I love the people in  our Francophone/Francophile group, but I noticed that when yesterday's host was serving the spinach pie I made, one of the people in the group was much more enthusiastic about it when she thought he had made it than when he told her I had.  She took about a tablespoon of it, suspecting that a tarte couldn't be good if it left out the eggs and milk.

But I'm happy to say that everyone turned out to like it--sincerely, I think!  Here's the recipe:

Filling:  

12 oz. fresh spinach, chopped

1 bunch of scallions, chopped (about 6-7 scallions)

1/4 cup fresh dill

1/4 cup fresh parsley

1/4 t. sea salt

1/4 t. ground black pepper

Olive oil or veggie broth for sauteing

1 cup of vegan feta cheese (You can use store-bought or follow this recipe.)

 

Vegan feta cheese:

1 c raw cashews soaked overnight or boiled for 25 minutes to soften them

2 T distilled white vinegar

1 T water

3/4 t sea salt or more, to your taste.

In a food processor, add the cashews after raining and rinsing them), vinegar, water, and salt.

Pulse until you get a chunky but coarsely chopped texture.

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F

Brown the scallions in olive oil or brother until soft--about 2 min.

Add spinach, salt and pepper and saute until wilted, about 5 min. Turn off heat.

Add dill and parlsey and mix well.  

Make the feta cheese.

Pour the cashew "feta" mixture into the bowl with the spinach and mix well.

Crust (This is basically a cornbread recipe, but put on the bottom and the top of the filling, as I explain later)

1/2 c. maple syrup

1/3 c. canola oil

1 c. plain plant-based milk

1 c. whole wheat flour

1 c. fine cornmeal

1 T baking powder

1 t. kosher salt.

Stir wet ingredients together.

In another bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.

Mix wet and dry together.

Pour as little as you can to cover the bottom of a greased 9 x9 pan.

Put the filling on top of the batter.

Cover the filling with as little as you can of the batter, making sure it's all covered but not too thickly.

Bake in a 350 oven for about 35 minutes.

Another day I'll give you a different recipe for crust--one that's gluten-free as well as vegan.  Most of the time I don't like recipes that are both gluten-free and vegan, but this one is really tasty.  I think I like it even better than the one I've given you, the one I made for our Chew and View group.

 I'm coming in after a long absence, but I've continued to enjoy vegan treats!  Here's what I had for my Day-after-Oscar gathering:

See the abundance of  plant-based dishes that can be made even for something as specific as food from Oscar nominated Movies?  When I invited my film-fan friends (good f-words), I told them I'd make some dishes related to the Oscar-nominated movies, and they'd all be plant-based since animal welfare and the environment are two pet causes for Joaquin Phoenix, Jessica Chastain, and others. I added parenthetically and sardonically, "We must always follow Hollywood's sterling example."  I thought it would be fun figuring out how to represent "The Whale's" over-consumption of just about everything!

Here's how it turned out!  (Two couples contributed to the food; most guests brought wine!)