(Real) GREEK VILLAGE SALAD

I've been posting recipes on this blog for a few years now, and I just realized I've never shared a recipe for a traditional Greek Village Salad with you yet. Hard to believe since it's a salad I grew up eating and which I enjoy so very often every summer. Please note I said summer. That's because this is a summertime salad, the time when tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers are in season and when they taste good. Nothing kills me more than eating in a Greek restaurant in January and being served this salad made with bland tasting imported  un-ripe tomatoes and flavourless cucumbers. As with all good food from around the world, the key is to eat seasonally and locally for optimum nutrition and flavour. Period.

I just realized I forgot to add some olives to this salad. No worries, it's still a great salad without them!

GREEK VILLAGE SALAD

ripe organic tomatoes, cut into wedges

fresh local organic cucumbers, cut into pieces

fresh local organic green peppers, cut into pieces

fresh organic red onion, cut into thin pieces (optional)

fresh or dried organic Greek oregano

organic feta cheese

Greek black olives

Greek extra virgin olive oil

sea salt and pepper

Method: Place all the cut vegetables in a large plate. Crumble the feta cheese on top. Sprinkle with cut fresh oregano, or sprinkle with dried Greek oregano. Season to taste with sea salt and pepper. Add a few olive. Then drizzle liberally with olive oil. Stir gently and allow to marinate for at least 30 minutes before eating a with a nice hunk of sourdough bread. Don't forget to mop up all the olive oil with bread too.

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TODAY'S TWEETABLE: As with all good food from around the world, the key is to eat seasonally and locally for optimum nutrition and flavour. Period.

FORAGED FEAST

     I've felt quite like a bee these days, frolicking in the fields, zig zagging my way round the farm from flower to flower.  It's summer, and the hot sunny days have been the perfect time to collect the wildflowers and herbs that grow on our land.  Once back into the house (which is a cool shady respite from the blazing sun), the herbs are then hung to dry or steeped in vodka, olive oil or apple cider vinegar for various herbal preparations.  The dehydrator has also been getting a workout drying the lovely red clover blossoms that grow in abundance this time of year.  It is such a joy to see my house transformed into an herbal production site - bunches of herbs dangling from the ceiling, sunny window sills and dark cupboards lined with jars of steeping herbs.  There is nothing more rewarding than going outside with an empty basket, and coming back with so many wild herbs.  Mother nature is so great, and provides so much.  There are so many wild plants growing here - and so many more that I can't wait to learn to identify.  

     One plant that I learned about recently is Lamb's Quarters - otherwise known as Wild Spinach.  This plant grows so abundantly in gardens, that most people recognize it as the weed they are always getting rid of.  After having our field plowed this Spring and then planted with Red Clover as a green manure, I was delighted to discover Lamb's Quarters growing, well, like weeds, all over the field.  They especially grow well in the huge pile of composted manure we have up in the corner of the field.  I have been harvesting baskets and baskets of this nutritious plant all week in an effort to stock our freezer full of it for the coming winter.  

     When my husband arrived home last night with a huge container of feta cheese which my mother bought for us, I was inspired to make a pan of Spanakopita with the wild greens.  Lamb's Quarters are a far superior green for this dish for a number of reasons: they taste better, have less water and so yield much more once steamed, and they are free.  What more can you ask for?

     A while back my mother shared her recipe for Greek Spanakotiropita which is the one I always use, only this time I substituted wild Lamb's Quarters for the chard and spinach.  Once you try homemade filo dough, you will never want to use the store bought stuff again.

IT MUST BE SUMMER.....another way with Chard

I had grand plans to make spanakotiropita with some of the chard that keeps growing in our garden.  It's so great that we have more than enough to eat now while it is fresh, and plenty to prepare and freeze for the winter.  I thought this recipe was the perfect opportunity to use of one of the many packages of phyllo in my freezer than need to disappear.   I don't know what happened though.  When I opened the pack I had defrosted it was all stuck together and pretty useless so I tossed it out and had to come up with a plan, quick.  I had already prepared the chard and feta filling and had a house full of people expecting dinner at some point.  Then it hit me, CALZONES!  Yes.....so I whipped up a batch of pizza dough, grated some mozzarella cheese, and dinner was on it's way.

Rather than repeat myself, feel free to check out the recipes for Spanakotiropita and Pizza Dough on my blog.

EASTER FEASTING

I spent my life celebrating two Easters every year.  Greeks follow a different religious calendar whose main difference as far as I've noticed is the day that Easter falls on.  This year though, they fell on the same day.  The last few days have been all about preparing to celebrate Spring with family and friends.

     I managed to take some photos of the meal preparation but totally forgot to take after shots of the meal before we ate it all!  Sorry....suffice it to say it was beautiful and delicious.  And it included lots of roast lamb, because I am Greek after all, and it isn't Easter unless there's lamb. Growing up my father always roasted a whole lamb outside on the spit, rain or snow or shine. Even though my parents in Ontario were only having my brother and his family over for dinner, my Dad ordered half a lamb and they are cooking it on the BBQ....a head and all!  I didn't go that far and settled for two small legs of lamb.

