Yet more recipes for your Lenten delectation, this time from Greece.
From The Greek Vegan
March 12, 2016 18
Even more recipes for your Lenten delectation, this time from Greece.
bulgur salad
So incredibly simple to prepare, you’ll be floored by how amazing this traditional Greek bulgur salad tastes! Similar to the Middle Eastern dish tabouli, and in Cyprus actually called tambouli, – this dish is a flavor packed, nutritional powerhouse. Light, fresh herbs and crunchy vegetables, a simple dressing of just lemon juice and olive oil all mixed with hearty bulgur (pligouri/πλιγούρι in Greek or cracked wheat), bulgur salad is another fantastic example of traditional Greek salads that make an amazing meal!
Some packages of bulgur will recommend that you boil your wheat but there’s really no need. The traditional prep of bulgur is to soak and not boil the grains for about an hour. Once soaked, you can leave the bulgur aside for 24-48 hours until your ready to use it – a nice window Continue Reading →
Revithia sto Fourno / Baked Chickpeas
revithia sto fourno / baked chickpeas
Revithia sto fourno, baked chickpeas, is something everyone MUST make at least once – it’s just that good. Using only five of the most ordinary of ingredients, this positively perfect authentic, rustic peasant dish is a cinch to make for the modern home cook.
Two big time-savers include subbing in canned chickpeas (good quality, of course) for dried and making your caramelized onions up to 4 days ahead. Fresh chopped rosemary, olive oil and salt/pepper round out your shopping list for this one so seriously, give it a try – YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED. i promise! Continue Reading →
Lefki Fasolada (White Bean Soup)
a beautiful bowl of traditional Greek bean soup – lefki fasolada
Fasolada, or white bean soup, is a HUGELY popular – and authentically vegan – dish in Greece and throughout the Greek diaspora. Creamy white beans, sweet carrots, delicate celery and bright parsley in a light, delicious broth – it’s just the perfect comfort food and there’s never a single bean left behind!
Lefki fasolada (λευκή φασολάδα) is the variation featured here, traditionally made without tomato. For me, the soup tastes sweeter and really, more flavorful when the tomato is absent. The veggies and herbs are really allowed to shine and shine they do. The prep for lefki fasolada couldn’t be simpler and with just a handful of ingredients probably in your fridge right now, this rustic, peasant dish will show you exactly how simply perfect a simple soup can be. Continue Reading →
Stuffed Tomatoes
traditional Greek stuffed tomatoes
Stuffed tomatoes are another in the delicious line of traditional Greek stuffed vegetables, or gemistes. This recipe also features the very Greek use of sweet, dried fruits in savory dishes.
Currants, toasted pine nuts, fresh herbs and fluffy rice fill these tomatoes to the brim with so many wonderful flavors – they’re the most perfect meal imaginable! And once you see how simple stuffed tomatoes are to make, they’ll be
Skordalia
traditional skordalia with beautiful beet salad
Skordalia is one of the most traditional dishes in all of Greece. It’s so so simple to make with a just few everyday ingredients and remarkably delicious – if you haven’t already, this one is a must-try!
Often described as Greek garlic mashed potatoes, traditional skordalia is much more than that. Creamy, ‘buttery’ potato goodness with the pop of mashed raw garlic folded in – it’s indescribable really. And skordalia is in no way overwhelmingly garlicky, just almost peppery with that bite of raw garlic coming through the velvety potato.
Have only 1 russet potato and a few cloves of garlic in the house? Then you’re about 15 minutes away from crazy amazing skordalia! Spread it on EVERYTHING or pair it with it’s bestie, a simple beet salad / pantzaria salata. However you choose to enjoy it, you’ll love every Continue Reading →
Kolokithokeftedes / Squash Fritters
traditional Greek squash fritters / kolokithokeftedes
Kolokithokeftedes are light and crispy and so jam packed with flavor, these traditional fried squash patties that will have your tastebuds singing happy happy songs!
