Spanakopita

I love Greek food!! Now that we're eating mostly vegetarian again, I thought turning to Greek food would be a good place to start.

I've always loved spanakopita. What's not to like? I mean, it has feta cheese in it!

2 packages of frozen spinach -- thawed and drained of excess liquid
1 C of ricotta cheese
1 C of feta cheese
1 onion - chopped
2 cloves garlic -- minced
10 sheets of phyllo dough
4 Tbls of melted butter
1 Tbls olive oil
1 egg -- beaten
cayenne pepper to taste
Salt and pepper

Cook the onions in the olive oil until soft. Add garlic and salt and pepper and cook for a couple more minutes. Transfer to a mixing bowl and let cool. In the hot pan add the drained spinach, break apart, and cook for a couple of minutes. In the mixing bowl, add egg, feta cheese, and ricotta cheese and cayenne pepper. Once the spinach is done add to the bowl as well and mix well. Taste for salt and pepper.

In a small square baking dish, add one sheet of phyllo (keep the rest of it moist, as it will dry out in no time). Brush with melted butter and add another layer of phyllo. Keep doing this, making sure to brush with melted butter between each layer until five layers have formed. Add the spinach mixture and top with another five layers of phyllo dough, buttering each layer in between. The top layer of the dough should also be brushed with butter.

Bake in a 350 oven for 45 minutes. You'll know it's done when the dough is a golden brown and the spinach mixture is piping hot. Let it cool for a minute and serve.

Very good!!

Hummus "Pizza/Tostada"

I'm now cooking vegetarian meals. Don't ask. I was a vegetarian for years and did cook that way, as well. After several years on the meat wagon, I have forgotten what I had made before! I'[m adding new recipes and trying new things. This is what I came up with a few weeks ago and it is delicious!

1/2 C Hummus
4 Pita Bread
2 tomatoes seeded and chopped
3 scallions chopped
Handful of kalamata olives chopped
Handful of crumbled feta cheese
Cucumber chopped
Whatever else you may want to add


Warm the pita breads in the oven for five minutes. Mix all the vegetables together with the cheese. Spread hummus on the warm pitas and top with the vegetable medley. Devour.

I literally just ate two and half of them for lunch in about 20 minutes flat.