ROAST LEG OF LAMB

1 leg of organic lamb, 5-6 pounds

sea salt and pepper

6 cloves organic garlic

3 Tbsp fresh oregano

3 Tbsp fresh thyme

3 Tbsp fresh rosemary

juice of 1 organic lemon

1/4 cup e.v olive oil

Method:  Preheat oven to 450*.  Make 4 slits with a knife all over the lamb.  Insert half a clove of garlic into each one. In a suribachi, smash the rest of the garlic with some salt and the herbs.  Rub all over the lamb with some olive oil and salt and pepper.  Then squeeze and rub the lemon all over the lamb.  Roast the lamb in the oven at the high heat for 10-15 minutes, then reduce to 340* for about 1 hour and 15 minutes.  Take out of the oven and let rest for 10 minutes then carve.

GREEK LEMON POTATOES

8 large organic russet or Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 4 wedges

juice of 1 lemon

1/4-1/2 cup homemade chicken stock

1/4-1/2 cup e.v olive oil

sea salt and pepper

fresh or dry oregano

Method:  Preheat oven to 350*.  Combine all ingredients in a roasting pan, being sure not to crowd the potatoes.  Bake in oven for about 60 minutes or until the edges start to brown.  Serve hot with the lamb.

SPRING SALAD with Lemon and Feta

Organic spinach

Organic baby romaine

Organic feta

Organic spring onions, sliced thin

Fresh dill, minced

Organic lemon juice

sea salt and pepper

olive oil

Method:  Combine the lettuces, feta, onion and dill in a large salad bowl.  Drizzle with olive oil, squeeze some lemon on top and season generously with salt and pepper.  Toss and serve.

Naturally dyed eggs using turmeric, handmade organic chocolate bunnies and chicks, organic spelt arrowroot butterflies, lambs, bunnies and tulips nestled in a bed of straw and moss.

My Mom's Kitchen- Post #3 SPANAKOTIROPITA

The year that I spent in my huband's Greek village years ago taught me many 
great cooking lessons. My most difficult and most treasured one was 
how to make filo dough. After many trials and errors I finally 
mastered it, since then I rarely  buy the manufactured one. Lately 
I've been trying to stay away from wheat so I decided to try it out 
with spelt flour. I was very pleased with the results.

SPANAKOTIROPITA ( Greek Spinach and Cheese Pie)

Filo:
4-4 1/2 cups organic spelt or wheat flour
1 tsp sea salt
1 1/2- 1 3/4 cup warm water
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp cider vinegar or lemon juice
Make a well in the centre of the flour, add the remaining ingredients 
and combine. Let sit for at least 1 hour, then separate into 4  
equal balls cover while you prepare the filling.

Filling:
1 bunch of organic swiss chard
2 bunches of organic spinach
2 large organic leeks
1/2 cup fresh dill chopped
8 oz feta cheese crumbled
1 /4 cup extra virgin olive oil
sea salt to taste ( if your cheese is salty you may not need it)

Chop the vegetables and wilt in a large pan. Squeeze out as much 
liquid as possible set aside to cool. Add the dill, feta, olive oil 
and sea salt, and combine.
Roll out one of the filo balls as you would a struedel dough, very, 
very thin. Place in the pan spray with e v oil then cover it with a 
cloth while you roll out the other one. Place the 2nd filo on top, 
fill with spinach, cheese mixture, using the overhanging filo, cover 
the filling. Repeat with the remaining 2 balls of filo. Tuck in the 
edges, brush more e v oil on top and score. Do not cut right through. 
Bake in a pre heated 375 oven for about 1 hour or until golden. When 
done you can cool slightly and the cut through to the bottom. Enjoy!

Lentil Soup and Savoury Stuffed Goodness

I can't believe I have yet to share my recipe for Lentil Soup.  The Lentil Soup.  The stuff of my childhood, the broth of comfort and nourishment.  Sad to say, but today won't be the day I do it either.  Just as I was going to make the good old standby, I said no, let's try it a bit differently.  So I did, and here it is.  

     Instead of making some bread to dip into it's brothy loveliness, I went with making some sort of bready type thing with spinach and ended up with a cross between an empanada and a panzerotti.  As I was in the middle of painstakingly rolling, cutting and stuffing these beauties I kept thinking to myself, these babies better be good because this is somewhat labour intensive.  But they were good.    Very, very good.

     Now I am all for supporting local producers and buying local goods, but I draw the line at supporting farmer's who use genetically modified organisms in their products and who feed these to their livestock.  Apparently Greece is a 93% GMO free zone, so I only buy organic feta when I find it or Feta from Greece.