Zucchini squash, onions, potatoes, carrots, lemon zest and a sprinkle of nutmeg come together in the most delightful combination. The whole lovely veggie mix is bound together with a go-to ingredient Greek cooks have been using for hundreds of years and that is just now catching on in the US, can you guess what it is?? Continue Reading →
Bulgur Pilaf / Πλιγούρι πιλάφι
traditional Greek toasted bulgur pilaf
Bulgur has recently become the new ‘it’ whole grain here in the US and it’s about time too. In Greece, people have been enjoying it for eons – well, at least millennia! A nutritional powerhouse, bulgur is very tasty and boils up quickly with a unique cracked wheat texture; perfect for a light pilaf. This recipe for bulgur pilaf includes the traditional (and delicious!) standard vegetable mix-ins but the possibilities are endless and you’ll find info below to help you create variations of your own too!
So simple to cook up with very easy prep; you can have this nutty, bright, one-pot-wonder on your table in a little over half an hour. Try the recipe exactly as it is here with carrots, green peas, coriander, fennel seeds, fresh thyme and a pinch of cloves or go ahead and let your tastebuds Continue Reading →
Greek Potato Stew / Patates Yahni
Greek Potato Stew / Patates Yahni
Made with just 5 ingredients with one pot in just under an hour, this traditional Greek potato stew (πατάτες γιαχνί) is rustic potato perfection. Red ripe tomatoes, fresh parsley, sweet red onions, minced garlic and yellow potatoes simmered in olive oil combine to create one of the simplest, most authentic and amazingly delicious Greek dishes you will ever enjoy! Continue Reading →
Greek Beet Salad / Pantzaria Salata
traditional Greek beet salad
Greek beet salad is a fantastic choice for take-to-work lunch and summer picnics too! If you are planning on taking it to work with you as part of your lunch, make sure you use a metal lunch box set instead of plastic lunch boxes that aren’t eco-friendly. The great part of being vegan is how much better it is for the environment so why not continue being pro-active for the world by using a metal lunch box?
This beeeutiful traditional beet salad will have you fighting for seconds it’s so good! Gorgeous earthy boiled red beets, tiny tiny minced garlic pieces, flecks of fresh mint and parsley, Greek olive oil, red wine vinegar, ground coriander, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper combine to make a mouthwatering main course and the perfect side dish to just about anything – as delicious as it is lovely and incredibly easy to prepare.
Pantzaria salata is served all over Greece and is most often paired with a plate of skordalia (Greek garlic smashed potatoes). Truthfully they are amazing together but I also love beet salad all on it’s own with a big piece of crusty bread. So flavorful and satisfying, the authentic Continue Reading →
Stuffed Peppers / Yεμιστές πιπεριές
oven charred stuffed peppers
Stuffed peppers are such a classic Greek dish and traditionally vegan! Meat was only added to the rice mixture on special occasions and feast days. Every day stuffed peppers were meatless and, as you’ll see with this recipe, absolutely magnificent!
One of my all time favorite meals, stuffed peppers are a simple, easy to make ahead, healthy, so yummy dish. Green bell peppers are used most often but feel free to shake things up with yellow, orange or red bell peppers for
Marathopites / Fennel Pies
marathopites / fennel frond pies
Fresh wild greens, aromatic fresh herbs and olive oil all wrapped in a simple dough = handheld heaven! Pites (or singular, pita) are a general word to describe hand held pies of all sorts. The variety of fillings is endless, many many of which are traditionally meat/dairy free. This particular pita, marathopita, comes from the island of Crete where wild fennel runs, well, wild!
