Little Cooking Tips - Healthy

After a long, hard spring, due to the Covid-19, and two months in lockdown, summer in Greece has finally arrived, and most of the measures taken due to the virus, are gradually lifted.
The weather these past few days is getting warmer and warmer by the day and we couldn’t be happier for this.

Because of the virus many things were put on hold and the most important one for us, is our permanent relocation to the countryside. We had to wait for the transportation restrictions to be lifted in order to begin our final moving. Yes, you ‘re reading it right! We are moving to Evia island for good. We are so excited! We feel like a new chapter to our book of life is beginning and we are thrilled about it.

Relocation project

The decision to move to Evia island was taken during the past Christmas holidays. We found out that we didn’t like the way we were living in Athens, because of the hectic rhythms of living in a big city. Something was missing from our lives.
Part of this change, were all these trips we took the past years, visiting all these beautiful places around Greece, in the countryside. During these trips we watched how the locals were living and we discovered that the simple things in life are what matter the most. Simple living; that seems to be the secret. Following a simpler way of living was suddenly making a lot of sense to us. We wanted that life. We needed it. So, we decided to make it a reality

Downsizing

These two months of lockdown we spent in Evia, were all the proof we needed that we can actually live here with less thing, in a smaller space. The house we will move in, in less than a month, is less than half the size of the one we are living today. It’s a small house (close to the definition of tiny). So, downsizing is the only way to go. Less things, means less expenses, less time in house cleaning, more time for each other. More time to do things we really enjoy, more time to be creative.

Furthermore, the house we will move in, will be ours to use however we like. It was very important for us to avoid paying any rent. This means even less expenses.
In these two months, we created a small garden with veggies and herbs. The garden is part of this project. Growing our own food and being frugal is part of this new close-to-zero-waste life.
We will get back to you with more details on our relocation project with photos after we move.

Greek Summer

The fact that we are moving to a whole new location during the summer was part of the plan. Let’s face it. Things can be done more easily during summer. Plus being in close range from the beach makes things more pleasant and fun.

Speaking of summer… let’s talk a little about summer food and recipes. Summer is a season that has an abundance of produce to choose from and create amazing dishes. Some of them are simple and some of them are more complex (like a baking dish full of moussaka, yummm!).
We like the complex ones for sure, but for our everyday lunch or dinner we choose more easy and simple recipes.

Simple doesn’t necessarily mean boring or tasteless though. The secret to getting flavor in a simple recipe is the quality of the produce you choose to cook with.

Greek Cretan Burley Rusk

One of these simple summer recipes that we have wanted to share with you for a long time, is the one we post here today. Any of you who have visited Greece or eaten in a Greek restaurant/tavern anywhere in the world, you might have seen or tasted this dish: The Cretan Dakos.
A simple yet delicious dish that besides being served as a salad, it can also be a light, healthy lunch idea.
Dakos mainly consists of the round Cretan barley rusk, tomatoes, olives, extra virgin olive oil, white cheese (feta or Cretan mizithra) and dry oregano (or dittany in some places in Crete).

The Cretan rusk is a double baked bread made of barley flour. Because many Cretan families back in the days were not able to bake bread daily, they were making rusks out of it so that it will last longer and could be carried with them as a snack, while working at their crops or their cattle.
Since then though it has entered the menus of the Cretan tavernas (and tavernas all over the country eventually) as an appetizer or as a meze served with tsikoudia, a strong Cretan drink made of grapes and alcohol.

Dakos salad

The Cretan Dakos salad can be considered a whole meal. It consists of ripe tomatoes, feta cheese or Cretan mizithra cheese (a local white cheese, quite salty and dry), olives, extra virgin olive oil and dry oregano (or dittany, a herb similar to oregano that grows mainly in Crete).
The secret to a good Dakos salad (like all simple recipes) is the high quality of the ingredients. Its this quality that will make a Dakos salad from “meh” to “wow”.

The tomatoes must be ripe, full of flavor and aroma. The feta cheese must be of high-quality. Likewise, with the olives and the extra virgin olive oil. Therefore, Dakos salad (to our opinion), must be served only during the summer, when tomatoes are in season.
This salad is super healthy, easy to make, and makes a light vegetarian lunch. You can also serve this as an appetizer or as a snack in parties and gatherings. Your friends will love it!

You can make quite a few versions of Dakos salad. You can add capers or replace the olives completely with capers. You can add red onion in thin slices or finely chopped. You can even add a little bell pepper. You can also try adding Kalathaki cheese instead of feta. Kalathaki is saltier, and pairs amazing with Dakos. You can read more about it in this post about white Greek cheeses.

If you can’t find the traditional Cretan barley rusks for Dakos in your area, they are available online. However, you can also use your favorite rusks, as long as they are made of whole wheat or barley.
You can even serve this as a break-apart salad by crumbling the rusk into large pieces, chopping the tomatoes, add the cheese, the olives and then drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle the oregano.

The options are endless. But in this post, we will show how to make and assemble the traditional Greek Cretan Dakos salad.
Ready to make this delicious, simple and healthy salad?

Ingredients:

For 1 dakos
- 1 large barley rusk (about 80g / 3oz)
- 1 ripe tomato (medium sized / 200g / 7oz)
- 3-4 Kalamata olives (20g/ 1oz), pitted
- 1/2 teaspoon dry oregano
- 2 tablespoons feta cheese (50g / 2oz), crumbled
- 2 tablespoons (30ml) extra virgin olive oil
- salt
- pepper

Preparation:

Grate the tomato (pic.1). Dip the barley rusk in water for just 1 second (pic.2)

Add the grated tomato onto the rusk using a tablespoon (pic.3). Try to cover as much of the surface as you can with the tomato. Add the extra virgin olive oil (pic.4). It will take about 2-3 tablespoons per rusk.

Add the crumbled feta (pic.5), the Kalamata olives and the oregano (pic.6).

The Greek Cretan dakos salad is ready to be served. You can drizzle some more olive oil on top of the olives for extra flavor.
Kali Oreksi!

Tips:

1. You can make this salad using Kalathaki cheese instead of feta or Cretan mizithra.
2. If you can’t find the traditional Cretan barley rusks for dakos in your area you can use your favorite rusks, as long as they are made of whole wheat or barley.
3. You can add capers on your dakos rusk, or totally replace the olives with capers.
4. It’s better served after it stays on the counter for 5 minutes, to allow the flavors to develop.
5. When making dakos, make sure to leave the tomato out of the fridge for at least a couple of hours, for better taste and aroma.

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Fast&Easy

Greek vegetarian soup with mushrooms (Magiritsa)

littlecookingtips — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 07:54:09 +0000

Photo and text by Panos Diotis and Mirella Kaloglou

Calories (per serving):

650

Servings:

serves 4-6

Cooking Time:

1 hour

Time flies so fast! With all these unfortunate things that are happening around us, we almost didn’t realize that Greek Easter is just around the corner; it’s the lockdown’s side effects.
On the positive side, being at home all the time nowadays, gave us the opportunity to spent time with family and loved ones and explore more in cooking and baking.

We love baking our own bread, and this way we avoid going out one more time, to get to a bakery. Being so easy (the no-knead dough, is a revelation!!!) to do, we bake every weekend, making the week’s bread. We usually bake two loafs. One of them goes to the freezer for later consumption.

Did we mention gardening? Yes gardening! We found that it’s quite relaxing. Panos’ parents were kind enough to give us a piece of their garden, to plant whatever we like. So, we started planting. We have planted thyme, some lettuces, spearmint, coriander, garlic and corn so far.
Corn is our latest addition. We were making popcorn for a movie night and we thought “Why don’t we plant some of those corn seeds and see if they can grow?”. Well, why not.

Of course, we haven’t stop taking pictures. We take pictures of almost anything but we especially like photos of flowers and bees. We are doing bee-watching! This is our latest thing lol!
Drinking our beverage on our porch, early afternoon and watching the bees on the plants.

Flowers, bees, planting, gardening, remind us of spring. And subsequently spring reminds us of Easter. Easter is our top religious celebration here in Greece. There are so many traditions that we follow, especially during the Holy Week. We had posted about them on our Tsoureki recipe (link) and we think you’ll love reading about them. It’s a time of the year that’s very dear to us. But this year, it will be quite different for so many.

The Magiritsa soup

One of the traditional dishes people prepare on Holy Week here in Greece, is a traditional soup that is served on Holy Saturday for supper. We call this soup Magiritsa. What is Magiritsa soup?
The original Magiritsa is a soup made with dill or fennel fronds, greens like lettuce, and lamb’s liver and/or other offal, in egg-lemon sauce (avgolemono).

Back in the old days people were using lamb’s liver and/or other offal to make this soup because they didn’t want anything from the animal they were sacrificing to go to waste. They were frugal and they were really into zero-waste. It wasn’t trendy back then; it was just the way of living.
But in our days people use only liver -like we also do ourselves- as we find that it tastes much better if you only use that as the main protein source. However, many people may not be into offal, we get it. That’s why we tried a vegetarian version of the soup, using mushrooms. The result was surprisingly delicious. Even of you are not a vegetarian, you must try this one out.

The vegetarian version (Magiritsa 2.0)

The recipe we share with you in this post, is one of our oldest recipes. We originally posted it back in 2013. That year, we wanted to make a magiritsa soup, that would be delicious, hearty, comforting and light for the stomach, since the consumption of the soup is taking place after midnight and the celebration of the Resurrection. We chose to replace liver with mushrooms and as we mentioned the result was delicious. The photo of the dish however…emmm…well… not so much! It was from our first attempts to post something as food bloggers. The means we had were practically non-existent and the quality of the photos very poor.

We thought that this soup deserves so much better. Why? Because we loved this soup so much that it became an all year-round dish and we believe it may become one of your favorites too. So, we like making it even if it’s not Holy Saturday. It’s a hearty, healthy and comforting soup that is really easy to prepare.
You can try it with egg-lemon sauce (avgolemono) or if you don’t want (or like) eggs in your diet, you can omit the eggs and simply add the lemon juice in the soup. Which by the way tastes amazing too! So, if you are a vegan, you can also enjoy this soup.

For this recipe we chose common mushrooms (champignon / white button mushrooms) and cut them into quarters. But you can use any type of mushroom you like or a mix of mushrooms for a richer taste.
Since we love this soup so much, we decided to remake the post.
We also updated and adjusted some of the quantities of the ingredients to make it more accurate. The rest is the same-old, tried and true recipe.
So, let’s cook this delicious soup once more! :)

Ingredients:

- 250ml (1 cup) extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large lettuce (about 400g / 14oz), chopped in large strips (about 3-4cm/1-1.5inch wide)
- 1 bunch of dill (about 120gr/4.2oz), finely chopped
- 3 large spring onions, cut into 1cm/0.5inch thick slices
- 500-600gr/17.5-21oz (1.1-1.3lb) champignon (common) mushrooms, in thick slices or quarters*
- 1 medium sized onion (150g / 5oz), chopped
- 250ml (1 cup) of white wine
- 1,5lt / 6 cups warm water
- salt and pepper

For the egg-lemon sauce
- 2 eggs separated (yolks and whites)
- the juice from a large lemon

* You can also use portobello, oyster, porcini or a mixture of your favorite mushrooms

Preparation

Pour the olive oil in a large pot and put it on medium to high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the onion (but not the spring onions), and cook for 3-4 minutes (pic.1). Add the mushrooms and cook until all the moisture is evaporated and the they start frying (pic.2). It will take some time.

Pour the wine and deglaze (pic.3). Add the (hot) water and lower the heat to medium-low (pic.4).

Simmer with the lid partially on, for about 10 minutes (pic.5). Add all the vegetables (dill, lettuce, spring onions) and cook for another 35 minutes (pic.6). Remove from heat, add the salt and the pepper and start making egg-lemon sauce (avgolemono).

For the egg-lemon sauce (avgolemono)

Put the egg whites with a pinch of salt in large bowl, and whisk until frothy. Add the yolks while whisking vigorously (pic.7). Slowly add the lemon juice while still whisking (pic.8).
The next step requires your attention:

Using a ladle, take some of the soup's broth and start adding it to the egg-lemon mix, while whisking vigorously (pic.9). Be careful to add the broth slowly, as the purpose of this process, is to raise the temperature of the egg-lemon mixture to the one of the soup. You don't want the eggs to become solid/cooked. You need about 3 ladle scoops to achieve that. The result must be a hot yellowish frothy sauce. If some of the vegetables are dropped into the egg-lemon mixture there’s no problem.
Once the egg-lemon sauce is ready, pour it back into the soup (pic.10).