LENTIL SOUP with Brown Rice and Feta

6 cups organic vegetable or chicken stock

4 cups water

1 1/2 cups organic lentils (any kind but I used green)

1 cup organic brown rice (short or long grain)

1 28 oz can organic tomatoes, chopped or squished

3 organic carrots, chopped

1 cup organic onion, chopped

1/2 cup organic celery, sliced

5 cloves organic garlic, minced

1/2 tsp each organic oregano, thyme and basil

1 organic bay leaf

1/2 cup organic parsley, minced

2 Tbsp organic red wine vinegar

Black pepper and sea salt to taste

Method:  Mix broth, water, lentils, rice, undrained tomatoes, carrots, onion, celery, garlic, and herbs in a large pot.  Heat soup to boil, reduce and simmer until lentils and rice are tender, about 1 hour.  Stir occasionally.  

     Remove and discard bay leaf.  Stir in parsley, vinegar, sea salt and pepper to taste.  If necessary, thin with additional water.  

SPINACH AND FETA WHEELS

THE DOUGH:

4 oz organic all purpose whole wheat flour

4 oz organic all purpose unbleached white flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 Tbsp organic sugar

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 organic egg, lightly beaten

100 ml olive oil

50 ml white wine

1 organic egg yolk, beaten with 1 Tbsp organic milk

Method:  Combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a bowl.  Gradually mix in egg, oil and wine, stirring and when it begins to clump, transfer to a floured surface and knead for 3-4 minutes until smooth and elastic.  Cover and set aside to rest for 30 minutes.

FILLING:

1 pound organic spinach, chopped

1 organic onion, chopped

1 clove organic garlic, chopped

2 Tbsp e.v olive oil

1/2 cup feta cheese

sea salt and pepper to taste

organic paprika

Method:  Heat a large skillet over medium high heat.  Add oil and onion and saute until the onion is soft about 5 mintues.  Add the garlic and spinach and saute until the liquid evaporates. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

ASSEMBLY:

Preheat oven to 400*.  Roll out dough on floured surface to a thickness of 3 mm.  Use a 3" cookie cutter to cut out 18 circles.  Put 9 of them aside and cover the rest.  Brush around edges of the rounds with the yolk mix.  Place 1 Tbsp of the spinach filling in the centre and sprinkle with some feta cheese.  Cover with one of the reserved doughs and press firmly around the edges to seal, crimp edges with a fork.  Transfer to a greased tray, brush tops with the yolk and spinkle with some paprika.  Bake until golden 15-20 mins.  Serve hot!

Rainy Day Supper

I was going to make pizza for supper tonight but then I remembered that I had some hook and line haddock in the freezer, so I took it out to thaw and then phoned my mother to chat.  My family has this habit of always asking each other what we are having for dinner.  So of course, I asked her what they would be eating and she told me. Then inevitably she asked me what I was going to make and I told her about the fish.  She then when on to tell me about this great recipe she saw in a magazine, (Chatelaine or Canadian Living I can't remember which) called Feta Crusted Fish.  So here is my take on this recipe.

FETA CRUSTED HADDOCK

1 pound hook and line haddock (2 fillets)

1/2 cup organic whole wheat breadcrumbs

1/4 cup organic local feta cheese, finely crumbled

1 tsp dry organic oregano

1/2 tsp dry organic thyme

zest of one organic lemon

sea salt and pepper

1 Tbsp olive oil

Method:  Preheat oven to 450*.  Combine everything but the fish in a bowl.  Place haddock in a pan (I like to use my cast iron skillet) and pat dry.  Coat the top of the fish with the breadcrumb mixture, pressing down so it sticks to the fish.  Bake in oven for 10 minutes.

ROASTED VEGETABLES

I met a lovely woman named Alice the other day who lives on a hill by the sea.  As we spoke she offered me some vegetables from her garden, and then proceeded to pick some huge carrots, parsnips and cucumber from the soil.  We fed the carrot tops to her neighbour's cows through the fence.

1 organic carrot

1 organic potato

1 organic sweet potato

1 organic celery root, peeled

1 organic onion

4 cloves organic garlic

1 organic tomato

1 organic parsnip

1/3 organic butternut squash, peeled

1/4 cup olive oil

sea salt and pepper

2 tsp organic dry or fresh oregano

Method: Preheat oven to 400*.  Cut all the vegetables into approximately the same size.  Toss all vegetables into a pan and drizzle with the oil, oregano, salt and pepper.  Roast for about an hour or until vegetables are cooked and starting to get golden on the edges.

THE SALAD WE ATE WITH THIS SUPPER

The garden is just about ready to be prepared for winter.  Today I harvested the last of the salad greens which consisted of two varieties of bitter endive.  To make this a little more palatable I used some local apple cider balsamic vinegar and maple syryup to sweeten the deal.

bunch of endive

1 carrot shredded

handful of organic sunflower seeds

a bit of local feta, crumbled

sea salt and pepper

1 Tbsp maple syrup

1-2 Tbsp apple cider balsmaic vinaigrette

1 Tbsp olive oil