The perfect lunch, snack or even breakfast and very child friendly – marathopites (μαραθόπιτες) use only the leaves or frilly fronds that grow on thin stalks above the fennel bulb. Here in the Northeast US its often difficult to find fennel bulbs with a beautiful bushy bunch of fronds attached as they’re usually trimmed for supermarket shelves. They can, truth be told, get a bit unruly. Then comes July at the farmers market and fennel is at every stall, displayed in all her leafy glory. This is the time to make, eat and freeze for non-fennel seasons, marathopites! Continue Reading →
Grilled Corn Salad
grilled corn salad with bell peppers, red onion and fresh dill
Street vendors sell grilled corn everywhere in Greece during the summer. Crazy salty and steamed inside their husks, you wouldn’t believe how good they taste. This recipe uses grilled corn in a quick, easy, amazing summer salad – just over half an hour and you can be tucking into a bowl!
So good for lunch or dinner, this simple, delicious recipe uses oven-grilled corn cooks up perfectly every time and cooking corn this way also makes Continue Reading →
Spanakopita
traditional, authentically vegan Greek spanakopita
Spanakopita or spinach pie is probably one of the best-known of all traditional Greek dishes and hands down one of the most delicious. Its traditionally made without cheese so, bonus, authentically vegan too!
A handful of simple ingredients – fresh dill, mint, peppery chopped scallions, gorgeous green leafy spinach and you’re good to go. Wrap it all up in flaky fillo dough and you’ve got one of the easiest and most delightful foods in all of Greek cooking. This recipe will have spanakopita on your table in under an hour. Give it a try, you’ll Continue Reading →
Fried Squash
golden fried squash
Crispy, golden outside – tender, meaty inside, fried squash is so simple and so delicious you’ll never look at zucchini without drooling again! These make an amazing meal all on their own or pop them into a piece of pita bread with a little tahini lemon sauce and you have the perfect sandwich. You’ll find so many Continue Reading →
Black Eyed Beans / Μαυρομάτικα
black eyed beans with celery and thyme
This classic Greek dish is a lovely, light soup with the perfect bean flavor-pairing of celery and fresh thyme. Also known as ‘louvi xero’, black eyed beans (μαυρομάτικα) swimming in bowl of delicate tomato broth is one of the most delicious bean soups you will ever enjoy.
A few simple ingredients with quick prep and you have this one-pot-wonder on the table in 30 minutes. Just cover your dried beans with water to soak in the morning and they’ll be ready to pop into your recipe in the evening. Fast, easy, amazing is this authentic and so very tasty Continue Reading →
Chickpeas and Rice / Pεβίθια και Pύζι
traditional Greek chickpeas and rice
Creamy chickpeas, garlicky light tomato sauce and a pinch of smoky sweet cinnamon make this simple, traditional dish divine. A handful of ingredients, 35 min to prep/cook and you have a hearty, healthy, incredibly flavorful meal on the table. This dish is also perfect to take for lunch as its just as yummy at room temperature. A true one-pot-wonder, chickpeas and rice will become Continue Reading →
Carrot Keftedes
carrot keftedes with lahanosalata/cabbage salad
Keftedes are probably one of my favorite kinds of food – crispy outside, light oh-so-flavorful inside small fried (or baked) fritters of yumminess. You can make them with all sorts of ingredients from meat to just about any vegetable. I happen to love carrot keftedes best!
Roasting the carrots in this recipe really intensifies their flavor and sweetness and though many vegetable keftedes are made with eggs or cheese, they’re not missed in this traditional vegan (or Lenten) version. And carrot keftedes are a great way to use up stored winter carrots as well as older, less pretty carrots too. Continue Reading →
Ladopsomo / Fried Bread
ladopsomo / fried bread
A seamstress who worked for my father many years ago would bring me ladopsomo when she knew I was coming in to the store. Wrapped in aluminum foil and sprinkled with white sugar, I would be licking my lips the minute I spied that small silver packet next to her sewing machine!