Grab the pot from its handles and swirl lightly for a few seconds. The soup is now ready to be served (pic.11). Kali oreksi!

Tips:

1. If you don't want to use eggs, you can replace the egg-lemon sauce, by just adding the juice of one lemon at the end of your cooking. For a thicker result, you can also dissolve a couple of tablespoons of cornstarch in the juice of a lemon and add it to the soup. In this case, bring it back to a boil, stir, and then remove from the heat.
2. When you pour the egg-lemon sauce into the soup make sure -as already mentioned in the recipe- that you have removed the pot from the heat. Otherwise the eggs will be cooked, and your sauce may turn to scrambled eggs.
3. You can make this soup ahead. Warm it up before serving, make the egg-lemon sauce with the process described above and add it into the soup. It will be delicious as well.

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Vegetarian Mediterranean broccoli pasta salad with garlicky balsamic olive oil dressing

littlecookingtips — Wed, 18 Mar 2020 15:17:15 +0000

Photo and text by Panos Diotis and Mirella Kaloglou.

Calories (per serving):

240

Servings:

Preparation Time:

Cooking Time:

20 minutes

All of you who follow us on our social media accounts and especially on Instagram, know that since late January we are in a process of downsizing in order to move permanently in the countryside. Before making any final decisions, we decided to make a long-term test. The test was moving to Panos parents’ house in Evia island and live in the guesthouse for a month (our future sweet tiny home).

We started the test late February. And early March, guess what happened… You guessed correctly. The COVID-19 happened…! This was not on our New Year’s resolution! And certainly, it was not in anybody’s resolution!!! I mean… come on! Really? A worldwide-spread virus?!
The lockdown and curfew here in Greece, forced us to stay exactly where we were. In the countryside. Panos is currently working from home until further notice and I work on the blog with some help from him whenever he’s available. We consider ourselves quite lucky, compared to those who are in this lockdown in the cities: at least here we have a garden to walk around.

One of the harshest measures is the need of a special permit you need to carry around in order to be able to get out of the house. Errands nearby and the essentials are now on a weekly basis only for us. Since Panos’ parents are considered a vulnerable group and in high risk due to their age and health issues, we also shop for them on this weekly outing. This also goes for my parents (thankfully my sister lives with them and can help them out).
Among other measures, only two people per car are allowed. Also, a specific number of customers can shop at any time, depending on the square footage of the super-market/shop/pharmacy etc. Only emergencies can be treated by doctors and hospitals. Always keeping a 2-meters distance when crossing each other! This is the harsh reality these days. And it’s surreal.

What is happening in our neighborhood, the countries of Southern Europe, Italy and Spain is heart-breaking. The pain, the devastation and the deadlock are hard to grasp. :( And the worst thing is that this is happening in what is supposed to be the most beautiful season of the year: Spring! We try very hard every day to remind ourselves that it’s springtime: the rebirth of nature at its glory! How ironic…
Being optimists by nature we try our best to stay positive. We step outside in the garden, walk around and make plans for our future moving to the guesthouse when all this is over. We take photos that we share with you, showing all the nature’s beauty and hope we you can make you smile a bit, perhaps.

Don’t forget our dear friends that despite all the nasty things happening right now, spring is here. All we must do is endure. We must be patient; we must stay at home for the sake of all of us. Especially our families and our loved ones.
Being at home all the time made us find ways to be more creative. So, we do what we know best: cooking! :) Yeap, we do that a lot (big surprise, right?)! Cooking, but also baking a lot of homemade bread. We cook everyday with the produce that this small garden is offering to us. Using ingredients from our pantry is also on our daily schedule. Strangely enough this lockdown made everybody quite frugal, creative and appreciative.
With that in mind (staying frugal that is), we had a meeting Panos and I (yes, we do that! :) ) a few days ago, making plans and scheduling our meals. What we had at that time in our fridge was broccoli and spring onions from the garden, some red sweet peppers from our last visit to the farmer’s market (before the lockdown) and sun-dried tomatoes.

The pasta salad

At the aforementioned creative meeting, lots of ideas were put on the table. All proposals were taken under serious consideration. After a while… I said, “What about making a broccoli pasta sauce?”. And Panos added “What about instead of a sauce, we make a pasta salad?”. We looked at each other in agreement, nodded happily and started to discuss the spices we would use and the dressing we would make, to create a delicious salad. How we do love these meetings (plus they are short)!!!

Making this pasta salad wasn’t difficult. It contains some of our favorite ingredients. The broccoli we harvested a few days ago, was one of the last of the season. It turned out to be amazingly sweet and fragrant! Yes… broccoli can be fragrant… if you are into broccoli, that is! :D
The spring onions were also at their best. The harvesting process was quite an experience for us. Born and raised in the city we loved every minute of it!

We wanted a short type of pasta for the salad. The main reason for this is that it’s more practical while eating it: you don’t create a mess like you do with longer pasta. Our original choice was rigatoni. But rigatoni is too big. So, we went with the fusilli on this one. It’s another short type of pasta but it is better suited for a salad. Plus, it’s cute. Fusilli makes pasta salads look pretty. :)
Then we wanted to add something to make the salad sweeter and tangier at the same time. Remember the red sweet peppers and the sun-dried tomatoes we mentioned before? These two ingredients pair perfectly with the broccoli and the spring onions. So, we have added them on our ingredients list as well.

The dressing we wanted to use had to compliment all these amazing ingredients. It had to be sweet and tangy as well. We were looking for a flavor that would make the salad have a certain “je ne sais quoi”. We started gathering the dressing’s ingredients starting by the most essential: extra virgin olive oil.
We added garlic, balsamic vinegar, honey, salt and pepper. Then we gave it a try. Still, there was something missing. Freshness! So, we added dried spearmint. Ta-daaaaa!! Spearmint was the ingredient that made this dressing pop out! The result was now truly delicious!

Then we tossed all the ingredients together and gave them some time to allow the flavors to come out. Besides, this pasta salad is better served in room temperature. You can serve this salad with a handful (or two) of crushed walnuts for extra flavor and texture. Of course, that is optional.
If you have any leftovers, you can easily make this a casserole dish just by adding some bechamel on top, some sprinkled cheese and putting it in the oven. Yummy!!!! Remember? We try to stay as frugal as possible. ;)

This broccoli pasta salad is very healthy, it’s easy to make and you can serve it as a main dish. It’s also a great option for our vegetarian and vegan friends. If you are vegan simply replace the honey with agave or maple syrup. This recipe is also ideal for those who are fasting before Easter.

Bottom line… This is definitely not a boring pasta salad!

So, let’s see how easy it is to make this.

Ingredients:

- 250g / 9oz fusilli pasta (or rigatoni or any other short pasta)
- 600g / 21oz (2 medium-sized) broccoli *
- 100g / 3.5oz (1 medium-sized) sweet red pepper, finely diced
- 50g / 2oz (2 medium-sized) spring onions, finely sliced
- 100g / 3.5oz (10-12 pieces) sun dried tomato, cut in small pieces

For the dressing

- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 30ml (2 tablespoons) balsamic vinegar
- 75ml (1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon) extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon honey **
- 1 tablespoon dry spearmint
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

* You only need the broccoli florets, cut in 1-2 inches / 3-5cm pieces. That would be about 350g / 12oz from the initial weight of the broccoli.
** You can substitute with agave or maple syrup if you follow a vegan diet

Preparation

Put the broccoli florets in your steamer basket and cook them for 6-8 minutes or according to your personal preference (pic.1). Remove the florets from the basket and place them in cold water for a few seconds to stop the steaming process (pic.2)
Alternatively, if you don’t have a steamer basket, you can boil them for a few minutes, until fork tender, but still firm.

Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the box. Strain the pasta (pic.3) and place it under cold water, since in this recipe we don’t need the starch. Place all the ingredients in a large bowl (pic.4). Set aside and start preparing the dressing.

For the dressing

In a small bowl, put the olive oil, the balsamic vinegar and the honey. Add the spearmint, the pepper and the salt (pic.5). Add the garlic (pic.6).

Mix the ingredients well by whisking, to make sure that the honey is fully dissolved (pic.7). Add the dressing in the large bowl with the rest of the ingredients (pic.8)

Toss everything well (pic.9). The salad is ready to be served.

Optionally you can top the salad with some crashed walnuts. This will give your salad a very interesting and crunchy texture.
Kali Oreksi!

Tips:

1. For this salad use only the florets. Cut them in small pieces. This way, steaming them will be easier and faster.
2. You can add crashed walnuts in your salad if you wish. The result will much more interesting.
3. If you wish to serve this salad in a special occasion, make sure that your guests are not allergic to walnuts (if using).
4. If you are vegan simply replace the honey with agave or maple syrup.

Did you like this salad recipe? Then check out some of the other amazing, delicious and healthy salads on our list!

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Easy to make, aromatic Roasted Butternut Squash soup

littlecookingtips — Tue, 18 Feb 2020 13:21:16 +0000

Photo and text by Panos Diotis and Mirella Kaloglou.

Calories (per serving):

429

Servings:

Preparation Time:

Cooking Time:

The last fall and the winter had been quite difficult. We faced a number of obstacles; some health issues, and some issues at work. However, we always remain optimistic, and we finally got down to do some blogging again. :)
After all, communicating with you makes us really happy. We also did an experiment regarding our living situation (housing etc.) and we may have some interesting news to share in the next few months.

In our blog, we share our lives, our travels and our recipes. As you know, we don’t like sharing the sour moments in life, and we prefer to share the beautiful things. The reason for this, is that we believe that thinking positively and thinking about the good things in life can inspire both you, the readers, and ourselves, to look forward to a better future.

Visiting lake Tsivlou

In this post, we will share some beautiful memories from Lake Tsivlou. You can check its location in this map.
Lake Tsivlou is an amazing alpine lake, situated at an altitude of 800m, on the east side of Mount Helmos and its relatively close to Kalavryta as well. This means that you can either visit it on a weekend, on a trip from Athens, or you can go from Kalavryta if you’re already staying there. It’s about 2 hours drive from Athens and about 1 hour from Kalavryta.

The lake was formed by a landslide more than 100 years ago, which blocked a nearby river. The result was a beautiful natural lake, with emerald-turquoise waters. As you can see on the photos, the waters are as clear as the seas on its shores. The slopes around the lake are dark green, with lush pines, fir and chestnut forests.
When you get there, you have to follow the map and park at a small opening on the side of the road, as there is now direct access to the lake shores by car. You have to walk about 5 minutes to get to the lake.

The lake is perfect for picnics and hiking. You will really enjoy the pristine nature around it and the quiet surrounding. You can also use a mountain bike to explore the forests around the lake.
The perfect seasons to visit the lake are the spring and the summer. You can also visit it during fall, as long as the weather is still nice and warm. We wouldn’t recommend it for the winter, as the road may be a little tricky due to ice and snow.

You can stay at some wonderful small B&Bs in the area, or you can stay at Kalavryta which have many more options for accommodation (as well as more options for food).
The photos that you see in this post were taken on a late October visit to the lake, when the colors of the trees were truly magnificent. On this journey, we bought one of our favorite winter vegetables: butternut squash.

Butternut squash is one of the most popular vegetables throughout fall and winter, and we try to use it as much as we can in countless recipes. You may remember the recipe for the Mediterranean oven baked vegetables that we shared last year. This year, we are sharing a different way to use the butternut squash: we are roasting it and using it in a soup!

The soup

We have been testing this recipe over and over again for many months, making sure we will deliver the best roasted butternut squash soup you ever tasted. And we finally think we did it! This soup is healthy, it has a super-rich flavor and it also has the most amazing orange color. It’s hearty, filling and warming and can be easily make your favorite comfort foods’ list. :)

This very recipe was served as a first dish on Christmas AND New Year’s lunch with family and it was a huge hit on both occasions, so we think it passed the test, since they all loved it! So you can definitely serve it in any special occasion too. It’s also an ideal choice for your meatless Mondays or if you’re following a vegetarian diet. You can also easily turn this into a vegan recipe, simply by replacing the butter with margarine.

The butternut squash

The butternut squash can be very intimidating if you are using it for the first time. :) However, there’s nothing to worry about; we ‘ve got you covered! We have an easy step by step guide on how to cut and clean a butternut squash at the beginning of the instructions. Keep in mind though, that you will need a heavy, sharp knife. The rest is relatively easy. The feeling that you get when you cut through the squash is more less the same with the one you get when you cut a slice of watermelon. Plus, keep in mind that the squash is small, about 1kg/2lb, so it’s not a big one and it’s easier to handle.

