Welcome to the World's First Great Big Vegetable Challenge! Six years ago we went on a vegetable journey of a lifetime. A 7 year year old boy named Freddie and his mother faced up to the challenge of turning him from a Vegetable-Phobic into a boy who will eat and even enjoy some of life's leafier pleasures. We ate through the alphabet of vegetables...and returned to tell the tale. Join our Great Big Veg Challenge!

Sunday, April 13, 2008

S is for Spinach - Spanakopita

"There are two kinds of people - Greeks, and everyone else who wish they was Greek."

(My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2002)

For a long time My Big Fat Greek Wedding was Freddie's favourite film. He would sit down and watch it at least twice a week, drawn in by the central themes of a huge family, large quantities of roasted red meat and the sound of the bouzouki. So when Ben from Mexico City left a comment about the joys of a Greek spinach dish, spanakopita, we had to try it out."This is an eight out of ten...", hesitated Freddie. "Or maybe it was more a 7.9. No actually make it an eight and tell Ben that it tasted really good."Follow the same path that we took to find Ben's recipe for spanakopita. My version looks a little different to his as I blended the spinach in a food processor. But it tasted delicious. Thank you Ben!

I am glad you and Freddie liked it :) But for the real deal you have to visit Peter's site, that's the way my mom and her Greek friend used to make it. Your pie looks really good, though. Are those bread crumbs on top?

Heat some oil in a wok- add spinach. Add some fresh pressed garlic. Add a pinch of sugar and some soy sauce. Stir fry until wilted and bright green, but make sure not to do it too long, so that it turns slimy and that off-colour green. Serve immediately.

This is a great side dish to any Chinese food, but I eat it just as is, over Chinese egg noodles. Yum! :)

When I used to buy spinach (I don't anymore because it always goes bad before I can finish it!) I really just used it where I would use lettuce, like in salads and in sandwiches because they pack a lot more nutrition! They also take a lot better to cooking than lettuce does.

Some less straightforward ways that I like having spinach include spanakopita, spinach dip and crispy spinach (which is usually served with spicy chicken in Szechuan restaurants)

I've just eaten some for breakfast in a Turkish "gozleme" - a huge chapati like thin bread stuff with spinach and a little bit of chilli.

I'm sure it can be made at home but I buy it fresh from local Turkish bakeries/cafes - every morning women sit in the window rolling and baking on a large stone. Bring Freddy up to Dalston/Stoke Newington to experience.

Top VegThanks for telling me about this. Freddie is crazy about football so this looks perfect.

Mara - Another delicious idea - with the bnoodles - Have copied it out and will try on Freddie and the gang.

Ben - Thanks for your inspiration _ i love Peter's site and as I said Greek food is a big hit in our home. No there werent any breadcrumbs - just the natural top of the pie when it was cooked. it tasted fantastic.

Amanda - The Spinach and Cheese pies - are those wrapped in filo pastry? Is there a recipe on your wonderful Little Foodies site>

Leah _ Your recipe sounds delicious. I think I can buy that stuffing - is it like our PAXo brand?

Pete - We will try our Spanokopita asap - Thanks for leaving the link. much appreciated.x