22 May The Sustainable Foodie ~Eat with the Seasons and live the life of a Sustainable Foodie

Blog devoted to sustainable food — traditional and vegetarian cooking, recipes with dairy free options, growing your own food, farmer’s markets and community supported agriculture plus food in the news.

Kat Sparks Blog

I am a Foodie. An addict to the sensory enchantment of food that fuels the body and the soul, I delight in all things edible.

A little about me as a blogger: I am a native Austinite and call 78704 my home. I’ve also had the pleasure of living in Mexico at points in my life and consider San Miguel de Allende my second home. I taught cooking classes while there and wrote weekly columns on Holistic Households and Organic Cooking for the American paper. I learned gardening at my grandmother’s knee and cooking from my mother. I’ve traveled the world and always find my way into the local kitchens to learn how they prepare foods from their gardens. I hope to share my stories with you.

Last Fall, Mike and I joined the wave of organic gardeners and now grow all our own veggies at the SACG. This presents its own set of challenges because what do you do with 10 lbs of harvested Swiss Chard? Soon our neighbors and co-workers started to avoid us for fear we would “gift” them with a bag of greens. The Sustainable Foodie blog will share some of the solutions we have adopted and share recipes for the current harvest among other topics. I welcome your questions and hope to discover sustainable solutions together.

Try this next time your garden is plentiful:
• Donate to Nubian Queen Lola’s Cajun Soul Food Restaurant on 1815 Rosewood Avenue because on Sunday’s she feeds the Homeless with your donations
• The Triangle Farmers Market has a booth for local gardeners at a minimum cost of $15. A great way to subsidize your gardening habit and make new friends~

Now for a great Swiss Chard recipe as a tasty option for dinner or parties~ your friends/family will love this! Plus you can add whatever you are harvesting in your garden for additional flavor. It is a very forgiving recipe, so have fun and add your own favorites.

Swiss Chard Spanakopita
Ingredients
• 10 cups chopped trimmed Swiss chard (about 2 pounds)
• 2 cups minced organic onion
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup organic carrots finely chopped
• 2 cups chopped mushrooms (baby bella are best)
• ½ cup chopped fresh parsley
• ½ cup raisins
• ½ cup pecans
• 3 tablespoons minced fresh mint
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• 1 cup crumbled feta cheese (use soy cheese or goat cheese for dairy free)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tbl fresh rosemary (chopped finely)
• 6 eggs, beaten with a 1 tsp water
• ½ can coconut milk
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 2 tbl soy butter (melted)
• 1 pkg frozen phyllo dough, thawed *put the other pkg from the box in the freezer for another time

Preparation Preheat oven to 350°
Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with 1 tsp olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrots plus mushrooms and sauté 7 minutes or until golden. Add garlic and sauté 1 minute more. Stir in chard; cook 2 minutes or until chard wilts and add nutmeg. Then add raisins and pecans stirring in parsley and the mint cooking for about 3 minutes more. Place in a large bowl to cool.
Open one package of the phyllo dough and place half of the stack in bottom of a greased 9X12 pan. Cover remaining dough with cloth till ready to use. Pour greens mixture over dough and spread evenly.
Combine eggs and coconut milk in a separate bowl and add salt/pepper. Pour over greens mixture.
Spread your choice of cheese over top of egg/greens mixture.
Place the remaining stack phyllo dough over mixture, tucking the dough down around the edges.
Melt soy butter and pour over top of dough. If you wish, cut a pretty pattern in the crust top. Sprinkle with finely chopped rosemary.
Cook for 30 min or until golden brown. Cut into squares for serving and add a tablespoon of salsa if desired. Enjoy~

Thanks for joining me on this Sustainable adventure and next week will explore Beyond Zucchini Bread, Ideas for that plant of plenty!