Why this soup?

There are many recipes online for butternut squash soup. What differentiates this one, is the roasting of the butternut squash (most recipes don’t include that) and the ingredients that we used.
You can add the butternut squash straight to the pot along with the rest of the ingredients, if you are in a hurry, like most people do nowadays. If you really want your soup to taste amazing though, you must roast the squash first, like suggested in the recipe. When you roast the squash, seasoned with salt and pepper, and placed face down, the natural sugars of the vegetable are beginning to caramelize, and this enhances the flavor when you add it into the soup later on.

Moreover, we added carrots, sweet potatoes, orange zest and spices like cardamom, fennel seeds and garam masala. These ingredients elevated the soup to a whole new level. If you are wondering what to do with the fennel seeds, the cardamom and the garam after this recipe, don’t worry. There are so many delicious recipes with these spices. For instance here are a few recipes which are using these: hummus, vegetarian stew, shrimp curry, mashed carrots, shrimp pasta, egg fried rice, orange glazed shrimp, cardamom muffins.
In order to make the soup smooth you can use a hand blender for a velvety texture, like we did in this recipe. If you use a classic blender, make sure to remove the little cap in the center of the lid and only fill it up to the middle; you have to blend in batches in this case to avoid any spilling out.

This soup is also a great make-ahead dish, that you can easily prepare on the day before and store in the fridge. On the next day, simply stir and warm it up before serving. It’s even more delicious than fresh, as the flavors have some extra time to develop. We tried this and it worked like a charm. You can even try to serve this at a potluck. We guarantee they will love it and ask you to bring some again.

Usually this soup is served with a dollop of sour cream or yogurt in order to balance its sweetness with the sour taste of the cream (or the yogurt). In this version, we chose to serve it with toasted pumpkin seeds and fresh thyme, giving it an earthy-lemony aftertaste and we think that this increases the deliciousness. You can also accompany the soup with good quality toasted crusty bread.
So let’s see how you can make this amazing, hearty soup!

Ingredients:

- 1kg / 2lb butternut squash
- 500g / 1lb red sweet potatoes, cut in chunks
- 250g / 9oz (3 medium sized) carrots, cut in chunks
- 1.75lt (7 cups) water
- 3 vegetable bouillon cubes
- 1/4 teaspoon orange zest
- 1/2 teaspoon garam masala*
- 6 cardamom pods**
- 150g / 5oz (1 medium sized) onion, cut in chunks
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 stick / 115g / 4oz (1/2 cup) butter
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- salt
- black pepper

*if you don’t have garam masala, you can use ¼ teaspoon all spice and ¼ teaspoon cumin for a similar result
** crush the pods, remove the seeds, place them in a mortar and grind them with the pestle.

Preparation:

Place the butternut squash on its long side on a steady surface, hold it firmly with one hand and use a large knife to cut off both ends (pic. 1, pic. 2).

Turn the squash so that the bottom end sits on the surface. Carefully slice it in half using the same large knife and rocking it back and forth with your hands (pic. 3). If you find this a bit difficult, than you can also first slice the squash in half in the middle of its length and then place each of these halves with its bottom on the surface and slice it in the middle by rocking the knife back and forth in the same manner. Scoop out the seeds with a metal spoon (pic. 4).

Coat the squash with olive oil and season with salt and pepper (pic.5). Cover a baking pan/tray with baking sheet and place the squash, on it face down (pic.6). Roast the squash for 45 minutes in 180C / 356F (convection / fan-assisted oven).

Remove the quash from the oven and set aside to cool. Using a spoon, scoop out the flesh and put it in a bowl to cool (pic.7). Put the butter in a small saucepan and heat until it melts. Remove from heat and add the fennel seeds (pic.8). Leave it aside for a few minutes so that the butter incorporates the flavor of the fennel seeds.

Strain the butter in a large pot (pic.9) and place over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until it softens, for 3-4 minutes (pic.10).

Add the carrots and the sweet potatoes (pic.11) and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the garlic and the garam masala (pic.12). Mix and cook for 5 more minutes.

Add the vegetable bouillon cubes (pic.13) and the water (pic.14) and simmer for 30 minutes in medium-low heat, with the lid on, half covering the pot.

Add the butternut squash (pic.15) and cook for 10-15 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and using an immersion blender, blend everything together (pic.16).
At this point be extra careful to use the blender as close to the bottom of the pot as possible, as the soup is super-hot and if it gets spilled around it could burn you. Use an apron as well. Safety first!

The result should be smooth and velvety (pic.17). Add the ground cardamom, the orange zest and the apple cider vinegar (pic.18). Mix well and serve with some toasted pumpkin seeds and fresh thyme on top of each bowl/plate.
Kali oreksi and please let us know what you think of the flavors of this recipe, in the comments section below!

Tips:

1. You can serve this with a dollop of sour cream or yogurt, if you like.
2. You can serve this with some homemade croutons. Use a stale piece of bread, cut into pieces and sauté with a little olive oil in a frying pan, adding some garlic as well, until golden brown.
3. If you are vegan, you may replace the butter with margarine.
4. This soup is an excellent make ahead meal. Make it a day before serving it, like we did on New Year’s Eve, to let all the aromas and flavors of the ingredients to stand out.

Meal:

Method:

Cuisine:

Season:

Main Ingredients:

Special Characteristics:

Easy Greek Lemon Chicken Skewers with Garlicky Yogurt Sauce

littlecookingtips — Tue, 18 Jun 2019 16:47:12 +0000

Photo and text by Panos Diotis and Mirella Kaloglou.

Calories (per serving):

731

Servings:

serves 4-6

Preparation Time:

12 hours

Cooking Time:

30 minutes

After a relatively chilly May, for Greek standards that is, the summer came in full force. The high temperatures of course led crowds of people to swarm the beaches around Athens especially during the weekends. Ourselves, we are trying to visit them as early as possible, to enjoy some calmness and have an opportunity to simply watch the sea and listen to the waves, after a little swimming of course.

These days we are looking into places to explore during the summer vacations. Last year, we went to Kythira, a less-touristy island south of the Peloponnese. It was a beautiful place, with many spectacular beaches, good food and a serene atmosphere. One of the great things about living in Greece is that it has many places one can visit to enjoy the sea, both in the islands as well as in the mainland.

A trip to Kalavryta and mount Helmos : part II

In our last post with the black-eyed peas we mentioned a trip to a mountainous area of the mainland, where the town of Kalavryta is located (on mount Helmos). We wanted to share our experiences from visiting this place, which was really amazing. And since there were a lot of things to say, we promised that in the next post we would continue.

For those who missed the last post (also recommended because of the healthy recipe that it includes), Kalavryta is a small town/village on Helmos mountain. A village rich with history and definitely one of the most popular destinations for a trip from Athens. So without further ado, we will continue with our experiences from this visit.

The Holocaust of Kalavryta

One of the main reasons the town is known for, is the painful history of the Massacre or Holocaust of Kalavryta: the total destruction of the town by the German army on the 13th of December 1943. Together with Oradour-sur-Glane, Khatyn and others, Kalavryta is a place where a despicable crime took place.

So what happened in December of 1943? The German army burned the surrounding villages, threw the monks of the monasteries of the area from cliffs and then moved into the town of Kalavryta. There, they locked all the women and the children in the school and set it on fire to burn them alive. They proceeded with all the males over 12 years old, to a hill overlooking the town, and machine-gunned them. They didn’t stop there; they set the whole town on fire, after looting it, and then they left to burn the historic Agia Lavra monastery as well and kill the monks there too. Miraculously, the women and children managed to escape from the burning school, only to find their sons, brothers, fathers and grandfathers murdered and their town obliterated.

In the place where they murdered the people of Kalavryta, in the very same hill, there’s a memorial that we visited, with a large white cross dedicated to them and some crosses with names of the victims. There’s also a tomb-like chapel, where candles are lit for the victims of this massacre.

The stone statue that you see in the photos is dedicated to the mothers who survived the fire, to bear witness to the horrors. In the town, the school which they set on fire back then is rebuilt and it’s now the Kalavryta Holocaust Museum which one should visit so that one never forgets these crimes. We must all stop them from ever repeating in the future. If you visit the town and wonder why the left clock in the cathedral is always at 14:34, it’s to mark this event. It’s the time the horror started.

The Monasteries

We also visited the historic monasteries in the area, Agia Lavra and Mega Spileo. The pictures that you see are from the latter, which is built on a steep slope under a huge cliff with an amazing view of the area. Originally built in 382AD and rebuilt after fires through the centuries, it’s a beautiful construction with wonderful frescoes in a calm, serene surrounding. We walked on a small stone-paved pathway that extends from the entrance of the monastery to a beautiful small building in the other end, surrounded by trees and lush green plants. Then we lit a candle in the church at the entrance before leaving.

The Ski Resort

After the monastery, we went to the second place for which Kalavryta is known for: the ski resort on the Mount Helmos. Of course, when we went there it wasn’t winter time so there was no snow and no skiers as you can see in the photos:) But still the area around it was so beautiful: full of trees and mountain streams, scenic trails and spectacular views!

If one visits the ski center during the winter, the scene is dramatically different. There are hundreds of cars, and on the weekends thousands of skiers arrive to enjoy the slopes, which are suitable for all the levels of expertise. There’s a large chalet which hosts a cafeteria and a restaurant, shops to rent gear, and school for ski lessons. With 14 tracks, 25km long in total, ample parking and proximity to Athens, it’s no wonder this place is crowded when it starts snowing.

The Springs of Planitero

After walking in the forest around the ski resort, we got back in the car in order to visit another beautiful place in the area, the springs of Planitero. Planitero is a small village at the sources of the river Aroanios. We loved this place from the first moment we stepped foot on it. Nature at is best: natural springs, small waterfalls and a lush plane trees forest make this place unique.

With small pathways, bridges, a stone-built mill nearby and a couple of trout farms (which also serve grilled fish), this was an amazing, relaxing visit. Walking among these trees, near the banks of the small river and listening to the birds and the sound of the water flowing downstream was a memorable experience.

There are also small stalls selling traditional homemade Greek spoon sweets, like quinces, apricots, unripe walnuts in syrup and herbs and many more delicacies. They also sell some of the best honey out there, at reasonable prices. If you visit the area, don’t forget to take some of these with you. They are all so incredible on high quality Greek yogurt!

We created a Google map with marks for all the places mentioned in this one and in the previous post. This way, if you are in the area you can find some of these places. Simply click here!

Having walked that much in so many places, upon returning to Kalavryta, we went straight to the taverns which offer a great variety of appetizers, grilled meats and veggies, as well as homemade-style cooked meals.
One of the most popular Greek foods, which was of course available in this town too, is the souvlaki (skewers).

As the story of our trip to Kalavryta ends here, let’s talk about souvlaki and a recipe for it, that we wanted to share with you for a long time.

Souvlaki: Meat on Skewers

Souvlaki literally means little skewer. It’s a simple food; pieces of pork or chicken threaded on skewers. It has been consumed in Greece for millennia. Archeologists found evidence of meat that’s grilled on skewers in Santorini, dating back to around 2000BC. Similar discoveries have been made in ancient mainland Greece too.

This type of cooking is mentioned in texts by Homer, Aristotle and others. So it’s no wonder that souvlaki remains to this day the most popular Greek fast food / street food, and it’s available throughout the country.

Souvlaki is served with pita bread or bread slices on its own, still hot from the grill perhaps with a few drops of the juice of freshly squeezed lemons. It can also be served wrapped in pita bread, usually with tzatziki sauce, a couple of tomato slices and a few onion slices. Paprika and parsley are also sometimes added. In the last few years, most souvlaki shops also add French fries in the wrapped souvlaki, which we do not recommend as they tend to get mushy squeezed in the pita with the tomato and the meat. Fries can be an excellent side dish for souvlaki though.

When wrapped in pita, souvlaki looks very similar to gyros, the marinated pork or chicken shavings from meat that’s been grilled on a vertical rotisserie. Together with gyros, wrapped souvlaki is the Greek equivalent to tacos, shawarma, doner kebab and other similar pita-wrapped street foods around the world.

Greek Chicken Skewers (Chicken Souvlaki)

The most popular meat for souvlaki in Greece is pork. The second most popular is chicken. Contrary to recipes that we see online that are serving Greek style chicken skewers (chicken souvlaki) with tzatziki, this is not a common thing here in Greece. Usually the sauces that are used as a condiment for chicken souvlaki are mustard-mayo-based.

