Spanakopita

A slice of pizza, pita bread wedges, a slice of pie or cake, a tea sandwich...What is it about triangle foods which makes us gravitate towards them?   Would you eat a Doritos chip if it was round? [gasp]  Even a samosa, which is more tetrahedral, is still in the highest tier of the triangle...pyramid.  See how all of this geometry is quickly getting out of control?

Triangle foods.  Why must we insist that the pointiest and most dangerous corner should lead the trajectory into our mouth? Have you ever bitten the blunt side first? Only to experiment. Like standing in the elevator with your back to the door. Be juvenile. 

Everything about triangles should steer us away from them, not attract.  That's why it's shaped that way - to resemble the head of an arrow, directing us away.  The words 'isosceles' and 'hypotenuse' alone are enough to scare toddlers and bad spellers. (And can i just add that it is no coincidence that the greek word, Hypotenuse, sounds a lot like "High: pot-in-use".  (?)   Pythagoras took some study breaks in his little dorky math lab.  I'm just sayin'.  ...rolling some doobies on stone tablet.  Stoner.  Yeah.  Consider me your new History Channel and I'm your chief Etymologist. 

Spanakopita

recipe by rabbit food rocks

makes 30 triangles

I love Spanakopita as a heavy snack or light lunch.  The flavors are simple and mild, which makes it kid-friendly too.  Feta is too much of a salty bite for me, so I use tofu as a lighter alternative.  You might have purchased a block of tofu and thought, "Now what am I going to do with you?"  This is it.

Ingredients:

14 oz extra firm tofu, drained well

1/2 medium yellow onion, quartered

2 shallots

2 garlic cloves, peeled

1 lb baby spinach

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 T. cornstarch

4 T butter or vegan butter, melted

1/2 package of phyllo sheets (20 sheets), thawed well (according to directions)

Directions:

1.  In a food processor, finely pulse garlic cloves and shallots.  Scrape the work bowl down and pulse again.  Add onion and spinach (spinach in batches if needed) and salt and pepper.

2.  Empty food processor contents into a large mixing bowl and use hands to crumble tofu finely.  You can put the tofu in the food processor too, but then I'll say you're no fun...at all.

3.  Mix 1 Tablespoon of cornstarch with a teeny weeny bit of water to make it into a paste.  Add it to the mixing bowl and mix well.

4. Preheat conventional oven or toaster over to 350.  GENTLY unroll the phyllo sheets.  Keep the sheet stack covered with a damp towel.  Lay one sheet on your work surface and lightly brush the entire sheet with butter or vegan butter.  Lay another sheet on top of that one, as evenly as possible, without being OCD about it. 

5.  Using a pizza cutter or a knife, cut the phyllo pair into thirds, lengthwise.  Take a healthy Tablespoon of the tofu-spinach mixture and place it at the top.  Fold one of these top corners to meet the opposite edge, keeping the mixture contained.  Continue folding this like the American flag.  Brush top and bottom sides with butter again before placing on a baking sheet.

6.  Prepare all 10 pairs of sheets to yield 30 triangles.  Bake for 17 mins or until edges brown.

7.  Serve warm or at room temperature.  Reheat on lowest heat in the toaster oven if necessary.