Courtesy of Elaine Magee

Question: I have all sorts of family visiting this winter, many of whom are lacto-ovo vegetarians. I wonder if you know of something I could make ahead of time that they could warm up as needed for breakfast, lunch, or a late snack.

Answer: One thing in particular comes to mind: spanakopita pockets (in the shape of a triangle) that you can bake all at once then wrap individually and keep in the refrigerator. They can be warmed up in a toaster oven or a microwave, and they work well for a lacto-ovo vegetarian, since the animal products called for in my light recipe are an egg and some feta cheese. Instead of melted butter, we are using olive oil to brush lightly on the phyllo to create pastry layers. This dramatically reduces the amount of saturated fat in the dish, and we're able to use a lot less fat doing it this way. The lighter version using olive oil contains 27% fewer calories, 45% less fat, 61% less saturated fat, and 76% less cholesterol.

The original recipe contains 455 calories, 33 grams fat, 18 grams saturated fat, and 126 milligrams cholesterol per serving.

Ingredients
(makes about 5 pocket sandwiches)

2 teaspoons olive oil

3/4 cup chopped onion (sweet or yellow)

1/2 cup chopped green onions, white and part of green

1 tablespoon minced garlic

16 ounces frozen chopped spinach

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper (and more to taste)

1/2 lemon

1/4 cup egg substitute

6 ounces crumbled feta cheese

1/4 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

10 sheets phyllo pastry (thawed)

About 3 tablespoons olive oil or canola oil (more if needed)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat the inside of a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with canola cooking spray.
2. In large, nonstick frying pan, heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil over medium-high heat. Stir in onions, green onions, and garlic, then sauté for about 3 minutes. Lightly squeeze the spinach to remove some of the extra water, and then stir the spinach, salt, and pepper into the onion mixture. Continue to sauté for another minute or two to warm up the spinach. Add more pepper if desired, and stir in the juice from half of a lemon. Set mixture aside to cool.
3. Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, beat the egg substitute with feta cheese, coriander, and nutmeg together to blend well, then fold in the cooled spinach mixture. Pour 3 tablespoons of olive or canola oil in a small bowl. Unroll the phyllo dough and lay 2 sheets flat on a work surface (cover the remaining dough with a slightly damp dish towel to prevent it from drying out while you work). Then, with the phyllo dough’s short end closest to you, brush olive oil over the top half of the rectangle (using a pastry brush). Fold the oiled half over the dry half. Now brush oil on the right half of the new rectangle. Fold the dry left half over the oiled half. Place 1/2 cup of the spinach mixture in the center of the square of the dough and shape into a triangle about 2 inches from the bottom side and 2 inches from the right side.
4. Fold the bottom side of the phyllo dough up and over the bottom side of the spinach triangle, then fold the right-hand portion of phyllo dough up and over the right side of the spinach triangle. Now fold these two sides of the spinach pocket over the third side of the triangle. Fold any remaining dough over (trim off any excess if desired), and place spinach triangle pocket on the prepared baking dish.
5. Repeat with the remaining phyllo dough, spinach mixture, and olive oil. Bake the spanakopita pockets until nicely crisp and golden on the outside (about 25–30 minutes). Serve hot, warm, or cold, but if you are serving them later, keep them wrapped in foil or plastic wrap in the refrigerator.