That being said, since those sauces are a bit fat, and since it’s also summer, we wanted to share a recipe for sauce which would have fresher, herby taste. So we made a garlicky-lemony mint yogurt sauce instead of tzatziki (and instead of a mustard-mayo sauce) which works great both with pork as well as chicken skewers. Keep the recipe for this dip / sauce. It’s really versatile and you can also serve it with toasted bread, grilled pitas, grilled or fried vegetables (like these zucchini fritters etc.)

The quantity of ingredients in the recipe below is enough for a small bowl of sauce, to try it as a dip for the chicken skewers. If you want to serve more however, simply double or triple the ingredients (for instance: use 1 1/2 cup of Greek yogurt instead of the 3/4 of the classic small Greek yogurt packaging and double the rest of the ingredients too).

The marinade

The secret to great souvlaki, is marinating the meat. For chicken skewers, we always prefer using thighs and marinating them for at least 3 hours (in the fridge of course). We have tried marinating the thighs for up to 5 hours for best results. Now, if you don’t have that much time before grilling the meat, then marinate it for at least 1 hour. Give the marinade a little time to infuse the chicken with flavors.

We suggest using the thighs for chicken skewers, as they don’t dry out as quickly as the chicken breast does. Moreover, thighs are tastier as they have a little fat, which the chicken breast lacks. You can use the same recipe for chicken breast if you prefer though and it works just as good.

The marinade, is a flavorful Mediterranean marinade with dry herbs, olive oil, garlic, lemon and little mustard. The special ingredient, that defines its flavor and really makes the chicken skewers unique, is the fenugreek powder.

One of the most delicious recipes with fenugreek on the blog, was this one with the oven baked meatballs with potatoes. It was back then when we started using it more in our cooking and were really excited about it:) If you are wondering how it smells like, it has a strong spicy maple syrup-curry-like aroma. So, a little of the spice goes a long way. Buy a small quantity (it’s also easily available online) and use it in marinades and grilled /roasted meats, veggies. You can even add a little in rich stews and it’s perfect with lentils, chickpeas or beans.

In this recipe we added a few peppers and onion in the skewers. This way the skewers look beautiful and the veggies add some texture and flavors too. But you can use the recipe without adding any vegetables, they are entirely optional. In fact, if you use the recipe for the first time, you may omit the vegetables in order to really appreciate the flavors of the marinade.

Cooking the skewers

You can grill the chicken souvlaki on the barbecue, roast it in the oven, cook it on a grill pan on the stovetop or use your oven broiler. Of these methods, the first one is our favorite. Nothing beats the flavor of skewers grilled on the barbecue. The second most favorite option, is using the oven broiler, as it is faster and the meat does not dry out as much. We will describe how you can do this in the recipe instructions below. Using a grill pan is not suggested for this recipe unless you only cook a few of the skewers and freeze the others for future cooking. It takes longer to cook thoroughly the chicken on the grill pan, as you need medium heat to allow it to cook the meat properly.

This recipe makes around 20 skewers. Grill / broil them in batches and leave a little space between the skewers to allow them to cook properly. When each batch is ready (the meat is ready when it’s no longer dark pink in the thickest part), you can place the skewers in a sealed container to keep them juicy and tender as you proceed to cook the next batch.

Serving the skewers

You can serve the chicken souvlaki on grilled Greek pita breads sliced in 4 pieces, or on toasted bread slices. If using pita bread, simply brush them with a little olive oil, and cook for a couple of minutes per side, either on the barbecue or under the broiler, the same way you’ll cook the skewers.

Serve them with the sauce in a bowl on the side and optionally with a Horiatiki Greek salad too. Souvlaki goes perfect with a cold beer, as most people enjoy them here during the summer.

Here’s how to prepare these yummy chicken skewers:

Ingredients:

For the skewers

- 1kg / 2lb boneless chicken thighs *
- 60ml (1/4 cup) olive oil
- 125ml (1/2 cup) fresh lemon juice (the juice from about 3 1/2 medium-sized lemons)
- 3 tablespoons mustard (preferably Dijon)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons coriander powder **
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 1/2 tablespoons dry oregano
- 1 teaspoon dry thyme
- 1 teaspoon fenugreek powder ***

* You can also use chicken breast, but for skewers, we recommend using thighs.
** You can also replace this with a handful of finely chopped fresh parsley which also works great.
*** Don’t skip this, it makes a huge difference; you can use this in countless marinades.

Optional ingredients for the skewers:
- 2 large onions cut into wedges
-4 large bell peppers with different colors, cut into 3-4 cm / 1-1.5 in pieces

For the Garlicky Mint Yogurt Sauce *

- 200g / 7oz (about 3/4 cup) Greek yogurt
- 1-2 large garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from about 1 medium-sized lemon)
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 10-12 large fresh mint leaves, finely chopped

* You can double or triple the quantity of the ingredients if you want to serve a larger bowl with dipping sauce (for instance: use 1 1/2 cup of Greek yogurt and double the rest of the ingredients too).

Optional, for serving the skewers:

- 10 pita breads

Preparation:

If using wooden (bamboo) skewers, as we do in this recipe, soak them in water for at least 1 hour before using them (pic. 1). Even better, put them in a sealed container and soak them overnight in water. This way they last longer on the grill without burning up.

First, make the garlicky mint yogurt sauce ahead, to allow the flavors to develop:

Add all the ingredients in a bowl, in the order they are mentioned in the ingredients: Greek yogurt, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, mint leaves (pic. 2). Mix well with a spoon. Don’t worry if it looks separated in the beginning, keep stirring and everything will be incorporated just fine. After a minute or so, the dipping sauce will be ready (pic. 3).

If using onions and peppers, cut as mentioned in the ingredients list and place them in a large bowl. Mix (pic. 4). Unroll each chicken thigh and cut it into about 3.5-4cm / 1.5in pieces (pic.5). Set aside.

Prepare the marinade:

In a large bowl add the lemon juice, the olive oil, the mustard, the salt, the pepper, the coriander powder (pic. 6), the garlic, the oregano, the thyme and the fenugreek (pic. 7).

Whisk well, until everything comes together (pic. 8). Add the chicken pieces into the bowl with the marinade and fold everything together to coat (pic. 9). Cover with film and place in the fridge for at least an hour and up to 5 hours.

Thread the chicken and the vegetable pieces into skewers (pic. 10). If a chicken piece is a bit elongated, then thread both its ends.

To broil the chicken skewers:

Preheat the broiler and place about half of the skewers on a rack with an aluminum foil-lined pan underneath (pic. 11). Place the rack in the upper oven position. Broil for 10 minutes, flip on the other side and broil for 5-6 minutes more, or until cooked through. The time varies depending on the broiler temperature and the distance from the broiler. So, when the meat and the veggies get some color and are slightly charred, flip them over.

Place the cooked skewers in a large sealed container and continue broiling the rest of them.This way, they will remain nice and juicy and won’t dry out.

If you serve them with pita breads, then brush the pitas lightly with olive oil (pic.12), on both sides and broil for 2 minutes, until they start to get a nice darker color. Flip them and broil for 1-2 minutes more. Stack a few broiled pita breads together and cut them into 4 pieces with a bread knife.

Serve the pita bread on the bottom, with the skewers on top and the garlicky yogurt sauce on the side.

Kali oreksi, let us know what you think if you give this a try!

Tips:

1. Use thighs instead of breasts when making skewers. They taste much better and won’t dry it when you broil/grill them.
2. Cut your meat and veggies in relatively uniform-sized chunks, for uniform cooking.
3. Don’t overcrowd the rack with skewers. Broil/grill them in batches, as you need a little space between the skewers to cook them properly.
4. Always soak the bamboo skewers, if using. If you grill skewers often, then opt for the metal ones but choose some with flat sides. The flat sides will prevent the meat from spinning on the grill.
5. If you have leftovers, then remove the meat and the veggies from the skewers and place in a sealed container in the fridge. You can reheat them on the next day in a convection oven for a few minutes, and serve with French fries, a salad or a bed of rice.
6. If you cook the skewers on a grill pan then use medium heat, flip them often, and cook for at least 20-25 minutes. This means that you will need a lot of time for all the skewers, so it’s not recommended unless you only cook a few of them and put the rest in the freezer.

Meal:

Method:

Cuisine:

Season:

Main Ingredients:

Special Characteristics:

Easy Mediterranean Oven-roasted butternut squash and sweet potatoes

littlecookingtips — Wed, 20 Feb 2019 19:53:51 +0000

Photo and text by Panos Diotis and Mirella Kaloglou.

Calories (per serving):

515

Servings:

Preparation Time:

Cooking Time:

It seems that this winter is going to be one of the coldest ones of this decade for Greece. We get the occasional sun and warmth for a few days and then wave after wave we get cold air from the north with very low temps and snow. The peaks of the mountains around Athens are often covered with snow, which is definitely a sign of how cold this winter is. If you’re following us on Instagram, you may have seen this story with snow outside our place. :)

When we get some warmer temps, even if it is only for a few days, we try to get some exercise and go for long walks in a favorite little grove nearby. It doesn’t help much with all the comfort food we tend to enjoy during the winter, but it’s a way to get some fresh air and feel a little better about ourselves lol :)

A trip to Trikala of Corinth: part 2

If you read our last post, you saw some pictures about our trip to the mountains of Corinth in late November. We wrote about the main tourist attractions on the mountains, with the ski center, the lake Dasiou, the forests around the village of Karya and the wonderful village of Trikala with its 3 districts.

In this post, we wanted to share our experiences from some of the other places in the area that one can also visit (by car). These are beautiful mountains lakes and small villages that are located on the plateau in the south of the mountain of Ziria.

Lake Doksa

One of the best attractions in the south of mount Ziria is Lake Doksa (also spelled as Doxa in guides and maps). This is a lake that was artificially formed to avoid the flooding of the river Doksa which was causing problems to the farmers of the plateau. It became a magnificent mountain lake, at an altitude of almost 1 km above sea level.

To get there, we had to use a dirt road for a few kilometers, which slowed us down quite a bit, but the beautiful scenery definitely makes up for the lack of comfort. So, don’t be intimidated, go for it, just drive carefully with low speed and enjoy the view.

When we arrived, the morning fog was clearing out, as you can see in the pictures, revealing the emerald colors of the water and the dark green fir trees in the slopes of the surrounding mountains. It was peaceful and calm, and one could only hear the birds chirping. We stepped out of the car and took a deep breath: heaven.

We saw a small church on one edge and followed the road leading to it. After a couple of minutes, we arrived at an opening with ample parking space, where local producers were selling their goods: legumes, pumpkins, honey, rusks, pasta, and many many more delicacies. We bought a jar of exquisite heather honey, which was as natural as it gets. It was thick, dark red and the aroma was amazing. You can taste all the varieties and choose which one you like; the people are more than welcome to provide you with samples and nutritional information.

We also bought certified organic Feneos beans, a locally variety known as “vanilla beans”. These are PDO beans that are very easy to prepare, as they don’t require any soaking before cooking. They are really delicious (and affordable) and we bought them for making traditional fasolada bean soup.

We stayed in the shores of the lake for a few hours, to relax and enjoy the magnificent views to the mountains and the picturesque setting and then we went to visit the small villages in the south.

South of Lake Doksa

In the south, there are three small villages: Archea Feneos, Mesino, and Goura. We liked that at Feneos and Goura there were some traditional houses and the people preserved the local architectural style to some extent, so it was really wonderful to visit.

Mesino was a highlight however, for a whole different reason. Mirella’s dad suggested going for lunch at Trikrina (also spelled as Tríkrēno in maps), a family-run tavern and butchery (shameless plug). The family that owns this place also breeds cattle in the mountains around the area and they sell and serve the meat in their tavern.

Here we had some of the tastiest steaks ever. In Greece the meat is served medium-well unless one instructs the waiter otherwise, so keep this in mind if you prefer your meat medium-rare or medium. So, we had the medium-well steaks, and yet, they weren’t chewy and tough, they were soft and delicious!

The reason for the medium-well steaks is that the meat used primarily for steaks in Greece is pork. Pork must always be cooked well, for safety reasons, so it seems that this became the norm for all things meat:) Ourselves, we don’t have a strong opinion on this; one can have a beef steak the way one prefers. Which is the way we feel about all things food. We don’t like haters and people who try to impose their preferences on others. One should enjoy food the way one likes it.

