Friday, April 21, 2017

HORIATIKI / GREEK VILLAGE SALAD


Horiatiki is a traditional Greek salad made with tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, feta cheese and kalamata olives. Green bell peppers and some lettuce can be added too. It is seasoned with salt, pepper and oregano. Though people sometimes use Greek dressing but traditionally only olive oil is used.
This month in our group, Shhhhhhh Cooking Secretly the theme is Summer Salads. I was paired with Amrita Iyer who blogs at , " The Food Samatitan " ..Do check her space for lovely recipes.
 Amrita chose my two ingredients, Cucumbers and Feta cheese. I decided to go for the classic Greek salad which is light and healthy one... a perfect choice for summer.


Ingredients:
Cucumbers .... 1 (sliced)
Cherry tomatoes .. 10 - 12 (you can use the normal sliced tomato also)
Onions .............. 1 small (sliced)
Green bell pepper .. 1 small (thinly sliced)
Baby lettuce ........... as needed (you can use any variety available)
Oregano (fresh) ............. 1 tbsp chopped (use dried one if fresh is not available)
Feta cheese ................... 100 gms
Kalamata olives ............. 10 - 12
Extra virgin olive oil ...... 5-6 tbsps
Vinegar ................ 1 tbsp
Salt ............................. to taste (remember the feta cheese is very salty and add salt carefully)


Method:
1.Take all the sliced vegetables in a large bowl.
2. Pour the vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper and oregano in a jar and shake it well.
3. Add the feta cheese cubes, fresh oregano leaves and olives to the salad.
4.  Pour the prepared olive oil dressing into the salad and mix very carefully as feta cheese is very soft.
5. Serve it on a bed of lettuce leaves and garnish with some cherry tomatoes and crumbled feta cheese.
Serves - 2

Recipe adapted from - Greekboston.com


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Friday, April 14, 2017

HOMEMADE SUBWAY CHICKEN SANDWICH


Fast food like burgers and subway sandwiches have become very popular these days. Making your own subway sandwich is not a difficult task. Just get all the ingredients of your choice and assemble it just the way you like it. It has a lot of stuffings and is really very filling. It is also a perfect lunch box meal.
 I have used sauteed chicken with bell pepper. You can even use ham slices or shredded meats.. choice is yours. Additional garnishings like olives, pickled jalapenos taste good too.

Ingredients:
Bread rolls ... as needed
Chicken ..... 100 gms
Bell peppers ... few strips of different colours.
Pizza seasoning ... 1 tsp
Salt ................. to taste
Oil ................... 2 tbsps
Lettuce leaves .. as needed
Cucumber slices ... few
Tomato slices ...... few
Garlic mayonnaise .. for spreading
Mustard sauce..... as needed
Tomato ketchup ... as needed
Cheese slices or grated cheese .. as needed


Method:
1. Heat oil in a pan and saute the chicken strips with garlic and salt.
2. It will just take a couple of minutes to cook and now you tip in the bell pepper strips. Season with pizza spice mix.
3. Now to assemble the sandwich slit the bread roll.
4. Spread a little garlic mayonnaise, place the lettuce leaves and sprinkle some cheese if needed.
5. Spoon the prepared chicken strips. Top it up with the cucumber and tomato slices. Squeeze some mustard sauce and tomato sauce as per your liking.
6. Carefully push all the stuffing into the slit bun.
7. Serve immediately.

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Thursday, April 13, 2017

FETA CHICKEN SALAD


A simple and delicious chicken salad with feta cheese.. for added flavours you can use fresh herbs, bell peppers, cherry tomatoes and diced celery. The salad is quite filling and makes a light meal by itself. Remember that feta cheese is quite salty and add salt accordingly.

Ingredients:
Chicken ... 2 cups (boiled and shredded)
Bell pepper .. 1 (use any colour - sliced)
Cherry tomatoes ...... 10
Celery .................... 1/2 cup (diced)
Red onion ............. 1 small (sliced)
Fresh oregano or any other herb...... 1 tbsps (finely chopped)
Mayonnaise ..........3- 4 tbsps
Sour cream .......... 2 tbsps (optional)
Feta cheese ......... 2-3 tbsps (crumbled)
Olive oil ............. 2 tbsps
Salt .............. to taste
Black pepper ... for seasoning
Baby lettuce or any lettuce available .. for lining the plate.


Method:

1. Boil the chicken adding a little salt. Shred it into strips or cut with a sharp knife.






2. Wash, de-seed the bell pepper and cut into strips. Slice the onion. Cut the cherry tomatoes into halves saving few for garnishing. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Season with salt and black pepper. Add salt carefully as the feta cheese is very salty.




