Nanny's Spinach Balls

When I moved into the Montreal Integral Yoga Insititute in 1976, there were 8 yogis experimenting with living a vegetarian lifestyle. We came from various backgrounds and countries, and were enthused by the notion of changing our lives for the better. Vegetarians were far and few between in those days, and considered by most people to be either fanatical or unhealthy (or possibly both).

At the institute we we held cooking classes, experimenting with how to change old recipes to those which had no meat, fish or eggs. It was a constant challenge, with sometimes disastrous results - Sister Narani's zucchini cookies will go down in history as one of the most original, creative and uneatable of our healthy alternative treats!

In spite of this, we persevered, and eventually compiled a small cookbook:


While going though my bookshelves the other day, I discovered my worn copy, complete with various stains from many of the recipes inside. One of my favorites was a re-tooled recipe that Betty, my mother-in-law, made for my husband when he first became a vegetarian back in 1971. Gary's grandmother Nanny loved it and served them at her Sunday dinners. These Italian spinach balls were an instant hit:

Enjoy with your favorite red sauce and pasta!