We also tried the tavern’s fasolada bean soup made with the local vanilla beans. Paired with fresh crusty bread, it was truly an amazing, comforting dish.

Lake Stymfalia

Another interesting and historic place that we visited, which was further southeast, was Lake Stymfalia (also written as Stymphalia). This is the lake mentioned in the sixth labour of Hercules. According to mythology, this is where Hercules defeated the Stymphalian birds, which were man-eating metallic birds that terrorized the people in the area (what a strange myth!). Well, today most of the lake is dried up and is farmland and the rest is wetland with frogs and birds. This lake is a protected area of high ecological value.

There’s also a small museum, the Environment Museum of Stymphalia, from which you can see the birds, and also learn a lot about the history of the area.

Before leaving the area for our return to Athens, we stopped by a local producer and bought a few butternut squashes. We brought these home, to cook with, and used them in our Christmas table using the following delicious recipe.

Oven-roasted butternut squash and sweet potatoes

The recipe we wanted to share in this post, is the one that we cooked on numerous occasions this fall and winter. It’s a delicious side dish for chicken or turkey, you can serve it in a large plate as a salad, you can put it in your favorite sandwiches, or you can also have it on its own, as a light meal with some sour cream and/or fresh crusty bread.

If you never cooked butternut squash before, and find it a bit intimidating, this is definitely one of the best recipes to get you started. Not only it is very easy, but it also includes step by step instructions, with photos, that show how one can prepare and cut the squash.

We also added the classic orange-flesh sweet potatoes, to pair them with the squash; they are delicious when cooked together! Always prefer the longer and thinner potatoes over the plump, round ones. We find that they taste much better when baked.

For this recipe, also prefer using the white-flesh yellow onions (see the photos below) that are a bit sweet when cooked.

We had tried adding carrots in the same pan with all the above, but we didn’t like the texture, because carrots tend to be a little tougher when roasted at the same time. So, we skipped the carrots for this recipe. However, if you’re a big fan, you can also add a couple of carrots, just dice them in small pieces.

The idea behind this recipe, was making a dish of Mediterranean roast vegetables. In order to add a Mediterranean flavor in the recipe, we used original balsamic vinegar from Modena, Italy which is an amazing ingredient. This is concentrated vinegar that is aged in wooden barrels for years, and the longer it is aged, the sweeter and less acidic it becomes. If you can get some in your area, chose the real thing and buy Modena’s balsamic vinegar, which is usually also affordable. The balsamic vinegar complements the vegetables of the recipe and gives them depth and complexity. It’s not an accident that there are countless combinations of roasted vegetables with balsamic vinegar.

And what pairs amazingly with balsamic vinegar? The extra virgin olive oil of course. We used Greek extra virgin olive oil, but since this may be a bit expensive abroad, you can use any good olive oil that you have at your pantry.

Finally, for enhancing the Mediterranean flavors, we added dry marjoram, thyme, and spearmint. These are amazing together, so you can also use this combination, in the same quantity as in this recipe, to also elevate your grilled fish, chicken or other veggies at your BBQ parties.

If you can’t find marjoram in the dry herbs/spices section of your grocery store/super market, then look it up in the herbal teas section. Dry marjoram in teabags can also be use, as long as it doesn’t have other ingredients. Just cut a few bags and empty them in a small mason jar.

This is a tried and true recipe that we have tested again and again and fine-tuned over the years, so be prepared to taste some of the best roasted vegetables ever.

Naturally vegan

This is also a recipe that’s naturally vegan, as it doesn’t contain anything made from animals. So, if you are a vegan or are planning to host a meal for people that are vegan you can definitely use this recipe.

You can also serve this as a main dish for vegetarians, adding a little sour cream on your plate and serving it with fresh crusty bread, as we mentioned before.

The quantity of the ingredients in the recipe is enough to serve 6-8 people as a side or a salad, or 4 people as a main, with a side of sour cream and bread.

So, let’s see how easy it is to prepare the butternut squash and make this delicious vegetarian dish!

Ingredients:

- 1-1.2kg / 2-2.5lbs (1 medium sized) butternut squash
- 800g / 28oz (4-5 small or 2 large) sweet potatoes (classic orange-flesh)
- 300g / 10oz (2 medium-sized) yellow onions
- 60ml (1/4 cup) balsamic vinegar
- 180ml (3/4 cup) olive oil
- 1 tablespoon dry marjoram*
- 1 tablespoon dry mint
- 2 teaspoons dry thyme
- 2 1/2 teaspoons salt **
- 1 teaspoon ground pepper

* if you can’t find it in the dry herbs/spices section, you might find it next to other herbal teas
** you can adjust the salt according to your liking, but we find that this quantity was necessary flavor-wise

Preparation:

Place the butternut squash on its long side on a steady surface, hold it firmly and use a large knife to cut off both ends (pic. 1, pic. 2).

Then turn the squash so that the bottom end sits on the surface. Carefully slice it in half using the same large knife and rocking it back and forth with your hands (pic. 3). If you find this a bit difficult, than you can also first slice the squash in half in the middle of its length and then place each of these halves with its bottom on the surface and slice it in the middle by rocking the knife back and forth in the same manner. Scoop out the seeds with a metal spoon (pic. 4).

Use a sharp peeler and peel off the skin by moving the peeler away from you (downwards, pic. 5). Slice each half in the middle, lengthwise and slice each quarter again in half (pic. 6).

Cut these strips into 2-3cm/0.5-1in pieces (pic. 7, pic. 8). Generally, you don’t want very large pieces for the recipe, so cut into as many as needed, depending on the size of the squash that you are using. We usually cut each strip into 8-10 pieces. Place the squash pieces in a bowl large enough to accommodate all the vegetables of the recipe.

At this point, preheat the oven at 200 C / 390F (convection oven / fan-assisted).

Peel the sweet potatoes and place them on the cutting board. Slice in half lengthwise and then cut those into 2-3cm/0.5-1in pieces (pic. 9, pic. 10, pic. 11). If you’re using plump sweet potatoes, and not the thinner, longer ones that we used in this recipe, then slice them in half lengthwise, and slice again each half lengthwise, so that each potato is cut into 4 strips. Then proceed by cutting these in pieces. Place all the sweet potato pieces in the bowl with the squash.

Cut the onions in half. Then slice them (pic. 12). Add the slices in the bowl with the squash and the sweet potatoes.

Add the olive oil (pic. 13), and the balsamic vinegar (pic. 14).

Add the marjoram, the mint, the thyme, the salt and the pepper (pic. 15). Using your hands, mix everything well to coat the vegetables with the herbs/spices, the oil and the balsamic vinegar (pic. 16). Scoop from the bottom to the top, and fold, it will take about a minute.

When everything is mixed together well, empty the bowl in a large metallic roasting pan-baking dish (pic. 17) and arrange in a single layer (pic. 18). We used the large pan that comes with the oven; you can choose your favorite largest one. Generally, the more you spread the vegetables in a single layer in the pan, the better they will turn out at the end.

Cover the pan with foil (pic. 19) and bake for 1 hour. Then, remove the foil and use a thin flat spatula to flip the vegetables and move them around (pic. 20).

Place the pan back into the oven for another 20 to 30 minutes, until the vegetables are getting brown in the edges, so that they are crispy on the outside and soft in the inside.

Serve them as a side for roasted turkey or chicken, as a salad, or as a meal on its own with some sour cream of Greek yogurt!

Kali oreksi and please let us know what you think if you try this recipe out!

Tips:

1. You can keep the seeds that you scooped out, rinse them and remove the strings. If you pat them dry, mix with salt and a touch of olive oil, you can roast them on a baking sheet at 160C/320F for about 20 minutes, until they start to brown. This way you can also have a healthy snack from the squash you used for the recipe.
2. If you can’t find marjoram in the dry herbs/spices section of your grocery store/super market, then look it up in the herbal teas section. Dry marjoram in teabags can also be use, as long as it doesn’t have other ingredients. Just cut a few bags and empty them in a small mason jar.
3. Try to spread the vegetables in the pan in a single layer. They will cook better this way.
4. Always prefer the longer, thinner sweet potatoes. They roast much better than the plump ones and we find that they taste better as well.
5. Use a metallic roasting pan/baking dish and not glass/ceramic for better results.
6. Avoid cutting the squash and the potatoes into larger than 3cm/1in pieces. They are much better when cut smaller, like 2cm / about 0.5 inch.
7. You can also add a couple of carrots in the bowl with the squash, the potatoes and the onion. Just make sure you dice the carrots in small pieces.
8. To clean the roasting pan from burned residue afterwards, which we know that it’s always a pain, here’s our tip: soak it in warm soapy water overnight. The next day pour the water out, sprinkle generously with baking soda and pour some warm water. Let it sit for 30 minutes to an hour. Rinse add a little soap and sprinkle again with baking soda and scrub. This seems to make this job easier.

This post is not sponsored by the restaurant mentioned, or any municipality, or governmental/tourism organization, is not a paid advertisement or part of any affiliate marketing program. Meaning: We really enjoyed the places and the restaurant and are writing our own opinion without any compensation.

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No mayo Greek style potato salad

littlecookingtips — Sun, 13 May 2018 16:07:21 +0000

Photo and text by Panos Diotis and Mirella Kaloglou.

Calories (per serving):

266

Servings:

serves 4-6

Preparation Time:

30 minutes

Cooking Time:

30 minutes

It’s been quite a while, since our last post. But we are finally back! Many things happened during this summer, some of which were good and some of which were terrible.

On the positive side of our news, we decided, after living together for some years, to get married. We were so happy to officially tie the knot, and then we went to the island of Kythira for our honeymoon. The island was really beautiful and we had a great time there, with good food, swimming and sightseeing.

However, this summer –as many of you many have learned through the news- another tragedy hit Greece. Huge wildfires burned thousands of homes, and the worst part was that 100 people, many of them children were perished. The wildfires burned in the outskirts of Athens, near a beach. The seaside village of Mati, has been literally wiped off the map and the stories coming from the area were truly heartbreaking. It still hurts too much when we talk about this. Because of the tragedy, and out of respect for the victims lost by the sea, we decided that we will not share photos from sunny summer beaches in this post.

For pictures from our lives in Greece, that always accompany our posts, we decided that we will share some, from our trip to the mountains of Karpenisi, back in spring.

A trip to Karpenisi

During the last spring, we visited Karpenisi. This is a town situated in central Greece, in the southern part of the Pindus mountain range. The town is inside a valley, surrounded by the mountains; you can see it in the first photo of this post. The building on the hill is a hotel with a great view of the town. There are many small B&Bs in the area, especially in small villages that are spread in the slopes around Karpenisi. We stayed in one of these picturesque villages, and the photos next, are from our visits in such villages.

The food in Karpenisi was really good! All the taverns/restaurants in the area have great food and serve you with a smile. We had traditional dishes like fasolada bean soup, cuttlefish and spinach stew, grilled local trout from the rivers of the area (served with boiled wild greens in EVOO-lemon), grilled meats, and we enjoyed all these dishes with amazing views of rivers, streams and dense forests with firs! The desserts were mostly traditional as well; we had orange pie (a syrup-drenched orange cake), walnut pie (syrup-drenched cake with ground walnut), galaktoboureko (a delicious custard with filo) and many more delicacies.

If you ever visit the area make sure to have/rent a car, so you can get to the villages and the mountains around Karpenisi. The place is really unique and perhaps not classically Mediterranean. Perhaps it may remind one of old mountain villages in central Italy or villages in the mountains of southern France. There’s peace and quiet here, and doesn’t have that touristy-feel of other places.

The authentic atmosphere in the area around Karpenisi, made this trip really memorable. We still remember how much we enjoyed visiting small cafes in these old villages to have some herbal teas, looking at the view around us in a zen-like state :) If you ever come to Greece in the winter, do try the sideritis mountain tea, called “tsai tou vounou”, usually served with honey in villages throughout the country. It has a unique flavor and it’s perfect for the immune system, the digestion and the shortness of breath. Just perfect when you walk up and down the slopes!

By the way, at the north of Karpenisi, there’s also a ski resort, which was closed because of the season. We bet it’ll be amazing during winter.

Another delicious find, was a small mushroom shop in the village of Voutyro. The guys working at the shop explained us many things about mushrooms, as they also have a small exhibition with various species. They forage mushrooms from the mountains of the area and are really passionate about what they do. We bought some of their products, our favorite being a bug of dried morels. These were cooked with good butter and a little parsley upon our return to Athens and were really amazing! By far one the best mushroom varieties we ever had.

