(Hopefully you get the reference to "El nino is spanish for, the nino") I've never considered myself to be much of a writer. I often have one or two lines of a paragraph that I think would be attention grabbing in the opening of a book, but that's where the creativity ends. Perhaps that's why I've developed a love of photography because a snapshot can contain a story in the blink of an eye. Despite my obvious lack of writing skills, I have been a voracious reader since I can remember. With the advent of the e-readers, my reading activity has sky rocketed now that I am no longer limited to reading what I can comfortably lug around. Case in point, on my vacation last summer, nearly half of my luggage was books... yes 25 lbs of books. I read all but one. Reading has always been a place of solace and comfort for me. Growing up, I was not always well received by my classmates so I often found myself secluded on some part of the playground reading. LM Montgomery's "Story Girl" was a huge comfort during the difficult 8th grade year. Even to this day, when my life feels out of control or too stressful to manage, I lose myself in a book. I read just as much fiction as I did back then, I am almost ashamed to admit, but I do find myself reading many memoirs. Recently, I read "Unbroken" by Lauren Hilldebrand and was enraptured by the story of struggle, resilience, and survival. Another non fiction book that has had a huge impact on my life in the past year while struggling with tragedy in my personal life, is "Bold Love" by Dan B. Allender. I highly recommend you read it.
Given my love of reading and cooking, I have begun to collect certain cook books that incorporate personal stories behind the recipes. I received "How to roast a lamb" by Michael Psilakis a few Christmases ago and not only have I enjoyed cooking from the book, but I especially enjoyed reading his story of growing up Greek. Spanikorizo was not something I grew up eating, but once I read the ingredients list I realized it was just spanikopita minus the filo plus the rice. Since I've been feeling lazy lately, this sounded like something right up my alley.
Given my love of reading and cooking, I have begun to collect certain cook books that incorporate personal stories behind the recipes. I received "How to roast a lamb" by Michael Psilakis a few Christmases ago and not only have I enjoyed cooking from the book, but I especially enjoyed reading his story of growing up Greek. Spanikorizo was not something I grew up eating, but once I read the ingredients list I realized it was just spanikopita minus the filo plus the rice. Since I've been feeling lazy lately, this sounded like something right up my alley.
Spanikorizo
*Adapted from Michael Psilakis' "How to roast a lamb". Since spelt berries have a lot of great nutrients, I thought they would be a delicious substitution for rice. Turns out, I was right- this was a grand slam!
1-2 C spelt berries, soaked overnight (Source: FFM)
fresh spinach
feta cheese
scallions
shallots (if you have 'em, if not, use garlic)
lemon juice
good olive oil
Soak your spelt berries overnight so they dont take as long to cook. Boil soaked spelt berries for about 20-30 minutes in salted water until tender. I cooked mine until they had a little bite left just because I like that sort of texture, but cook them to your liking. Meanwhile, over med-low heat, saute your shallots (or garlic) and scallions briefly. Toss in the fresh spinach and cook until wilted, but still bright green.
Toss drained and still warm spelt berries with the spinach mixture and add feta. Season with fresh squeeze lemon juice and a generous sprinkling of fresh cracked pepper and kosher salt. Serve while still warm.
*Adapted from Michael Psilakis' "How to roast a lamb". Since spelt berries have a lot of great nutrients, I thought they would be a delicious substitution for rice. Turns out, I was right- this was a grand slam!
1-2 C spelt berries, soaked overnight (Source: FFM)
fresh spinach
feta cheese
scallions
shallots (if you have 'em, if not, use garlic)
lemon juice
good olive oil
Soak your spelt berries overnight so they dont take as long to cook. Boil soaked spelt berries for about 20-30 minutes in salted water until tender. I cooked mine until they had a little bite left just because I like that sort of texture, but cook them to your liking. Meanwhile, over med-low heat, saute your shallots (or garlic) and scallions briefly. Toss in the fresh spinach and cook until wilted, but still bright green.
Toss drained and still warm spelt berries with the spinach mixture and add feta. Season with fresh squeeze lemon juice and a generous sprinkling of fresh cracked pepper and kosher salt. Serve while still warm.