The other day I was having a craving for something that I used to love which is the Greek appetizer Spanikopita which is made from spinach and feta cheese. I don't eat animal products so I made a vegan version which was pretty darn close.
I used a whole bag of frozen spinach. I squeezed out as much liquid as possible and ended up with around 3 cups.
For the vegan feta I combined a brick of tofu which I crumbled, a cup of soaked cashews, 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast, juice of 2 lemons, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon oregano, salt and pepper to taste, one onion and 3 cloves garlic sauteed
Mix everything together.
I used phyllo pastry which was store bought. I draw the line at homemade phyllo pastry. I have much admiration for anyone who makes their own.
I cut the sheets into 3 inch strips and started to fold. Make sure you keep the rest covered or they dry out. Also make sure you are carful when you handle them. They break easily. I am no expert but I used 2 sheets for each of them.
You could brush them with vegan butter, but I used olive oil. Lightly brush all of the sheets.
I put them in the oven at 400 F watching closely to make sure they were nice and crisp and golden. I flipped them over after five to seven minutes.
The filling had a good enough taste so I never bothered making a sauce. A little swipe of my go to balsamic glaze was good enough.
I never really noticed a difference between these and the ones I had in the old days with feta. I am sure my old Greek friends would be critical. That's ok because Marc and I couldn't stop eating them.
We shamefully ate too much. Plus I made a noodle salad to go with it.
I was introduced to a noodle that I had never noticed before. I'm not sure if it's a new product or if it has been around for a while and I never noticed.
These noodles are black soy noodles. They are organic, gluten free, and GMO free. I usually stray from unconventional pasta but these were a whole other level. They had a consistency that was different from other gluten free pastas. This was like a cool elastic texture. It had some chewiness to it and it didn't take long to cook. I cooled it off right after I got the doneness that I was looking for.
I wanted to use the kale in my fridge so I steamed it and chopped it. I grated a carrot, sliced half a red pepper and shredded around a cup of red cabbage.
I decided to make a cilantro ginger dressing to go with it.
Cilantro dressing
1 small handful of cilantro
1/4 cup soy sauce
4 dates (you can use sugar)
1 small piece of ginger
2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons olive oil
juice of 2 limes
2 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
salt if neccessary
Toss everything together and add to some greens.
I was lucky to have been given black and white sesame seeds so I thought why not add that on top.
These noodles were perfect for a noodle salad and if you want a carb free meal, this is perfect and satisfying. We should be carb free sometimes but we like to indulge in certain things. Especially now when the weather is kind of blah and snowy. That's my excuse and I'm sticking with it.
Hope you are all having a good week!