 2 tablespoons fresh dill - chopped fine (if you do not want to spend the money on fresh, dried is perfectly fine.  Just remember that dried herbs are 2x as potent as the fresh version, so if using dried dill, use 2 teaspoons, rather than 2 tablespoons of fresh.)
• Zest from one lemon
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar (**not particularly necessary, I omitted once because it wasn't in my pantry and could not taste the difference)
• 2 teaspoons salt

Directions

1. Peel the cucumber.
2. Cut the cucumber in half, and remove the seeds.
3. Use a hand grater, or food processor, to grate the cucumber
4. Place the cucumber in a double thickness of paper towel, and gently squeeze out the moisture.
5. Replace the wet paper towel with dry paper towel, and continue squeezing the cucumber until most of the moisture has been removed.
6. Add the cucumber to a medium bowl.
7. Stir in the garlic, dill, lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, vinegar and salt.
8. Add the Greek yogurt and stir until well blended.
9. Cover the tzatziki sauce and place in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Source: HerbWitch

I made a 9x13 pan of spanakopita and froze half of it so I'll have yummy lunches already prepared.  This reheats quite nicely, though the phyllo won't retain it's crisp.  The tzatziki just gets better every day.

Bon appetite!

*alli