No mayo Greek style potato salad

When we returned to Athens, the weather changed and it got really warm. Summer came a bit early this year. So, we started having BBQs and grilling a LOT of fish (for some unexplained reason). Of course, we also had one of our favorite BBQ treats: Thai-marinated turkey chops! Also lots of chicken and pork chops (yes, perhaps you may get a strange impression that we love having BBQs, right?).

What is also a must at every BBQ? A good salad (of course!). What’s one of the most popular salads in BBQs? A potato salad! We shared a couple of potato salads in the past on the blog, like the no-mayo gorgonzola potato salad (a delicious blue-cheese and walnut salad) and the roasted peppers potato salad [https://www.littlecookingtips.com/content/sensational-potato-salad-roasted-red-peppers] (a very old post, please be gentle with us when you take a look at the photo and the text).

The potato salad that we’ll share with you here is definitely a favorite, and it also has Greek ingredients. We call this a “Greek style” no-mayo salad, as it contains olives, capers and feta. You can also have this as a meal, since it also has protein because of the cheese. And the leftovers are amazing, especially if you have them with hard boiled eggs, to stir things up!

This potato salad is healthier than most potato salads, as it is lower in fat. Why is that? Because it doesn’t have a ton of mayo in it, like most similar salads. It actually has good fats, like extra virgin olive oil. It’s a salad with lots of taste without the calories of a traditional potato salad, so it’s great if you’re looking for ways to lower the calorie intake.

This doesn’t mean though that it lacks anything in flavor! No one will feel like they are missing out. It’s not a bland salad, no, not at all. It has a wonderful texture from the soft potatoes and olives, the crumbly feta and the crunchy onion and parsley. It has slightly salty and vinegary flavors from the olives and the capers which pair amazing with the slightly sweet and sharp balsamic-honey-mustard dressing! All these flavors, along with the cheesy feta give so much taste and elevate the humble potatoes. So, each bite is super yummy!

One of the things that make or break a potato salad is the dressing; in this salad, we think the quantity is just right: it’s not a dry salad. If you do prefer more dressing though, please, by all means, double the ingredients and make some more!

By the way, blending the dressing in the food processor is very important for proper emulsification. Do not skip this step and whisk by hand. The processor makes all the difference! And always keep in mind, that potatoes need a lot of salt. So add a some salt in the salad but also add some in the dressing.

For this recipe, like with any potato salad, you should prefer waxy over starchy potatoes. Red potatoes or Yukon gold are really perfect for this. Of course, you can also use baby potatoes, Russet, yellow or white potatoes as well.

And like with many similar recipes, you can make many variations of this salad. For instance, you can also add finely chopped red bell peppers! You can add jalapenos for a spicier taste. You can add chunks of gherkins instead of capers. You can add chives or dill instead of parsley. The possibilities are endless and we’d love to hear about variations that you tried, to make this salad your own!

This is also a potato salad that tastes amazing served at room temperature. So you can have the boiled potatoes drained and waiting at the colander and prepare and serve the salad at the last moment. No need to make it ahead. The flavors will be there. This makes it a great last-minute potato salad you can bring with you at any BBQ!

So let’s see how to make this sweet and sour, delicious, Greek-style potato salad!

Ingredients:

- 500g / 17.5oz / 1lb potatoes*
- 35g (3 tablespoons) kalamata olives, pitted **
- 20g (2 tablespoons) capers
- 40g (1/4 cup) red onion, finely chopped
- 15g (4 tablespoons) fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 100-120g / 3.5-4 oz (about 3/4 cup) feta, cubed
-salt, pepper

For the dressing:
- 4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1/2 garlic clove (1 teaspoon), minced
- salt, pepper

* Prefer waxy potatoes like Yukon gold, or red potatoes. You can use other varieties as well though, like baby potatoes, Russet, Yellow or White potatoes. Ourselves, we prefer a French baby potato variety that is widely available here in Europe.
** You can also use whole kalamata olives as-is (add 5-8 olives), or cut 35g (3 tablespoons) of slices from whole olives.

Preparation:

If you plan to leave the skin on, rinse the potatoes and place them in a large bowl with enough water to cover them. Add 2 tablespoons of vinegar (pic. 1) and let them sit for 5 minutes. Then, scrub their surface with a brush (pic. 2), rinse and set aside. If you don’t want the skin on, simply rinse and then peel the potatoes.
At the same time with the potatoes: let the capers sit in a bowl with a cup or two of water, for about 10 minutes; then drain them in a fine sieve. Keep them in the –now- empty bowl (pic. 3).

Place the potatoes in a medium sized pot, cover them with water and add 1-2 tablespoons of salt (pic. 4). Bring them to a boil, and then reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer them for 10-12 minutes (depending on their size). The potatoes are ready, once you can easily pierce them with a fork. When ready, drain them in a colander (pic. 5) and let them cool so you can handle them.

To make the dressing, add the olive oil, the balsamic vinegar, the mustard, the honey, the garlic, salt and pepper in a food processor (pic. 6). Pulse for about 1 minute (pic.7).

Chop the potatoes to desired size chunks (we prefer about 3-5cm / 1-1.5 inch each) in a bowl. Add the olives, the capers (pic. 8), the onion, the parsley, a little salt and pepper (pic. 9). Mix gently with a spoon to combine (pic. 10).

Serve with the dressing on top, or on the side so that anyone can add in his plate.

Kali oreksi!

Tips:

1. You can add more garlic (up to two cloves) if you prefer a strong garlicky flavor in the dressing.
2. You can also use Dijon mustard instead, if you prefer a spicier dressing.
3. Do try to chop the potatoes in smaller pieces (about 2.5cm/1 inch). When the chunks are smaller the flavors are better distributed in the salad and you don’t get bland bites.
4. You can also add chives or dill instead of parsley. If you don’t like capers, you can also substitute them with gherkins.
5. Potatoes do need a lot of salt, so don’t be afraid to add salt both in the salad and the dressing.
6. Any leftovers are amazing as a meal with the addition of some hard boiled eggs!

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Fast&Easy

How to make Greek Whipped Feta (Tyrosalata)

littlecookingtips — Sun, 28 Jan 2018 15:16:34 +0000

Photo and text by Panos Diotis and Mirella Kaloglou.

Calories (per serving):

215

Servings:

Preparation Time:

Cooking Time:

Sauces - Marinades - Syrups

It’s been a while since our last post, isn’t it? We’re getting close to Valentine’s and besides posting this wonderful roundup for 10 hearty soups and stews that was really popular, we haven’t had the time to properly sit down and write another recipe post.

This has been a very busy period. Moreover, during the Holidays we were both under the weather and took us quite some time to recover. We spent most of the last 1,5 months staying inside, cooking lots of soups and making various comfort foods to brighten our mood:)

Of course, during the Christmas period, we made the classic Greek chicken avgolemono soup and some other traditional dishes to enjoy them at home. Since however, we were sick, we enjoyed them just ourselves, without any friends or family this year. After all, it’s hard to have people over with a runny nose and sneezing at regular intervals. :)

So, we spent the New Year’s Eve watching live feeds on the internet, with 2018 arriving at different places around the world and the fireworks/celebrations which in some cases were spectacular! We especially enjoyed Sydney, Pyongyang, Hong Kong and Dubai. It was too late for us to stay up for NYC celebrations, unfortunately, due to the time difference. We also cut the traditional vasilopita New Year’s pie but didn’t do the whole pomegranate smashing and the rest of the traditional things that go with it.

On the positive side, we had the excuse to lay down and enjoy lots of movies and series and catch up with our reading (finished Jo Nesbo’s Harry Hole series, both of us big fans). It wasn’t until about a week, after 2018 arrived, that we had a chance to actually get out of the house and do something, go somewhere.

We went –yes you may guess this- to Steni, in Evia which is less than a couple hours from Athens. This short trip was magnificent though. We left very early in the morning and enjoyed the sunrise on the road. The morning mist over the hills and meadows created an astonishing scenery and part of it can be seen in some of the photos of this post. When we arrived at the village, some of the Holiday decorations were still on, like the one in the photo with the elves. :)

Walking in small paths inside the village, so early in the morning, when everything is so peaceful and quiet is truly beautiful. We had a wonderful coffee in a small café where the fireplace was already on, and the sounds of cracking wood and crackling fire were the only ones in the room. We had our coffee watching the mountain above the village’s square with the pine trees and the heavy clouds sitting on its top.

After this small break, we went up the slopes to see some snow. There was some, but we mostly enjoyed walking in the forest for a while. Close to the summit, the forest is so untouched, with beautiful trees that remind one of Middle-Earth. Underneath, deadwood provides a place for moss and lichens to grow, creating a colorful carpet. You can hear small streams of crystal clear water heading down the mountain and a variety of birds singing all around you. It’s nature at its finest.

Clean Monday and Lent

The rest of January flew by us without even realizing it, with tons of work and other activities. So, we got almost to mid-February for posting this. Besides Valentine’s, which is now around the corner – and is relatively a new tradition for Greeks, which started being celebrated around 1990- another important day that’s approaching is Kathara Deftera (Clean Monday). This day marks the beginning of Lent.

Lent and Sarakosti (the 40 days period before Easter) is a big deal for Greeks, with a rich culinary tradition. You can read more about this here, in this article with some old recipes. However, before the Lent begins, there’s Tsiknopempti which has just passed (it was last Thursday).

Tsiknopempti literally means “Smoked Thursday”. On this day, Greeks have a huge meat-eating feast, with grilled meats, mostly cooked outdoors on charcoal grills. The logic behind this is that in 11 days the Lent is going to begin, so it’s an opportunity to enjoy as much meat as you like ahead of the fasting period that follows. In this day, if you step outside, in most neighborhoods you will smell grilled chicken, pork, steaks, sausages, lamb and other similar delicacies:) Most people celebrate this with friends and family, right after getting back from work, so the grills are mostly fired up for dinner, which makes this a truly special weeknight.

Tyrosalata

Speaking of Tsiknopempti, one of the most favorite Greek appetizers/spreads for accompanying grilled meats is the Tyrosalata whipped feta. Since we often make this at home, especially when we fire up the barbecue, we thought we should share this on the blog.

What is Tyrosalata? Tyrosalata literally means “cheese salad”, and it’s an easy to make spread/dip that is very often served as an appetizer or as is used as a condiment in sandwiches here in Greece. It’s basically whipped feta where with healthy ingredients added! You may also hear variations of this called ktipiti/htipiti (meaning whipped), or tyrokafteri (meaning Spicy Hot Cheese). Tyrokafteri is a version of tyrosalata that includes chili peppers, making it really spicy. If it comes too spicy, some people add yogurt to balance the heat.

But let’s get back to the classic tyrosalata whipped feta, which is not spicy. Tyrosalata is one of these old-school peasant’s foods, that people used to make all the time to serve as a snack or to accompany a drink, like wine or ouzo. It’s one of those dishes you can prepare in a couple of minutes with very few ingredients, making it perfect for any occasion.

Ourselves, we both have memories as kids, mashing some feta with a fork, and adding extra virgin olive oil, garlic and ground pepper, making this way, a quick, yummy snack to serve on crusty bread or rusks.

About the Recipe

The main ingredient for tyrosalata is really good quality feta cheese. When we write about feta in our recipes we always mean the real thing. Feta made from sheep’s (or mixed sheep’s and goat’s) milk. This feta has a stronger flavor and sour undertones and it’s perfect when combined with good olive oil and herbs. Make sure to buy high-quality feta for trying this out.

The recipe in this post makes a classic, simple tyrosalata. You can start from this, and then make countless more complex variations, by adding your favorite herbs or spices. You can also make this chunky or smooth, depending on your preferences. We like the tyrosalata a bit chunky ourselves, this way we find that we can really appreciate the feta. In this post, we used a food processor for making tyrosalata but if you don’t have one, don’t you worry; simply mince the garlic,use a fork and keep stirring, until everything has been mashed together.

This tyrosalata is made with whipped feta, without using cream cheese. Cream cheese is not traditionally used in Greece and versions that include it are not truly authentic. We find that it makes tyrosalata less cheesy and more buttery, and you lose some of the flavors of feta and olive oil. The tyrosalata of this post is a whipped feta with Greek yogurt version. Yogurt acts as a thickener and helps to incorporate the olive oil in the dip, just as it does in tzatziki (where it also absorbs the olive oil).

