» » VEGAN SPANAKOPITA – GREEK SPINACH PIE

It's possible to trade profitably on the Forex, the nearly $2 trillion worldwide currency exchange market. But the odds are against you, even more so if you don't prepare and plan your trades. According to a 2014 Bloomberg report, several analyses of retail Forex trading, including one by the National Futures Association (NFA), the industry's regulatory body, concluded that more than two out of three Forex traders lose money. This suggests that self-education and caution are recommended. Here are some approaches that may improve your odds of taking a profit. Prepare Before You Begin Trading Because the Forex market is highly leveraged -- as much as 50 to 1 -- it can have the same appeal as buying a lottery ticket: some small chance of making a killing. This, however, isn't trading; it's gambling, with the odds long against you. A better way of entering the Forex market is to carefully prepare. Beginning with a practice account is helpful and risk-free. While you're trading in your practice account, read the most frequently recommended Forex trading books, among them Currency Forecasting: A Guide to Fundamental and Technical Models of Exchange Rate Determination, by Michael R. Rosenberg is short, not too sweet and highly admired introduction to the Forex market. Forex Strategies: Best Forex Strategies for High Profits and Reduced Risk, by Matthew Maybury is an excellent introduction to Forex trading. The Little Book of Currency Trading: How to Make Big Profits in the World of Forex, by Kathy Lien is another concise introduction that has stood the test of time. All three are available on Amazon. Rosenberg's book, unfortunately, is pricey, but it's widely available in public libraries. "Trading in the Zone: Master the Market with Confidence, Discipline and a Winning Attitude," by Mark Douglas is another good book that's available on Amazon, and, again, somewhat pricey, although the Kindle edition is not. Use the information gained from your reading to plan your trades before plunging in. The more you change your plan, the more you end up in trouble and the less likely that elusive forex profit will end up in your pocket. Diversify and Limit Your Risks Two strategies that belong in every trader's arsenal are: Diversification: Traders who execute many small traders, particularly in different markets where the correlation between markets is low, have a better chance of making a profit. Putting all your money in one big trade is always a bad idea. Familiarize yourself with ways guaranteeing a profit on an already profitable order, such as a trailing stop, and of limiting losses using stop and limit orders. These strategies and more are covered in the recommended books. Novice traders often make the mistake of concentrating on how to win; it's even more important to understand how to limit your losses. Be Patient Forex traders, particularly beginners, are prone to getting nervous if a trade does not go their way immediately, or if the trade goes into a little profit they get itchy to pull the plug and walk away with a small profit that could have been a significant profit with little downside risk using appropriate risk reduction strategies. In "On Any Given Sunday," Al Pacino reminds us that "football is a game of inches." That's a winning attitude in the Forex market as well. Remember that you are going to win some trades and lose others. Take satisfaction in the accumulation of a few more wins than losses. Over time, that could make you rich!

VEGAN SPANAKOPITA – GREEK SPINACH PIE

Edit
Greece had us at ‘hello’! Both Duncan and myself had been to Greece a few times before we met, but I never visited any of the islands until we decided to do some low-key island hopping in the summer of 2012. We loved it so much that by the time we boarded the plane back we were plotting to sell up and move there. A year and a half later we did just that. We lived on the Greek island of Paros for four years. Although we decided to move back to the UK for a whole host of reasons, Greece still has a special place in our hearts. It gave us (especially me!) a completely new lease of life (Paros was where this blog was born) and provided a much needed reset and clarity on what we both want from life.
As it’s such a popular holiday destination, I bet heaps of you have been to Greece and, as it’s impossible not to, loved it! So I figured it’s time I veganised Greece’s national dish (no, not gyros or moussaka although I’ve tackled them both already 🙂 ). I am talking about an all round crowd pleaser – Greek spinach pie, to the initiated (i.e. the Greeks and Greek aficionados like myself) known as spanakopita!

INGREDIENTS
  • OPTION 1 – TOFU ‘CHEESE’
  • 300 g / 10 oz firm or extra firm cotton tofu*, pressed
  • 100 g / 3 oz firm silken tofu (I use Clearspring), drained
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 4 tbsp lemon juice
  • OPTION 2 – ALMOND ‘CHEESE’ (needs to be made a day ahead!)
  • 200 g / 2 cups flaked almonds
  • 6-7 tbsp lemon juice
  • 5-6 tbsp unsweetened almond (or soya) milk
  • 1 tsp salt
  • REMAINING INGREDIENTS
  • 600 g / 21 oz fresh spinach, rinsed well
  • 7 spring onions / scallions, sliced finely
  • 4 small garlic cloves, chopped finely
  • zest of 2 unwaxed lemons
  • 15 g / 0.5 oz fresh mint, leaves only – finely chopped
  • 15 g / 0.5 oz fresh dill, finely chopped
  • 15 g / 0.5 oz fresh flat leaf parsely, finely chopped
  • scant ½ tsp ground nutmeg, adjust to taste
  • scant ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper, adjust to taste
  • 4 tbsp / ¼ cup nutritional yeast
  • 2 x 270 g / 9.5 oz vegan (a lot of them are!) phyllo pastry**, thawed in the fridge
  • quality olive oil
  • nigella or sesame seeds, to garnish (optional)

