Greek Recipes

There is no greater love in the Greek home kitchen than a warm salad. A salad made with cooked vegetables, rather than leaves and tossed in a lemony dressing. I love this way of serving vegetables, a meal in themselves when accompanied by a slice of feta dusted in riagni and good quality Greek olives. A warm salad of broccoli is regular home-style staple on the Greek table and simply dressed beetroot is also a big favourite. In summer a warm salad of baby zucchini, baby potatoes and sweet vlita (amaranth) leaves is also very popular. This salad takes its inspiration from the summer garden with fresh artichokes, baby potatoes and lemony purslane. Artichoke, purslane and potato salad ( Σαλάτα με γλιστρίδα, αγκινάρες και πατάτες ) Ingredients 8 artichoke bottoms, fresh or frozen 6 baby potatoes 8 small bunch of purslane, cleaned of any grit and tougher stems removed (save a couple of leaves for garnish) 8 small pickling onions 2 tablespoons dill, chopped For the dressing: 8 teaspoons of o

In part two of my ode to summery zucchini blossoms, I bring you the recipe for baked blossoms. In part one of this series of posts, I featured the stove top method for cooking these beauties. As I mentioned before, how you prepare the blossoms really depends on how you were taught by your mother or grandmother. Both methods are equally delicious and without further delay, I bring you the baked recipe!   Stuffed zucchini blossoms: the baked method (Κολοκυθοανθοι γεμ ιστοι) Serves 6; cooking time 60 minutes Ingredients 30 zucchini blossoms 15 or so baby zucchini (these should be available with the blossoms) 4-5 small potatoes, halved or quartered 1 cup Greek Carolina or other medium grain Calrose rice 1 small  brown onion, finely diced 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 2 tablespoons of fresh dill, finely chopped 2 tablespoons of fresh mint, finely chopped 2 tablespoons of fresh parsley, finely chopped Dried bukovo chilli flakes, to taste Salt and ground black pepper, to taaste 1 water g

A variety of beans are used in Greek cooking. Small beans, such as haricot beans are used in fasolada soup or chilled summer salads. However, giant white beans, known as 'butter beans' in English are the sole contenders for being baked in the oven in a classic dish called "gigandes plaki " also spelled gigantes or yigandes (γίγαντες πλακί). While many there many different regional recipes for this dish, most commonly the beans are first cooked in water to soften them and then baked in fresh tomato sauce with carrots and celery. In some areas, particularly in northern Greece, a more hearty winter version of the dish calls for spinach, sausage or even spicy whole chili peppers to be added. In our family, my mother in law's Zakynthian origins shine through in this recipe with a classic Ionian style freshly grated tomato sauce, flavoured with plenty of parsley and garlic. You can reduce the amounts of these in the recipe if you prefer a more mildly flavoured dish.  W