Fresh grilled  Sardellen with Greek salad....The best healthy meal!!!!!!!!

KALI OREKSI!!!!!!!!!!

Prasorizo - Leek Rice

Very easy to make and very easy to eat.

Ingredients

6 large leeks, cleaned and sliced into 2 cm pieces, washed well to remove all grit .

1 large  onion, minced

1 carrot sliced

1 paprika minced

³⁄₄ cup olive oil

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 cup  rice (suitable for soup)

5¹⁄₂ cups boiling water

Directions

In a large saucepan, saute the leeks, onion, carrot and paprika in the olive oil until softened, 4-5 minutes. Add 1/2 cup water and  bring temperature down to simmer. Cover saucepan and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add rice and 5 cups hot water, bring to boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes, add tomato paste, stirring occasionally.

  Remove from heat and allow to 'sit' for anywhere from 35=45 minutes before serving. The rice will absorb extra liquid during this time, but remain creamy and hot.

I wish you a bright December, full of Christmas spices...cookies and Christmas recipes !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Vegetables with chicken !!!!!!!!!

A quick and healthy meal all time classic .....

All you need is vegetables you like and chopped chicken filet. Use your imagination and your taste !!!!

Waffles time!!!!!

This afternoon my daughter Sofia had a great idea!! to make some waffles..

Ingredients
2 cups flour
1 spoon of soup baking soda
2 sp. of soup sugar
1/2 sp. salt
1 vanilla
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup milk
125 gr butter

In a bowl put the flour, the baking soda, the salt and the vanilla and mixed with a spoon.
In an other bowl put the sugar, the eggs, the butter and mixed. Add one by another the flour and the milk till you have a thick dough. Are you ready?????😊😊

Spaghetti with mushrooms and milk cream

You can use every kind of spaghetti you wish. Boil as usual and for the milk cream sauce : saute 1 chopped onion and add chopped mushrooms. Then add the milk cream (500ml) and boil 1-2 minutes. Add salt and pepper. Mix the sauce with the spaghetti and serve!!! A quick  delicious dish!!!

what you can create with cabbage and minced meat!!!!

Breakfast

At now days with all these stress and responsibilities, we don't have time to eat breakfast. The most important meal of the day..

We can make quick delicious sandwiches with ingredients we have at home.

One simple sandwich is this one with salmon.
We take 2 slices of bread , put on it cream cheese and the salmon. It's a healthy and quick sandwich .

The best pumpkin soup

As autumn kicks in there’s nothing more comforting than a warming bowl of yummy soup to feed the body and soul. The key to making a seriously delicious pumpkin soup that is so simple and without cream is to simmer the pumpkin with garlic and onion which is then pureed into the soup. It adds so much more flavor into the soup, you will be surprised!


Ingredients

1 kg pumpkin (any), chopped into large chunks (remove skin and seeds)

2 medium onions, sliced

2 cloves of garlic

3 cups / 750ml chicken or vegetable stock

1 cup / 250ml milk

Salt and pepper

Directions

Combine all ingredients (except salt and pepper) in a saucepan and bring to boil, then reduce heat and let simmer until pumpkin is tender.

Remove from heat and use a stick blender to blend until smooth.

Season to taste with salt and pepper, then serve with crusty bread.

For a richer finish, substitute the milk with cream, but add after blending and do not bring to boil.

Garnishes: Dollop of yoghurt, sour cream or creme fraiche goes wonderfully.

Let us enjoy a wonderful lazy breakfast the first day of month!!!!!!!!!!!

At the summer with this heat we want to eat something light, delicious and quick to prepare...
What about the king of the summer at cooking? It's red, juicy with fresh aroma and great taste.. It is all over in the summer dishes .. Tomatoes!!!!!!
A quick light dish with 3 ingredients . All you need is puffed corn cakes, fresh tomatoes, feta and oregano.
So it is ..a light dinner dish, you can enjoy it with a glass of cool white wine...

Greek Potato Stew / Patates Fagito or Yahnio

How many times have we been wondering what to cook? Something quick and delicious. With just 5 ingredients with one pot in just under an hour we are going to  create one of the simplest, most authentic delicious Greek dishes you will ever enjoy!

Ingredients

 5 - 6 big potatoes

 1 large onion

 2 tbsp minced garlic

 3/4 cup  olive oil

 2 chopped large tomatoes

 1 tbsp tomato paste dissolved in 1 cup water

 5 cups water

 1 cup chopped fresh parsley

  salt, pepper, oregano

Directions

In a larger pot  sauté  onion and garlic in olive oil over low heat until almost soft. Add thick slices of potatoes and sauté another 3-4 minutes, careful not to burn.
Add remaining water. Bring to a boil and lower to a simmer. Cook uncovered for 40 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender.
Add salt, pepper , oregano, tomato paste and chopped tomatoes. Cook on low heat for 10 minutes, adding parsley when you get to 8 minutes or so. Tomatoes should have begun to cook down and be pretty soft at this point. Allow potato stew to sit, covered, off the heat for about 15-30 minutes before serving.  Patates yiahni is the number one any time of year !!!!!!!!!!!!!