METHOD
  1. ‘CHEESE’
  2. If using the tofu option, crumble the cotton tofu into a large mixing bowl with a fork. Mix in the silken tofu. Season with a bit of salt and lemon juice – you can always add more later when you mix in the spinach.
  3. If using almond feta, it needs to be made a day ahead. I simplified the ingredients for this recipe as there are a lot of other flavours going on, but the method remains the same – please follow the method in this recipe. You will need to blend the feta mixture the day before and drain it overnight. You can bake it on the day you assemble the pie, but make sure you allow it to cool down before adding it to the filling mixture. Bake for about 75 minutes as it is a double portion.
  4. FILLING
  5. Cook the spinach by either blanching it in batches for about 40 seconds and then plunging it into a bowl of ice-cold water (to stop it from cooking any further) or by sautéing it in a frying pan in a good splash of water.
  6. Once the spinach is cooked, allow it to cool down completely and then wring it dry (that’s very important as otherwise the pie will be soggy). I simply used my hands to squeeze all the water out of the spinach in small, palm-size batches. I am very diligent about it as spinach retains moisture like nothing else. Chop the spinach finely after it’s been wrung dry.
  7. Heat up a tablespoon of olive oil in a small pan, gently stir-fry the spring onions and garlic until softened and fragrant. Cool them down before adding them to the filling.
  8. Mix the ‘cheese’ mixture, chopped dry spinach, lemon zest, mint, dill, parsley, nutmeg, black pepper, softened garlic and spring onions together in a large bowl. Mix them all really well with your hands. Taste the mixture and adjust the seasoning as required.
  9. ASSEMBLY
  10. Preheat the oven to 160° C fan / 320° F fan (or 180° C / 355° F without a fan, although I recommend using a fan if your oven has one – it helps to crisp the pastry up) and grease a round tin or a baking tray with a bit of olive oil. If you don’t have a tin the right size, do not worry, use a large baking tray – this pie is pretty self-contained.
  11. To assemble the pie, clear a large area of your work bench to make room for a long row of pastry sheets joined together. Keep the thawed pastry sheets protected by a damp kitchen towel so that they do not dry out and become brittle.
  12. Place a rectangle of pastry in front of you, making sure the longer side is parallel to you. Then place another rectangle to its right overlapping the ends by 5 cm / 2 “. Follow up with the third sheet arranged in the same manner. You should end up with a very long rectangle of pastry.
  13. Using a pastry brush, quickly grease the entire area with a bit (not too much) olive oil and double all the pastry sheets overlapping them in the same manner.
  14. Follow up with another layer of pastry (if you want and have enough pastry sheets, it’s not necessary).
  15. Brush the entire area with a little bit of oil again before arranging the filling on top.
  16. Put a long snake of filling along the longer edge of the pastry leaving a 5 cm / 2″ margin at the bottom. Try to make the filling amount the same everywhere. I weighed my entire filling (710 g / 25 oz) and then divided it into 5 (this recipe spans a total of 5 sheets wide of phyllo pastry to fill a 26 cm / 10″ diameter pie dish) 142 g / 5 oz portions.
  17. Starting from the bottom, gently roll the pastry into a long snake. Gently coil the snake, seam down, and place in the greased baking tin.
  18. Repeat steps 8-10 with the remaining pastry, but the second time round simply overlap two (not three) sheets of pastry side by side.
  19. Nest this new coil in the tin tucking its beginning onto the end of the first coil.
  20. Brush the pastry with some more olive oil and sprinkle with seeds for garnish.
  21. Bake for approximately 45 minutes, until golden brown. Allow the pie to ‘set’ after baking before cutting into it. Store the leftovers in the fridge for 3-4 days.
NOTES
*The difference between silken and cotton tofu is explained neatly here.
**I used Jus Roll Phyllo pastry. Each packet has 7 sheets of the following dimensions: 25 cm (10″) by 45 cm (18″). The sizes of pastry sheets vary depending on the brand, but you’ll still be able to use this recipe as guidance.

 If you want more info on some of the ingredients that we use in our recipes, check out our glossary.

BERITA LENGKAP DI HALAMAN BERIKUTNYA

Halaman Berikutnya

Subscribe to receive free email updates:

0 Response to "VEGAN SPANAKOPITA – GREEK SPINACH PIE"

Posting Komentar

Langganan: Posting Komentar (Atom)