3. Serve on a bed of lettuce leaves.Garnish with cherry tomatoes. Refrigerate it until you serve as chilled salad tastes better.






Recipe adapted from - HERE

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Tuesday, April 11, 2017

EGYPTIAN FETA CHEESE STUFFED OMELETTE


Try out this delicious omelette filled with feta cheese for your breakfast.. Add some fresh herbs for flavour along with finely chopped onion. Salt is not required as feta is already quite salty. You also have options of adding tomatoes, olives or spinach also if you like.


Ingredients:
Eggs ...  1 or as required
Feta cheese .... 1 tbsp (crumbled)
Milk ............... 1 tsp
Black pepper ... 1 pinch freshly crushed 
Onion ............ 1 tbsp (finely chopped)
Fresh oregano ... few leaves (you may use any fresh herbs available)
Oil............. 2 tbsps

Method:

1. Beat the egg with finely chopped onion and fresh oregano. Pour oil in a pan and spread the omelette mix with a spoon.






2. Mix feta cheese with milk and spoon it on the omelette when almost done. Cook on low flame until the cheese melts.





3. Roll the two ends over the cheese filling. Sprinkle freshly ground black pepper. Serve with pita roll.








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Monday, April 10, 2017

FAVA BEAN DIP


There are a number of delicious Greek dishes that I had tasted during my visit to this beautiful country. I have been trying out some of them and this is a fava bean dip made from pureed fava beans ( Greek yellow split peas ) They have to be soaked and cooked for a long time or easier way is to pressure cook them.  If you cannot get these you may try with the canned fava. I have used the canned fava beans today to make this dip. Unlike other Mediterranean dips tahini is not added to this one. This dip was served with a herbed pita and tasted so delicious.

This is how the dried fava beans look like :
Image - courtesy Google

Ingredients:
Cooked or canned fava beans ... 1 cup
Garlic paste ....................... 1/2 tsp (add more if you like)
Fresh oregano .............. 1 tbsp (chopped)
Lemon juice ...................... 1 tbsps or more as per your liking
Extra virgin olive oil ......... 6 tbsps
Salt ..................... to taste
Paprika ............ a pinch or two



Method:
1. Take all the ingredients into the container of the mixer and blend together to a smooth paste.
2. Remove them into a serving bowl and top it up with some garnishings of you desire or serve plain.
3. To make the herbed pita pat the dough on a baking tray and using your finger tips make 
depressions on the surface. Sprinkle herbs and drizzle olive oil over it. Bake until done.



See the recipe of making the Pita bread dough .. HERE

Note: If you are making with the dried fava beans soak 1/2 cup beans for a couple of hours. Cook them in a saucepan adding 2 cups of water and a little salt. Simmer until done. Alternately you can pressure-cook them.

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Sunday, April 9, 2017

ROASTED BEETS WITH FETA / BEETROOT AND FETA SALAD




This is a simple side dish to pair with your grilled meats or sea food. You can relish it like a salad too.

Ingredients:
Beetroots ..... 2
Red onion .... 1 small
Parsley or coriander .. 2 tbsps
Feta cheese .......... 2-3 tbsps (crumbled)
Olive oil ............. 1 tbsp
Salt ................... to taste
Black pepper ..... freshly crushed.
Lemon juice ....... 1 tbsp

Method:
1. Peel and cut the beets into small cubes.
2. Toss them with olive oil, salt and pepper.
3. Bake them in the oven at 250 C for 30 to 40 minutes or until done.
4. Remove them in a serving plate.
5. Now mix the finely chopped onion, parsley or any herb you like.
6. Top it with crumbled feta cheese

Recipe adapted from - Food Network Magazine

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Thursday, April 6, 2017

HOME MADE MAYONNAISE / WHOLE EGG MAYONNAISE


Mayonnaise is usually made with egg yolk discarding the white. I came across Megan Karlowsky's recipe which uses the whole egg avoiding wastage. It works perfect !
Nothing better than making fresh mayonnaise at home. It stays good for a couple of weeks in the refrigerator.
Here is the recipe.



Ingredients:
Eggs .... 2
Salt ...... 1/4 tsp
Mustard powder ... 1/2 tsp (I used 1 tsp mustard sauce)
White vinegar ...... 2 tbsps (I used apple cider)
Vegetable oil ....... 2 cups
Sugar .......... 1/4 tsp (optional)

Method:

In a food processor or blender combine all the ingredients except oil.
Blend on medium or low speed until everything is well blended.
Gradually drizzle the oil little by little until it is used up and the mayonnaise gets the required consistency.







Transfer into a clean sterilized jar with a lid and refrigerate. It can be stored for two weeks.









Yield - 2 cups

Recipe adapted from -  HERE

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