FOIL BAKED FETA CHEESE

Α traditional Greek baked feta recipe (or feta bouyiourdi) made with only a few ingredients and in less than 20 minutes!

The main ingredient you will need to make this Greek baked feta recipe is of course feta cheese which is a favorite ingredient in all types of Greek recipes. For the topping use the juiciest tomatoes you can find, some sliced red onions and spice it up with some hot chilly peppers.  The key to this Greek dish is to bake everything wrapped in aluminium foil nice and slowly, until all of the flavours have been released and the baked feta is simmering in all the delicious juices, until softened.

Ingredients

a block of feta

1 tomato

1/2 red onion

1/2 hot chili pepper

1 tbsp extra  olive oil

1/2 tsp dry oregano

Directions

Slice the onion and pepper into rings or half rings and chop the tomato into small cubes.

Place the block of feta on some aluminum foil and top with the tomato, onion and pepper. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with oregano. Wrap the feta cheese with the aluminum foil and place on a baking tray.

Bake in preheated oven at 180C until the vegetables have softened, for about 20 minutes.

Serve the baked feta as it  (with the aluminium foil), with some crusted bread.

Roll Chicken with Rosemary

One of the easiest and most delicious dish...All you need is fantasy and good mood. My favorite habit when cooking is to listen to music.

Ingredients

1 chicken roll
1 onion
1 garlic
1 red pepper, 1 green pepper
I kg potatoes
4 tablespoons olive oil
oregano, salt, pepper
2 tablespoons mustard
Rosemary
1 small cup water

Directions

Cut the onion, the potatoes and the peppers into a middle pieces and put then into the pot. Add salt, pepper and oregano. In a bowl mixed the mustard with the olive oil, oregano and salt and brush the chicken roll. Put the roll in the middle of the top and add also rosemary. Add the water and bake for 2 hours at 180 degrees.

Easy French Toast

I love French Toast...so easy to prepare it and so delicious.. I can't wait..

Ingredients

2 large eggs
8 slices toast bread
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon butter
1½ teaspoons real vanilla extract
pinch of salt

Directions

Preheat a pan over medium- low heat. Using a large bowl, beat eggs with vanilla extract, milk and salt. Melt butter on pan.

Place bread into batter to coat one side. Flip over and repeat with other side. You don't want to soak the bread, just have each side coated well with the batter.

Place on pan until nicely brown. 

Shrimps Saganaki

Saganaki, a traditional Greek preparation named after the pan in which it’s prepared.

Ingredients

12 medium shrimps

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 chopped pepper

1 chopped onion

2 chopped cloves of garlic

½ cup white dry wine

½ cup  drained diced tomatoes

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

Dried oregano, salt, pepper

Directions

Heat oil in a medium pan over medium-low heat. Add pepper, onion and garlic.  Cook, stirring often, until soft, about 3 minutes. Add shrimps and cook, stirring occasionally, about 4–6 minutes. Add wine and cook for a minute. Add 1 tsp. parsley, oregano and tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring often, until tomato mixture is reduced by one-third, about 5 minutes.

Remove pan from heat and transfer  shrimps saganaki to a large  bowl, if desired. Garnish with parsley and dill. Serve with toasted bread.

HORTA VRASTA - BOILED GREENS

Horta is a catch-all term for greens and horta vrasta means  boiled greens.  

A dish of boiled greens drizzled with olive oil and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice is quite probably one of the most  delightful meals in Greek food culture.Many of us have stories of grandmother  going into the yard (or stopping by the side of the road!) with a kitchen knife, digging  greens from the ground.

To clean, just drop your chopped dandelions into a big bowl of cold water and swish them around to rinse away any dirt or sand. Turn out the bowl into a strainer over the sink and pop them into your boiling pot.


A way to make the cooking process even easier , put your pot of salted water on to boil before you begin to wash your  greens.

You want them to be soft and easy to chew but not mushy. Once they’re done ,do not strain off the water!
Quickly remove the cooked greens/horta  from your pot with a set of kitchen tongs and transfer into a serving bowl. Dress with olive oil and fresh squeezed lemon juice.
Serve with a piece of crusty bread and enjoy it.!!!!!!!!!!!

The most beautiful thing, to start your day with a coffee. With a cup of Greek coffee ...to smell the unique aroma and taste the strong flavor...

