Nettle-kopita (a new version of Spanakopita) Recipe

Prep ingredients…

Prepare filling…

Layer filling and phyllo…

Slice before baking…

It’s golden brown after an hour of baking…

Serve with a fresh wild herb salad, french bread and a hearty red wine.

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked brown rice
3 – 4 quarts fresh young nettles
1 onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 T olive oil
Basil, oregano, marjoram & thyme to taste
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 c provolone, grated
2 eggs
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 package frozen phyllo, thawed
1 cup feta, crumbled

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Precook brown rice.
2. While rice is cooking, prep your nettles by rinsing in a colander, and trimming stems off. Remember to use gloves as they will sting until they are cooked. Chop onion and garlic.
3. Saute onion and garlic in olive oil. Add rinsed nettles. Press the nettles down and cover. Cook for 5 minutes until nettles have shrunk down and are tender. Add herb seasonings to taste (1-2 t of each should be adequate). Pour saute into a large bowl. Add ricotta cheese, provolone, and 2 eggs, and mix well. This is your filling.
4. Roll thawed phyllo out, and place phyllo under a damp dish towel on the stack to keep the phyllo moist. This is important, and you must work quickly with it as it can get dry and brittle and is hard to work with if exposed to the air too long.
5. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9×13 baking pan. Place a layer of phyllo on the bottom of the pan and brush lightly with butter. Place another layer and do the same. Repeat this process until you have used half the phyllo.
6. Pour your filling over the phyllo and sprinkle crumbled feta liberally on top.
7. Repeat layering phyllo until you have used the rest in the package.
8. Cut nettle-kopita in diagonal pieces before baking.
9. Bake in oven for an hour. Top will be golden brown.

Serve with a fresh wild herb salad, french bread and a hearty red wine.

(Recipe is compliments of Heather Loyer of Dancing Maidens Botanicals. To sign up for an herbal workshop on Gabriola Island, BC, call 250-247-8514.)

Best Vegetarian Spinach Salad

I’m on a mission to rebuild my blood after my miscarriage last week, and that includes lots of leafy iron-filled greens. I had a salad similar to this when we visited Tofino, BC last summer for our 1st anniversary and I recreated it with my own twist. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Ingredients:

Baby Spinach
Thin slices of red onion
Crumbled feta cheese
Simply Natural Organic Goddess Salad Dressing (or homemade tahini dressing)
Roasted pumpkin seeds
Pickled beets, bite size

The amounts you use will vary depending on the size of the salad and your taste. Add all ingredients to a bowl and toss lightly with dressing. Enjoy!

Nettle (or Spinach) Vegetarian Lasagna

Tis nettle season! While the nettle are young and fresh, don your protective gloves, get out there and pick those babies! They are full of iron, calcium, and potassium, and are an all-round tonic for your blood and health. You can’t go wrong with this amazing recipe. (And I threw in a bonus tea at the end!)

Ingredients:

2 T olive oil
2 cups chopped fresh mushrooms
1 sweet onion, diced
1 T minced fresh garlic
2 t dried oregano
2 t dried basil
2 t pepper
1 t salt

4 cups fresh young nettles (stems and all!) – or substitute fresh baby spinach

3 cups ricotta cheese
1 cup fresh grated romano cheese
1 cup fresh grated parmesan
1 large egg

1 box of whole wheat lasagna noodles
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup crumbled feta
3 cups marinara sauce (homemade or organic jarred is fine)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celcius).
2. Use tongs to protect your hands from getting stung when you place the nettles in a colander and rinse lightly with cold water. Put the nettles in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Remove from burner as soon as they start boiling, and using the tongs, pull the nettles out and put them back in the colander to drain, saving the nettle water in the pot. (See end of post for nettle tea recipe). If nettles aren’t in season or unavailable in your area, feel free to boil 4 cups of baby spinach instead, and drain. Set aside.
3. Saute mushrooms, onion, and garlic in olive oil over medium high heat until onion is translucent. Add oregano, basil, salt and pepper. Set aside.
3. Mix ricotta cheese, romano cheese, parmesan cheese, and egg. Gently stir in mushroom and onion mixture.
4. When the nettles have cooled, chop them lightly and add to the cheese and mushroom mixture. They will no longer have their sting.
5. Lay lasagna noodles in the bottom of a 9×13 pan lay lasagna noodles.
6. Layer 1/3 of the cheese and mushroom mixture. Sprinkle 1/3 cup of the feta, and 1 cup of marinara sauce. Top with 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese.
7. Repeat the layers two times.
8. Cover pan with aluminum foil and bake in the oven for 1 hour. Cool for 15 minutes to allow lasagna to set before serving.
9. Enjoy with a side dish of whole wheat garlic bread. Yum.

Bonus Nettle Tea Recipe
Add 2 T of dried peppermint leaves to the nettle water you reserved after boiling the nettles, put a lid on the pot and let it steep until bedtime. It will be very concentrated, so fill half a mug with the tea and add fresh boiling water on top. Add a dallop of honey for a lovely bedtime tonic tea.

As an added bonus, here is a very fun video about nettles, and it was filmed locally… I promise you’ll have the “nettle song” stuck in your head for the next week or so. LOL

Our Traditional Ethnic Themed Christmas Dinner

Last year we started a new Christmas tradition. It was my first year making Christmas dinner as a vegetarian, so we opted for a Thai dinner instead of the traditional turkey or ham dinner. It was AWESOME! I made a couple curry dishes, a chickpea curry and a vegetable curry, spicy noodles, and my stepmom brought salad rolls with tahini dipping sauce.

This year we did a Japanese theme dinner. I have a good friend that lives in Tokyo right now, and we are hoping to visit her in the next couple years if we can save enough money for the trip. We want our son to try Japanese food before we go. Although I’m vegetarian, most of our guests are not, so I made a vegetarian and a meat version of the meal.

We usually invite a few friends and family over for Christmas dinner, making it potluck which makes it much more manageable for me, the host.

MENU

Appies: Vegetable spring rolls with dipping sauce, Sushi

Starter: Miso Soup

Main Meal: Vegetable and Beef Teriyaki Stir Fry, Sticky White Rice, Sesame Noodles

Beverages: White Wine

Dessert: Pumpkin pie (had to have something “traditional”)

TABLE SETTING

Red bamboo placemats, black napkins, asian chopsticks, a skinny tall straight side glass vases with two simple red flowers, square plates with an asian design, wine glasses, and low glass candle holders with tea lights.

My only regret? Totally forgot to take pictures of the table setting. It looked amazing though, and the food was delicious!