The Greek Food

Category: Vegetarian

  • Chickpeas with Greek Yogurt

    Chickpeas with Greek Yogurt

    I don’t know the history behind chickpeas as an ingredient in food but i have seen a number of different recipes that include them as basic. When i was young, my mother ussually was cooking the classic chickpea soup, but there are some additional ways to enjoy it.

    The flavor of chickpeas make them an ideal ingredient for a winter dish while the additional ingredients in this dish give it a taste of summer also.

    The funny thing with that food is that you don’t need to do anything much more from what you had to do in the chickpea soup in terms of cooking, but change the way you present it.

    INGREDIENTS

    • 450gr of chickpeas
    • 1-2 teaspoons of greek yogurt for each plate
    • 1/2 onion chopped
    • 1 vegetable stocking cube
    • 1 small bunch of mint chopped
    • 2 slices of bread
    • Salt, pepper
    • Olive oil
    • Nutmeg

    METHOD

    Have the chickpeas from the previous day in a big bowl of water and leave there over the night.

    At the day start boiling them in a big pot together with olive oil and some chopped onions. Add also the stocking cube, salt and pepper. Before they are ready have the slices of bread warmed up in the grill .

    In a plate place the slices of bread broken down in medium size pieces. With a skimmer remove the chickpeas and add them on top. On top add a got spoon of yogurt.

    Sprinkle Olive oil and mint and they are ready!

    Enjoy!

  • A red cauliflower

    A red cauliflower

    I never liked cauliflower to be honest, never as an ingredient or in the way that usually it is cooked in Greece….or in general. Nevertheless it is a classic ingredient of the Greek cuisine.

    Every ingredient can be cooked in a number of different ways and that is what i learn constantly. My father always prefers to have the cauliflower boiled with some olive oil and lemon i think, which is ok but decided to do something differently after some ideas that i got here and there.

    Basically i have always seen people cooking cauliflower with red sauce and it was something that got me intrigued to try it.To be honest it was my second attempt as the first one was a bit too ….”heavy” in taste i think for my likings.

    Despite that, you know what they say, if you dont succeed the first time….cook it again! šŸ™‚

    CAULIFLOWER WITH RED SAUCE

    • A small bunch of cauliflower cut in small pieces
    • Can of tomato juice
    • 1 small onion chopped
    • 1 cinnamon stick
    • Salt , pepper
    • Olive oil
    • Oregano
    • Small bunch of basil trimmed

    Method

    • Well, in the beginning you will need a frying pan, preferably a deep one. Add some olive oil in it….very few..heat it up and add the onions When they are a bit brownish, add the cauliflower small bunches that you have and stir them around.
    • Just when you notice the outer side of the cauliflowers to become a bit brown then add the tomato juice from the can and stir. Add a liiiiiiiitle bit of water and lower the heat and let them bowl slowly.
    • Continue with add a bit salt, pepper, oregano, the basil and the cinamon stick. Let them to boil slowly and add a bit of water if necessary. Ideally after 20 minutes they should be really soft and holding there form in the same time

    Enjoy

  • Spinach pie for the lazy

    Spinach pie for the lazy

    I know that English are really proud of their pies but I have to say Greeks have some famous of their own. Which I have to say, I really miss themā€¦Ā  Most of the times when my mother used to make me spinach pie or cheese pies she had to do them on the largest pan she had as we always ate a lot of it. When I started to cook by myself, I have to say making a pieā€¦any kind of, was out of the question for me as I found it really tiring and difficult to make the pastry. I tried when i cooked the galaktompoureko once..and it took me ages…

    So..instead, my all-knowing mother gave me the following idea…

    The following is a variation of the typical spinach pie recipe that is famous in Greece and it can be altered also to be used for a cheese pie. Itā€™s a pie without pastry, which would elegantly make it, the spinach pie of the lazy one! As long as it tastes right, i have no problem admitting that i am a lazy chef šŸ™‚

    LAZY SPINACH PIE

    INGREDIENTS

    • 1 kilo of Spinach chopped (fresh or frozen)
    • 2-3 fresh onions chopped
    • 1 red onion..also chopped
    • 500gr of trimmed feta cheese
    • 1 bunch of fresh dill chopped
    • 2 eggs
    • 14-16 slices of cheese for toast (the number depends on the size of your baking pan)
    • 250ml-300ml of pouring cream(i donā€™t know if I name it correctlyā€¦well..that) Alternatively, full fat milk will do i think
    • Olive Oil and Pepper

    REMEMBER if Spinach pie is much too complicated…you might want to check out also Spinach Rice!

    METHOD

    Well firstly you will need the biggest pot you have in order to fit everything. Put some olive and add the chopped spinach. Keep stirring them in high heat and you will notice that the spinach will be slowly decreasing in size and removing a lot of water

    Add the onions, the dill and half of the pouring cream and let it for 5 to 10 minutes reducing the heat to medium low. When you have seen that the spinach is now really soft and tender then you add the feta cheese to the mixture and remove it from the heat. Stir so the feta cheese goes everywhere and let it there to cool down.

    In a baking pan, you put half of the slices of cheese on the bottom so it covers as much as possible of the pan but also are close to each other. When the spinach has cooled down, then you break two eggs and beat them. When they are mixed you add them to the spinach mixture and stir quickly so they go everywhere. The reason why we donā€™t add them when the mixture is hot is so they are not cooked. We donā€™t want to have an omelet!