To make this , coffee beans are roasted and very finely ground. Then the coffee, sugar and water are mixed in a special tiny aluminum or copper pot called a briki and prepared over low heat. The amount of sugar used is according to taste and it must be added at the beginning (not after brewing, as with other types of coffee). 
There are four ways to drink this coffe: sketos (no sugar), me oligi (a little sugar), metrios (equal amounts coffee and sugar) or glykos (very sweet – more sugar than coffee). 
Now you know how to order your coffee in Greece...

Greek Yogurt with Honey ( Yiaourti me Meli )

At the summer time we are looking for something light to eat . What about  a creamy Greek yoghurt drizzled with sweet rich honey and sprinkled with crispy walnuts and cinnamon. The most sweetest cool dinner!!!!!!!

To prepare this 2-minute Greek yogurt with honey dessert to perfection you need to pay attention to one little secret. The ingredients! Try to get your hands on some good quality, strained Greek yogurt, which is creamier, thicker and richer in flavor than other types of yogurt. Honey, being its key ingredient needs to be off good quality too. Finally try to get your hands on the freshest walnuts you can find.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups strained Greek yogurt
• 1 1/2 cups walnuts
• 3/4 of a cup honey
• cinnamon powder

Enjoy it !!!!!!!!

Let's enjoy the sunday morning!!!!!!!!

Fried zucchini

This is the perfect recipe for crunchy zucchini




Ingredients

5 medium-sized zucchini 

1 cup water 

1 cup flour 

salt 

oil for frying

Directions

Cut the zucchini in any shape that you like, long or round slices. Make sure that you don't make the slices either too thick or too thin.

Place them in a clean food bag with the flour, twist the bag to close well and shake vigorously.

Heat the oil well. 

Take each slice of zucchini and after dipping it in the cup of water place it in the frying pan. 

Repeat until all the zucchini are fried. 

One of the most healthy and delicious vegetable is mushroom...

Grilled Mushroom

A very easy recipe. All you have to do is to mix in a small bowl the following ingredients and cover the mushrooms with it.

Ingedients

1 package of white mushrooms
2 spoons of olive oil
salt, pepper, oregano, chopped parsley and a 1 spoon of mustard. Mix all and cover the mushroom. Grill for about 6 min each side.

Greek Salad - Xoriatiki

The Greek Salad is known and loved around he world. It´s one of my favorite!!!!!!!!

Ingredients

4-5 large tomatoes
1 cucumber
1 large onion
1 green pepper
dried oregano
1-2 slices greek cheese - feta
salt, olive oil
greek olives
chopped parsley

Directions

Wash the tomatoes, cucumber and the green pepper. Clean off the outer skin of the onion and wash it.
Cut the tomatoes, cucumber, green pepper and greek cheese into bite - sized. Slice the onion into thin rings. Put all the ingredients in a bowl add salt, olive oil, oregano, greek olives, the chopped parsley, feta and mix.

Fasolada - Greek Bean Soup

This is an extremely popular dish, in fact this is the Greek national dish. Its easy to prepare, the only time consuming part is soaking the beans overnight.

Ingredients

 1/2 kg beans

1 onion

2 diced carrots

1 tablespoon chopped celery leaves

1/2 tablespoon tomato paste

100 ml olive oil

salt and pepper

Directions

Soak the beans overnight. The next day put the beans in a deep pan with water to cover them.

Boil them, but before they come to the boil remove with a spoon the froth that comes up to the surface. After they come to the boil simmer for 15 minutes.

Remove the beans and drain them in a colander. Put them back in the pan and add enough boiled water to cover them. Add all the remaining ingredients and simmer for 1 hour or more, until the beans are tender.

KALI OREKSI

How wonderful to inspire people and want to make you happy!!!! My present for today...this fresh fruit juice... Happy Mother´s Day!!!!!!!!!

Inspired by the Orthodox Easter, which was a few days ago, the main Easter meal at Holy Saturday is the Easter soup.

This soup is prepared and eaten o break the fast after midnight church services.

 Ingredients

• Liver, lungs, heart of a lamp
• 5 chopped lettuce leaves, 2 chopped fresh onions
• 1/2 bunch chopped dill
• 6 tablespoons rice
• salt, 1 egg, lemon juice of 2 lemons
• olive oil

Directions

Wash liver, lungs and heart. Bring to boil 7 cups of water and put in the liver, lungs and heart.

As it begins to boil, remove the scum that forms on top, add salt and simmer for approx. an hour.

Drain meat and cut into very small pieces. Saute fresh onions, meat, rice and lettuce in the olive oil in a saucepan until soft. Simmer for about 45 minutes.

Remove from heat. To prepare the egg - lemon sauce, stirring egg and add a little bit the lemon juice continuing to stir the egg.

Add to soup, swings cyclically the pot to go everywhere and serve hot.

No matter in which language...the taste, the aroma of spices are unique.

They allow you to be creative with your cooking. As the cook, you are the artist and spices are your paints.

Let's start  .....