Like mentioned above, you can make many versions of this. Two of our favorite ones is one where you add just a little chili flakes and another one where you add roasted sweet red peppers. Some people also like to add a few drops of fresh lemon juice, but we don’t find that this adds much flavor.

How to serve Tyrosalata

You can serve tyrosalata as part of an appetizers platter or by itself. Make sure to have some rusks, crostini, bruschetta, crusty bread or breadsticks for one to spread this on. If you have some ouzo somewhere in your place, do try this together; it’s a beautiful combination.

Tyrosalata is also an amazing condiment for snacks, like sandwiches, or wraps (try it with burritos or fajitas)! You can also use it in burgers instead of mayo-based sauces. If you haven’t done this before, you’re in for a treat!

You can also serve tyrosalata atop of grilled chicken breasts, or as a side for pork or chicken skewers. It’s also amazing with steaks! If vegetarian, you can try this with fried veggies, like zucchini fritters. The combination is out of this world!

Finally, this is a perfect dip for crackers, crostini, tortilla chips, pita bread or fresh veggies, like carrot, cucumber or celery sticks. Make sure to make enough, as people will ask for more!

So let’s see how to make this easy and delicious whipped feta treat!

Ingredients:

- 200g / 7oz high quality feta cheese
- 110g / 4oz (6 tablespoons) Greek yogurt
- 1/2 - 1 garlic clove, minced
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoon dry oregano
- pinch of chili flakes (optional)
- pinch of fresh thyme (optional, for serving)

Preparation:

Add the feta in a bowl of a food processor, fitted with the blade attachment (pic. 1) and add the Greek yogurt (pic. 2).

Add the olive oil (pic. 3) and the minced garlic (pic. 4).

Add the oregano (pic. 5) and chili flakes (if using) and pulse for a 10-20 seconds at low speed (pic. 6).

Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed (pic. 7) and pulse again for another 20 seconds, until relatively smooth (pic. 8).

Serve on toasted bread, bruschetta or crostini, perhaps topped with halved cherry tomatoes and/or olives. Alternatively, serve as a dip with crackers, tortilla chips, vegetable sticks, or broiled pita bread. You can also use it as a condiment for your sandwiches or burgers!

Kali oreksi!

Tips:

1. You can make this a day ahead and it will taste even better on the next day! Just keep in the fridge covered with cling film or in a sealed container.
2. As mentioned, you can serve this as an appetizer, a dip, a condiment for sandwiches or burgers, or even on the side of roasted chicken, pork, steaks or fried veggies (like zucchini fritters).
3. You can add roasted red sweet peppers to make an equally delicious version of this.
4. You can add chili flakes or sliced jalapenos to turn this into a spicy dip.
5. You can process the mixture for 1 full minute or more, if you prefer a smooth, non-chunky version of the spread.

Meal:

Appetizers

Cuisine:

Season:

Main Ingredients:

Special Characteristics:

Fast&Easy

How to make Greek Traditional Chicken Soup Avgolemono (with egg-lemon sauce)

littlecookingtips — Mon, 13 Nov 2017 17:26:30 +0000

Photo and text by Mirella Kaloglou and Panos Diotis.

Calories (per serving):

370

Servings:

Preparation Time:

Cooking Time:

50 minutes

This week the cloudy, grey skies of the last days, finally cleared up. A glorious sun showered Greece with much-needed warmth and sunshine, to help coping with a recent natural disaster.

We won’t go into much detail –as this makes us really sad, because there were casualties- but a rare phenomenon, a Mediterranean hurricane hit Greece in mid-November. The outskirts of Athens were hit really hard by the storm, and now that it’s over households and businesses affected, have the difficult task to start assessing the situation in order to heal their wounds, if possible.

We don’t want to write much more about this; it’s really a painful situation. In this blog, we prefer to write about the positive things in life, to celebrate food and tradition. As you have noticed through the years, we don’t write about the Greek financial crisis or anything similar. We rather write about the beautiful things that life has to offer. This blog is all about memories, traditions, culture and –of course- food.

So -taking a big breath- we’ll focus on these. Most of us got to enjoy the autumn and the cool weather. Ourselves, we got the opportunity to walk in nearby groves and make small excursions in the country. The setting with the yellow, orange and red leaves is so majestic, isn’t it? And walking (or driving) in the country, offers a panorama of emerald-green meadows and dark woods, that you gaze in awe, in their autumn splendor. The other day, while taking photos, we noticed how a scene of nature in the fall, is as beautiful as the work of an impressionist painter, don’t you agree?

Harvesting Olives

In November, we have the olive harvest, here in Greece. It’s a tradition that hasn’t changed for thousands of years and the process is still more-less performed in the same manner. The olives are hand-picked by the workers -but also to a large extent- by families who own smaller olive groves. During the last years, most people opt for cold-pressing the olives, which means that they have a lower yield of oil, but the quality is higher. Organic groves are also on the rise, which is also great news, as the olive oil produced in them has both an amazing flavor and is free of any trace of pesticides.

Some of the best, chubby olives, are selected for pickling. These will become edible after a simple brining process, as olives are naturally very bitter. After brining, they are stored in olive oil and herbs, to accompany the meals in the months to come. There’s nothing like having selected your own olives and enjoying them in your table. There’s a link here with one’s past, with people who did this before, and people that will follow and continue this tradition.

Winter is coming :)

As November nears to an end, the festive period of Christmas and the New Year is gradually getting closer. The scents of orange, cinnamon, and clove from making melomakarona and diples will start filling the air in Greek households. The aroma of the flower water from buttery kourabiedes will put a smile on everyone’s face.

As mentioned in the kourabiedes post, regarding Greek Christmas, pork is the most popular choice as the traditional meat of the season. But it’s not the only one. Another popular dish for Christmas is the Greek chicken soup avgolemono (egg-lemon sauce). This soup is often the meal at the Christmas Eve dinner, or the first course at the main meal on Christmas.

Both of us have wonderful memories of Christmas past, sitting on the table with the family to enjoy this warm, delicious chicken soup, while the fire was crackling at the fireplace and the discreet music in the background was playing carols or Sinatra (or anything similar from the Rat Pack), staring at big piles of melomakarona, awaiting us for dessert :)

The chicken soup avgolemono

This soup is -of course- also popular all year round and is definitely one of the best and simplest dishes of the Greek cuisine. It’s also one of the most beloved Greek comfort foods. Perhaps that’s why we got many requests for this specific soup from our visitors and friends. These requests especially increased during the last year; as we noticed, this chicken soup is also getting a lot of attention from people abroad, being so easy and delicious as it is. So, we were waiting for the weather to cool down, in order to share it on the blog; and the season right before Christmas seemed to be the perfect time to post this.

Traditionally, this soup is made with a whole, free-range chicken. That is why olive oil was rarely added to the soup (usually only a drizzle when serving it), as free-range chickens have natural fat and one does not need to add more. You can make the soup with a whole chicken, cut into 6 or 8 pieces, in which case we suggest you double the rest of the ingredients of this recipe, as a whole chicken will weigh about 1,5 -2 kg / 3,5-4,5 lbs.

Being more practical, we preferred to use chicken thighs for this recipe. Buying boneless, skinless chicken breast or thighs is far more convenient and easier to handle for most people so, we tried both and then adapted and tested the recipe, with just (500-700 gr / 1-1.5lb) of chicken. We found that the thighs work better for this soup, as they do have a little fat and come out tastier in the end, in comparison to chicken breast. Of course, feel free to use whichever part you prefer.

There are countless variations of this recipe. This version is the traditional way our parent’s families make it and a very popular version in general. Plus, it’s really simple. You start by making a broth/stock, simmering the chicken and the veggies with peppercorns and bay leaves. When ready, you remove the chicken and the veggies and keep them aside, to chop and add them later on, when you’ll serve the soup. The broth is strained and then simmered with starchy rice until it softens. And the final step is making and adding the magic ingredient: the avgolemono (literally meaning egg-lemon) sauce.

This sauce is so delicious, that many people abroad are calling this soup simply “Avgolemono”. That’s not very proper though, as the same sauce is added in other dishes as well. For instance, one of the most popular Greek winter (and Christmas) dishes is a pork and celery stew called Hirino me Selino and it’s quite common to add egg-lemon sauce to this. Magiritsa, a traditional Easter soup, is also served with avgolemono, even in its vegetarian version. So, it’s better to call this dish “chicken soup avgolemono”, to distinguish it from other Greek dishes that also contain the avgolemono sauce.

What is avgolemono?

Now, what is the avgolemono sauce? It’s a very simple sauce, where eggs (whole or yolks) are beaten until creamy and fresh lemon juice is then added to them. While whisking vigorously, one starts to add slowly warm broth into the mixture. The purpose is to raise the temperature of the egg-lemon mixture to almost the same level as the broth in a soup. This way, the eggs won’t curd, they won’t become scrambled in the soup. They will turn into a creamy sauce that adds a wonderful silky texture to the soup. You won’t believe that you got this texture without using cream. And it’s really simple to make.

You can use whole eggs (not just the yolks) if you prefer a sauce with more froth. In this case, when you add the sauce in the pot (in the final step), simply hold and swirl the pot, don’t stir. It comes out better this way. Some people also like to beat the egg whites into foam separately, and then mix them with the yolks and the lemon juice. Then they temper the whole thing with the warm broth.
In this recipe we added just the yolks, as we believe that this soup looks better with less frothy sauce. It’s entirely up to you, to use the yolks or whole eggs. It’s simply a matter of preference.

In this post, we share a trick used by many cooks that helps a lot when reheating this soup. If you do this, the reheated soup will look much better. The trick is to add a little cornstarch in the lemon juice and then add this to the beaten eggs (or yolks). If you plan to serve the whole thing at once, you don’t need to do this though.

You can easily make this soup a day ahead without the egg-lemon sauce, and the next day reheat it well, make the sauce and add it to the soup right before serving it. It will be as delicious as it was freshly made.

You can also add more rice if you prefer a thicker soup. This is only suggested if you serve the whole soup at once. If you plan to serve it on the next day, the rice will continue to absorb the broth and the soup will be very thick, with almost no broth, so keep that in mind when you want to add extra rice.

So let’s see how to make this yummy chicken soup with avgolemono!

Ingredients:

- 500 – 700g / 1 – 1.5 lb (2 large) skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut in 2 or 4 large pieces *
- 1-2 carrots, peeled
- 1 stalk celery, cut into two pieces
- 1 large onion, peeled
- 2-3 bay leaves
- 1/4 teaspoon peppercorns
- 1 chicken stock bouillon (optional)
- 2 lt / 8 cups / 2qt water
- 1/3 cup medium-grain rice **
- salt, pepper

For the egg-lemon (avgolemono) sauce:
- 2 egg yolks (from large eggs)
- 1 large lemon, juiced
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch (optional, but highly recommended)

* You can also use chicken breast
** Choose a starchy rice, like Arborio, Carnaroli

Preparation

Place the chicken, the carrots, the celery, the onion, the bay leaves, the peppercorns and the bouillon in a large pot and cover with 2lt/qt of water (pic. 1). Place over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Once it starts simmering, reduce the heat to medium-low.
In case white foam forms on the surface, using a slotted spoon, skim off and discard (pic. 2).

Simmer covered, for 30 minutes. Then remove the chicken (pic. 3) and the veggies with a slotted spoon and place on a plate (pic. 4).

Place a fine sieve/colander over a large bowl and strain the stock from the pot (pic. 5). Pour the strained stock back into the pot, place over medium-low heat, and add the rice (pic. 6), salt and pepper (season well). Simmer for 20-25 minutes, depending on the type of rice you chose. Taste some of the rice to see if it’s soft (not chewy). When ready, remove the pot from the stove and set aside.

Add the cornstarch in the lemon juice and stir to dissolve. This is optional, only if you use cornstarch (which is highly recommended). In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the yolks until creamy, for a couple of minutes (pic. 7). Add the lemon juice (pic. 8) while whisking continuously.

Start adding broth from the pot (keep whisking continuously), one ladleful at a time (pic. 9). Add broth from the surface of the pot, to avoid adding much rice. It’s ok if the broth you add contains a little rice.
Add very slowly the first two ladles with broth, whisking vigorously (pic. 10). You will need about 3 full ladles to warm the sauce up. The whole point is to increase the temperature of the egg-lemon mixture to that of the level of the broth. This way, the yolks won’t become solid.

