Greek Salad

I have posted about this recipe before but I love this recipe so much that I think it’s worth repeating.  I make this salad at least once every couple of weeks, it’s that delicious and easy to make.  I think it’s one of my very favorite recipes!

I do a couple of things differently ~ I never add the green pepper because I am not really a fan of raw green pepper and I usually use regular black olives because kalamata olives are very expensive here.    After making it so many times, I now use  grape tomatoes.  Sometimes I cut them in half and sometimes I don’t but they taste much better in the off season than regular tomatoes.  I also use regular cucumbers if I can’t find English cucumbers. The dressing always looks like it won’t be enough but it  is.

Greek Salad

Dressing:
6 tbsps olive oil
1 1/2 tbsps fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp oregano ~ Mediterranean if you have it

Salad:
1 head lettuce or about 1 1/2 bags lettuce
3 plum tomatoes or 1/2 carton grape tomatoes, chopped
1 English or regular cucumber, chopped
1 medium red onion, cut into rings and soaked in ice water for a few minutes to help make it less sharp
1 small green pepper, cut into rings
3/4 cup kalamata olives
3/4 cup feta cheese

Blend dressing ingredients together until well mixed. I put all the ingredients in a jar and shake until blended.

Mix all salad ingredients, except cheese, in a salad bowl. Add drained onions after patting them dry with paper towels.

Toss the salad with the dressing and sprinkle cheese over the top.

Serve.

Makes 6 servings.

Source:  Food.com posted by evelyn/athens

Happy Cooking!

Spinach Pasta Salad

Ifound this recipe in one of my gazillion cookbooks ~ Settings Sunrise to Sunset ~ it’s just a little bit different from most pasta salads, it’s easy to make, and delicious to boot.  I would think that you could use any type of pasta that you liked.  The original recipe called for spinach fusilli but I used the three color rotini instead and it worked great.  I adapted the recipe to make it easier to put together.

Spinach Pasta Salad

1 pound pasta of your choice ~ I used three color rotini
1/4cup chopped red onion
3/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
1 cup ripe olives
3 cups spinach, sliced into ribbons
12 ozs. feta cheese

Dressing:
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tbsps red wine vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
salt and pepper to taste

Cook the pasta according to the directions on the box and drain well. Add the onion, sun-dried tomatoes, olives and spinach and toss to mix the ingredients. Combine the dressing ingredients and whisk to blend well. Pour over the pasta mixture and toss to coat. Sprinkle the feta cheese over the top and mix lightly.

Makes 10 to 12 servings.

Happy Cooking!

Greek Potatoes

I know I’ve gone on and on before about how much I love Greek food.  Whether these potatoes are truly Greek or not, I don’t know,  but they are so good.  I think I could hav eaten the whole pan.  I only cut up three red potatoes since I shouldn’t even eat them but I crave them and better to eat a little bit than to run amuck and eat tons and tons of them.  Anyway, the potatoes are super easy to make and I know I’ll be making them many times in the future.

The recipe can be found on Recipezaar ~ Greek Potatoes

Happy Cooking!

Greek Salad

Do you love Greek salad as much as I do?  I think I make it at least once a week.  This version is the best I have come across.  I serve it with all kinds main dishes.  The recipe can be found on Recipezaar ~ The Ultimate Greek Salad Recipe .

Happy Cooking!

It’s All Greek To Me!

Well, DH is home so it’s time to get back into the swing of things!

Yesterday, I received the cookbooks that I have some recipes included in. They are by Gooseberry Patch. If you don’t know what Gooseberry Patch is, check out the link. They have a line of cookbooks that anyone can send recipes in for and if yours is chosen, you get the book free. Free is always a good thing. I have my Garlic Smashed Potatoes in Super-Fast Slow Cooking Cookbook, Jam Turnover Cookies and Mini Chip Shortbread (different than the one I already posted here) in Christmas Cookie Jar Cookbook, and The Perfect Turkey in Harvest Kitchen. I have recipes in other books, too. If you like community -type cookbooks, you’ll love these books.

On to today’s recipes…

I LOVE Greek food. Since I have yet to find a Greek restaurant around here, I make it myself. The recipe for kebabs is super easy. I use chicken tenderloins because I am basically lazy and don’t particularly like cubing up chicken. I didn’t do the veggie part this time but when I do, I put the veggies on their own sticks since they cook differently than the chicken and I don’t want them overdone. I found this recipe in a community cookbook called Mardi Gras to Mistletoe.

Greek Chicken Kabobs

Marinade:
1/2 c extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
Juice of 1 lemon
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

Kebabs:
2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces (or use tenderloins)
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 green pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 red onion, cut into 1 inch pieces
8 ounces whole button mushrooms or cremini mushrooms

Whisk the marinade ingredients in a bowl and pour all but a couple of tbsps into a ziplock bag. Keep unused marinade in the refrigerator for basting veggies while grilling. Add the chicken cubes or tenderloins and marinate for 4 hours or longer. Drain chicken. Discard marinade.

Thread chicken on skewers and veggies on their own skewers. Brush veggie skewers with reserved marinade. Start grilling chicken first. It will take about 15-20 minutes or until thoroughly cooked and no pink remains. Put veggie skewers on grill about 10 minutes before chicken is done.

Serves 4 to 6

This next recipe is a really nice pasta salad with all the classic Greek flavors. It’s super easy to boot. I used grape tomatoes and a cuke from my garden. This recipe was recently in my newspaper but didn’t give credit to anyone.

Greek-Style Orzo Salad

1 pound orzo pasta
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 pound tomatoes, diced
1 English cucumber, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/3 cup Kalamata olives, coarsely chopped
8 ounces Feta cheese, crumbled
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and prepare orzo according to the package. Drain the pasta and set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice and olive oil and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the vegetables, cheese, and orzo. Pour the dressing over the top and gently combine to coat all ingredients. Add salt and pepper just before serving.

Serves 10-12

I also made Greek Garlic Bread and you can click on the link to get the recipe from Recipezaar.

Happy Cooking!