    Using a skimmer to remove as much as possible from the liquids we take the mixture from the spinach and put it in the baking pan spreading it to go all over the slices of cheese we have placed before.

    Add the remaining slices of cheese on top covering the spinach mixture and then add on top some of the pouring cream to cover the spots that were not covered by the cheese.Put it in the oven in around 200c and let it for 30-40 minutes. Itā€™s ready! You can eat it while it is hot or when it gets cold also!

    Who said you need pastry to make a pieā€¦ šŸ™‚

  • Courgette fritters with Feta

    Courgette fritters with Feta

    There are some times that you have an idea on your mind for too long and you are just not sure how to compete it.

    In Greece having fried courgettes is a classic appetizer that you can find in many taverns. The classic way to make them is to have them cut in slices and fry them while you have covered them in a mixture of flour and beer.

    Which is pretty nice but since I had a whole Sunday where I didnā€™t had anything to do, I decided to make the following recipe a little bit more complicated.  After all, its not fun to cook if you donā€™t play around to see what comes upā€¦

    The worst thing that can happen is that you will cook something that isā€¦ not eatableā€¦well there is always pizza hut I guess. But letā€™s be positive..

    So I guess the best way to name the following dish is courgette balls! As we want to make them look like meatballs but without the meatā€¦.mmm . Be advised that even if that was our main dish that specific Sunday, it is mainly served as a side dish or appetiser in Greece.

    Ingredients for Courgette Fritters

    • 1 kilo of of medium courgettes
    • 300gr of crumbled feta cheese
    • 100gr of flour
    • Half a bunch of mint
    • Half a bunch of parsley
    • Dill (remove the stalk)
    • 2 eggs
    • salt, pepper
    • oil for frying

    Method

    • Grate the courgettes and leave them in a strainer. Use your hands to drain them even more and then add them in a deep bowl.
    • Add the flour, feta, herbs, the 2 eggs, pepper and a bit more of salt if you want. Be careful, because the feta cheese will be either way
    • Gently mix them with your hands and check if you can mould them to small round burgers . If not add more flour
    • In a deep non sticky pan, add around 3 cm of olive oil to medium to high heat. Put some extra flour around your courgette balls and then fry them .
    • When you remove them add them in a plate with a kitchen paper on top to drain the liquids . Serve them with a sauce of your choice. Maybe tzatziki ?
  • Cabbage and leek rice

    Cabbage and leek rice

    You know there are some things that are not in the cooking books and there are not in any encyclopaedia for Greek cuisine. There are things that just come up from real life and areā€¦just there!

    When I was young one of the many foods that I hated was the so called, Lachanoprassoryzo! Ok I know you donā€™t understand what it is but it means, Cabbage and leek rice. Why did I hated it? Cause it had only vegetables inside and thatā€™s something that no child can ever take!

    Despite all that, when you get older, things changes and you want more vegetables into your diet in order not to feel bad about the excessive alcohol that you consumed the previous nightā€¦ So the previous weekend I remembered about this recipe and in fact I found details in some papers with recipes that my mother wrote for me when I first came in to UK.

    However, here isĀ  the thing, when I checked around in the net to make sure that my mother has written the recipe correctly , I never found a similar recipe!. It was either cabbage rice or leek rice the typical greek recipe. I was angry! So I asked my mother to explain herself!Ā  I couldnā€™t believe that all those years I was brought up with a recipe that it wasnā€™t cooked as thousands and thousands of years before!!! Surely there had to be a reason!

    According to her , the traditional recipe is either cabbage rice or leek rice but once my father had the idea to ā€œmarryā€ all of the ingredients into one dish and she how it will come up adding also carrots.

    To be honest I am sure my father heard that story somewhere else also, but it was a good story to tell , I think šŸ™‚

    Ā CABBAGE AND LEEK RICE (LACHANO PRASSO RIZO)

    • 1 medium but beautifull cabbage sliced
    • 3-4 leeks cut in rounds
    • 2 (sweet) little carrots cut in small rounds
    • 1 cup of -extremely- white rice (more or less for 2 people)
    • A small -cute- bunch of parsley, chopped
    • Salt and pepper
    • A teaspoon of olive oil
    • (red hot) Chili peppers (not necessary, if we want)
    • The juice from half a lemon

    Update 5/12/2013

    My brother complain recently that the recipe wasnā€™t clear enough. So he couldnā€™t how to make the food now that he lives 2 blocks away from in London. I guess he was right but i will not tell him that. I think i was more caught in the history of this dish rather than how to make it. So, lets makes it clearer.

    • In a big pot put a bit of olive and in medium heat throw the leeks inside that you have cut before in small round pieces. Let them sizzle for 3-4 minutes and then add, the cabbage, the parsley and stir really good.
    • Add some water to cover the cabbage, the carrots and let it boil for around 20-30 minutes. Basically until you see the cabbage and the carrots to start and become softer.
    • Add the rice, and then add more water if needed, in order to cover the rice. stir a bit more and let it boil for 15-20 minutes.
    • Remove the water with a strainer and serve it adding some lemon.

    Unfortunately in the picture is not really clear…but the more vegetables, the better rather than rice.. either way enjoy it! šŸ™‚