Once hot, pour the frothy sauce mixture into the pot (pic. 11), and stir. Ready to serve (pic. 12)

Shred the chicken (it’s now cool enough to handle) with your hands or chop it with a knife, and serve the soup with it, adding some chopped carrots or celery as well if you like, and freshly crushed pepper and/or finely chopped parsley.

Kali oreksi!

Tips:

1. You can make this dish with chicken breast, or even a whole chicken, cut into portions. If using whole chicken, simply double the ingredients, it will come out amazing.
2. The reason for suggesting the use of cornstarch is that it helps when reheating this soup to avoid cooking the yolks.
3. You can make the soup a day ahead without the egg-lemon sauce, and the next day reheat well, make the sauce and add it to the soup right before serving it.
4. You can also use whole eggs (not just the yolks) for a sauce with more froth. In this case, when you add the sauce in the pot (in the final step), simply hold and swirl the pot, don’t stir.
Some people also like to beat the egg whites into foam separately, and then mix with the yolks and the lemon juice.
5. You can add more rice if you prefer the soup thicker (like a stew) or less if you prefer a clean, broth-like soup.
6. You can also try this with any short pasta, like orzo, or couscous. It’s not the traditional way to make it, but it does make for a great soup.

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Low Calories/Diet

Mediterranean oven baked fish with tomato sauce and paprika

littlecookingtips — Wed, 04 Oct 2017 03:47:11 +0000

Photo and text by Panos Diotis and Mirella Kaloglou.

Calories (per serving):

405

Servings:

Preparation Time:

10 minutes

Cooking Time:

1 hour

Is it really October?

It’s early October as we’re writing this post, and looking back, with the exception of short periods of rain, the last month has been practically another summer month. It takes a while for Autumn to get here. Lots of sunshine, high temps and people rushing to the beaches, especially on the weekends, to get some comfort.

In the last few days though, the temperature dived about 10 degrees, and now we all feel that it’s really October. Lower temps mean we can concentrate easier on things we enjoy at home. One of them is cooking. Another is blogging. Like we’re happily doing now.

Visit to Epidaurus

One of the things we especially enjoyed this summer, was a daily visit to Ancient Epidaurus. It’s one of the places we always wanted to visit, that’s also close to Athens, but for some strange reason, we never had so far.

So, at the beginning of our summer vacation, one morning we woke up early, had a small breakfast and drove to Epidaurus. After using the highway, there’s a hilltop road (paved of course) for about an hour, but the scenery with the olive trees and then the pine trees make the trip enjoyable. The day that we visited was windy, which was great, as it helped us to cope with the high temps.

Arriving at Ancient Epidaurus, we bought a ticket which is valid for visiting everything at the site. We visited the Ancient Theatre, which is still operational today, with performances every summer and thousands of spectators.

The theatre can accommodate up to 15.000 spectators and was constructed in the 4th century BC. The amazing thing about this site is the unique acoustics. The theatre is constructed in such a way that one can hear perfectly what the actors say on the stage, regardless of one’s sitting and without using amplifiers.

We loved the great Stadium they also built nearby, where many competitions took place in antiquity, mostly to honor the god Asclepius. It was really impressive and preserved in great state.

Near the theatre, there’s a wide flat place with many ruins. In these ruins one can see what’s left of the walls of the -once glorious- Asclepeion. The Asclepeion was a sanctuary devoted to the healer-god Asclepius, son of Apollo. It was a sacred and highly spiritual place, where ill people came to get advice for their ailments. Healing mineral springs nearby were believed to help one cure and the priests guided and helped the sick with various practices.

At its height, there were so many people visiting, that they also built a huge restaurant/banquet hall, called hestiatoreion (to this day the word means restaurant in Greek) with a majestic entrance, right next to the Asclepeion, to feed all the visitors. If you’re following us on Instagram you might’ve seen our relative Story :)

We loved the great Stadium they also built nearby, where many competitions took place in antiquity, mostly to honor the god Asclepius. It was really impressive and preserved in great state.

Finally, we visited the marbles and the statues in the Museum. It was a great collection, and we loved reading ancient Greek and understanding some of the sentences. So wonderful to be able to communicate through time with the people who lived there thousands of years ago, isn’t it? The building of the Museum was rather outdated though; definitely, needs a renovation and lights. We hope someone will take a look at this at some point.

Sun and sea

After spending a few days in Athens (we also visited the Zoo which is close to the Athens airport and had a lot of fun!), of course, we went to Evia, to visit our favorite Aegean beaches and enjoy the garden of Panos’ parent's house in the country.

We went to Korasida, Cheromylos and of course, Mourteri/Agios Merkourios. These three beaches are among our favorites, and we try and visit them every year. Especially the last one, which is a 5km long beach, with very few visitors, so you can enjoy the sea without any noise or people close to you if looking for a calm place. The first half of the beach is called Mourteri, and the second half is called Agios Merkourios. A cliff divides the beach in two, separating the more touristically developed Mourteri from, the more deserted, but calmer Agios Merkourios.

When we want to visit these beaches, we keep an eye on the weather, to see which days the winds are not so strong, as these beaches are exposed to northern winds, and there are a lot of waves on windy days. If you ever visit Evia and want to swim there, here’s a tip: a great indication for the waves is the weather of Kymi ( a nearby town). Also, always visit early in the morning when the winds are low.

This summer we used a lot our diving masks and snorkels. This way, we had a lot of fun observing the amazing marine flora and fauna in the area. The waters on the Aegean side of Evia are crystal clear, and you can see beautiful cuttlefish on the sandy or pebble bottom, shells, shellfish, and sea urchins on rocks; and of course, a plethora of fish :) It was truly magical diving in these blue waters.

The organic garden

As we mentioned many times before, one of the things we love about visiting Evia is the fact that Panos’ parents have a big organic garden there. Even though during the summer people don’t cook as much as in the winter, there’s so much produce there, you can’t help it trying out new recipes, new ways to enjoy it.

As you have probably guessed, we made countless Greek salads, fried huge stacks of zucchini fritters, dipped them in tons of tzatziki, baked pans and pans with gemista, had a lot of kagianas for breakfast or lunch, made moussaka when in need for comfort food, used the eggplants with pasta or made melitzanosalata and went on and on. We couldn’t and wouldn’t stop, as long as there was produce in the baskets :)

What we wouldn’t use, we sliced, grated, chopped and did whatever necessary to preserve for the winter. So now our freezer is full of in-season-out-of-season frozen produce. :) And that’s a great practice for everyone, in order to enjoy tasty veggies. Buy them when in-season, and especially when on sale, chop or grate and freeze in ziplock bags. This way, you can make a magnificent marinara in the middle of the winter, with the flavors of an August’s tomato. Isn’t that great?

In the evenings, we loved sitting on our veranda to enjoy a cantaloupe, a watermelon, some apricots or peaches, and -in late August- some grapes and figs. Figs are so awesome. If you never had them before, buy a few when in season and eat fresh, preferably on the same day. You really have to try them: soft and silky on the outside, with dark red, soft flesh on the inside and crunchy tiny edible seeds. Just cut one in quarters and put it on some Greek yogurt. Drizzle then with honey: heaven! It’s the perfect dessert, plus it’s super healthy!

One pan baked fish

During the summer, people don’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. That’s understandable, with all the outdoor activities one can enjoy during the season. So, one pan, easy recipes, are a perfect choice. Since we shared our summer memories in this post, we thought we should share one of the one pan recipes that only need a few minutes to prepare. Plus now that it’s October, you probably have a ton of things to do on weekdays, right?

And this is one of the easiest fish recipes out there. A dump and bake, one-pan baked fish that we make very often on weekdays, when the time is precious, being busy with all day-to-day activities and our household.

Fish is a great source of lean protein, and also contains a lot of heart-healthy fats (omega-3 fatty acids) that are good for one's heart. So, pairing it with a vinaigrette lettuce salad or brown rice it makes for a complete, filling AND healthy meal. Isn’t that great?

As mentioned, one of the things we love about this baked fish recipe is that it’s very easy and therefore convenient. You don’t need a lot of prep time. You simply turn on the oven, prepare the onion and the tomato, mix the ingredients for the sauce, dump it in a pan, dip the fish steaks in it and then lay them over and bake. As simple as that! And while it’s baking, you can prepare the salad or the rice (or both).

We call this recipe “Mediterranean fish” and not “Greek fish”, even though it does contain ingredients used it the Greek cuisine, just like in this very old “fish plaki” recipe on the blog (Please excuse us for the terrible photo, it was published years ago when we first started blogging LOL).

The reason for not calling this recipe “Greek”, is the secret ingredient: smoked paprika. Smoked paprika is a classic ingredient in the Spanish cuisine, not the Greek one. It’s a spice we love to use in many of our recipes (like in mac 'n cheese for instance), and has a very distinct, unique flavor. You can also use smoked Hungarian paprika, of course, that’s equally delicious; whichever is available around your area.

The type of fish we suggest using in this recipe is any large white fish. Fish steaks or fish fillets cut into large pieces would both work excellent. We have tried this with cod, haddock, swordfish and large sea breams. You can use whichever you prefer or is on sale. The sauce will provide all the flavor in this recipe, so don’t hesitate to buy a cheaper, more affordable piece of white fish.

Frozen fish steaks work well too, but make sure to thaw them properly. Place them (covered with film) in a bowl in your fridge, and let them thaw for up to 24 hours. Then rinse, and pat dry with kitchen towels. You will need a lot of towels, as frozen fish is watery. But it will work just as well as fresh. Perhaps it will take a little time more to bake, that’s all.

The combination of the smoked paprika with the extra virgin olive oil and the oregano is amazing. Plus, adding a good wine will enhance the flavors, creating a delicious dish. Make sure to dribble some of the juices from the pan on top of the fish when serving it. And a little extra virgin olive oil as well.

So, let’s see how you can make this easy fish in the oven!

Ingredients:

- 3-4 fish steaks or fish fillets (cod, haddock, swordfish) cut into large pieces, about 1Kg / 2lb
- 1 medium sized tomato, 250-300gr / 9-10oz
- 1 medium-sized onion, 130-160gr / 4.5-5.5oz, finely chopped or sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/3 cup (80ml) extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup (60ml) white wine
- 1/2 teaspoon dry thyme (or 1/2 tablespoon fresh)
- 1 tablespoon dry oregano (or 2 tablespoons fresh)
- 1 1/2 tablespoon paprika, preferably smoked
- salt, pepper
- a little finely chopped parsley to garnish (optional)

Preparation:

Rinse and pat dry your fish steaks (or fillets). If using frozen fish, thaw in the fridge for 24hours, and then pat dry with a lot of kitchen towels, as it’s quite watery. Sprinkle some salt on both sides of each steak.

Grate the tomato (pic. 1) and strain it, using a fine sieve (pic. 2) to remove some of the water.

Add the tomato in a large bowl and add the olive oil (pic. 3) and the wine (pic. 4).

Add the thyme, the oregano and the paprika (pic. 5), salt and pepper, the onion and the garlic (pic. 6).

Mix well with a spoon (pic. 7) and empty the bowl’s contents in a baking dish, large enough to accommodate your fish steaks (pic. 8).

Press each fish steak into the sauce, flip and lay on top (pic. 9). The steaks will look like the ones in the pic.10.

Bake in a convection oven, at 200C / 390F for 30-40 minutes (depending on the thickness of the steaks and whether they’re fresh or frozen and thawed – in which case they’re usually waterier).

The fish is ready when most of the liquid has evaporated. Let it rest for at least 10 minutes before serving, to allow it to absorb the flavors of the surrounding gravy.

Serve with a simple vinaigrette-lettuce salad or rice. You can also serve this with French fries, if not looking for a healthier option :) Dribble the juices and some extra virgin olive oil on top for extra flavor.

Kali oreksi!

Tips:

1. As mentioned, if using frozen fish, thaw for 24 hours in a bowl in the fridge and then pat dry with kitchen towels. Makes sure it’s dry enough, as frozen fish tends to be watery.

2. You can use cod, haddock, swordfish, sea bream or any other firm white flesh fish for this dish. Skip tuna or salmon in this recipe.

3. Try to get some high quality smoked paprika for this. It will define the flavor of the dish. You can use it in countless other recipes as well: in stews, to rub chicken or steaks for grilling, you can sprinkle it with salt on fries, you can use it in dips/sauces …you get the picture :)

4. You can try this dish with fresh, finely chopped fennel fronds (or dill) and skip the thyme, the oregano, and the paprika. It’s a different, equally delicious variation that’s better served with French fries.

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