I love this time of year! I call it the Season of “Green”, which to me reflects rejuvenation. The emerging new buds and plants have a vibrancy that is so unique to this time of year as the Earth awakens into the season of Spring. The gray of winter is melting away and the rebirth of our natural and inner world starts to emerge from its hibernation. Spring brings a richness of fresh new ingredients just waiting to be transformed into edible delights.

One such delight is this dish filled with so many greens, fashioned after Spanakopita. This idea stemmed from what I consider to be one of my Superpowers.

Do you have a superpower? Sure, you do, we all have more than one!! Sometimes we need it reflected to us to recognize it, but once you know it, OWN IT! One of mine is the ability to create dishes when there is almost nothing in the house to eat. Truth be told it is a skill I have honed over time with lots of experience but now it has grown into a confidence of “I got this” in the kitchen or my “Superpower”!

Today was one of those days where I had very little in my refrigerator to eat. Being a big fan of no food waste I tend to keep the items most would discard. What I found were tops of radishes and turnips, beets greens and their colorful stems, some tired swiss chard, wild nettles that grow in our front yard and a vegetable bed outside full of kale that needed to be cleared away to make room for this season’s plantings.

My version of this recipe was what I had in the refrigerator and what was growing in my garden, a sort of “clean out the refrigerator dish”. Having a variety of greens like this is a powerhouse of nutrition for our bodies. With a few other random items in my kitchen, I created this dish, which looks complex but is super simple. It’s a mouthwatering recipe filled with cooked greens, feta and eggs all wedged between crunchy sheets of Filo Dough.

Most commonly a recipe like this is made with spinach, but I would recommend buying a few different varieties of greens and mixing them together to get a more nutritional punch. The point is to be creative and use what you have and explore inviting new combinations of plants onto your plate.

GREEK GREENS PIE ( SPANAKOPITA)

GATHER
Yield: 8 Servings

2 Tablespoons Oil or Ghee to sauté onions and stems
2 Cups of chopped onion, leeks, scallions or a combo
2 Pounds of Greens Chopped- Any combination: Spinach, Chard, Kale, Nettle, Tops to Radish, Beets, Turnips and their stems chopped the size of the onions
4 Eggs- beaten
1 - 1 ½- Cups sheep Feta- crumbled
4 Cloves of Garlic Chopped
Herbs- Dill, Parsley - I bunch of each
Freshly Ground Pepper, salt
1 – 1 ½ Sticks unsalted Butter- melted to brush on the dough
1 package frozen Phyllo Dough, defrosted
Garnish for the top optional: cumin seeds, fennel seeds, Thyme, sesame seeds

Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 F/190 C.

Wash and roughly chop all greens and stems( if using). Immerse them in a pot of salted boiling water for about 5 min. If you prefer to steam, they can be steamed as well. Drain and rinse in cold water. Squeeze out all excess moisture and reserve the greens.

Warm the oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté until translucent. If you are using any stems from your greens, add the chopped stems now and sauté another 5 min. until soft. Add the chopped herbs. Remove and cool.
In a medium bowl, mix cooked cooled greens and stems, feta, whipped eggs, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Set aside.

Unroll the phyllo sheets and place them between two slightly damp kitchen cloths. This keeps the fragile dough from drying out.
To assemble the spanakopita: With a pastry brush, grease the inside of the 9 x 13 baking dish with some of the melting butter or oil.
Lay a sheet of phyllo dough in the baking dish so that only half of it covers the bottom of the pan, with the extra hanging over on the side.
Brush the half of the sheet in the pan with melted butter.
Lay another sheet on top, again with only half the sheet covering the bottom of the pan, and brush with butter. Continue until you have laid out 8 sheets, then repeat with another 8 sheets, only the extra spilling out on the opposite side. The sheets will overlap the pan. Don’t worry if some of the sheet’s break, when baked it all comes together.
Add the mixture spreading evenly into the pan.

For the top: Fold the pieces of phyllo over the top alternating sides, like you are wrapping a present, make sure to brush each layer with butter. Any extra phyllo can be cut to fit the top of the pan, brushing each piece as you lay it on top.
Cut Spanakopita part way through into squares and sprinkle the top with any seeds or herbs.

Bake for 45 min., or until the filling is bubbling and the top is golden brown. Can be eaten hot or room temperature.