Ladopsomo is simply fried bread and a more delicious result of a handful of plain ingredients there never will be. Most countries have a version of fried bread or fried dough. In Greece, it can be served as a side to savory or sweet dishes or stand on its own as the perfect snack. Ladopsomo is light, fluffy Continue Reading →
Lagana Bread (λαγάνα)
lagana with rosemary olive oil
There’s nothing like the aroma of fresh baking bread as it fills the house. My great uncle would always tell us that during times of famine you could fill half of your hunger with the smell of baking bread even before eating it.
Lagana is a traditional flatbread usually baked for Clean Monday (Καθαρά Δευτέρα) or Kathara Defthera, the first day of Great Lent before Easter. For those fasting most strictly, lagana is made without oil. For those less strict, olive oil is used and never any dairy products. Sesame seeds are the most common topping and often fresh or dried herbs are added for Continue Reading →
Greek Green Beans / Fasolakia
Greek green beans / fasolakia
I visited a friends house after school once and her mom asked if I liked green beans, she was serving them with dinner. I said, yes I loved them! Well, that was before I sat down to eat a side of soggy, grey-green canned beans. Yuk! Green beans to me were soft and tender and swimming in tomato, garlic and olive oil.
You’ll be surprised how simple these are to prepare and how melt in your mouth delicious they are. This recipe is based on 2 lbs of green beans and can easily be doubled or tripled with perfect results. Make sure to have Continue Reading →
Spanakorizo (Spinach and Rice)
spanakorizo / spinach and rice
Such a healthy, hearty, tasty dish – this meal can be on your table in less than 40 minutes. Spanakorizo (Σπανακόριζο) is traditionally served as both a main and side dish. Pair it with a wedge of lemon and a piece of bread, this dish is delicious right off the stove or served at room temperature.
Guaranteed to become one of your go-to Greek vegan and Meatless Monday recipes, spanakorizo is another great option for take-to-work/school lunch. I use fresh spinach probably 90% of the time but in a pinch, Continue Reading →
spanakorizo / spinach and rice
Such a healthy, hearty, tasty dish – this meal can be on your table in less than 40 minutes. Spanakorizo (Σπανακόριζο) is traditionally served as both a main and side dish. Pair it with a wedge of lemon and a piece of bread, this dish is delicious right off the stove or served at room temperature.
Guaranteed to become one of your go-to Greek vegan and Meatless Monday recipes, spanakorizo is another great option for take-to-work/school lunch. I use fresh spinach probably 90% of the time but in a pinch,will use frozen spinach with perfectly fine results. Which type of spinach you use is completely up to you and you can experiment with different varieties.
My favorite is spinach that is still attached to the roots. This kind of spinach, though not available regularly in my area, has the sweetest stems! I keep as much of the stem as possible and cut as close to the root bulb as I can. Bite a piece of raw stem and you’ll taste the difference immediately.
spinach with roots attached
More often available here is small leaf or ‘baby’ spinach with sweet, light leaves and thin, tender stems. Baby spinach makes for an overall lighter dish. Large leaf spinach gives a delicious earthy, almost minerally taste to your spanakorizo but the stems are often tough and stringy so I usually cut them down quite short. Don’t worry about the tougher, larger leaves here as the cooking time for this recipe allows them to soften up fine.
rinsed baby spinach
If you go with frozen chopped spinach, make sure to let it thaw before using and drain off any liquid. A whole 10 ounce bag, the usual amount that frozen spinach comes in, will give you a spanakorizo that is very spinachy. I think using 3/4 of a 10 ounce bag (1 cup) will do fine unless you are a big fan of spinach!
And I’d suggest chopping your onions and garlic fairly small, no rough chopping here. You don’t need to go for a tiny dice but keep in mind you may get 2 or 3 pieces of garlic per fork and 3 big chunks could easily overwhelm your taste buds and upset the flavor balance of the dish entirely.
garlic and onion
This recipe gives you herb options too. Both fresh dill and fresh mint are delicious partners to spinach – on their own or in combination! Try each and see which is your favorite. And remember to use authentic Greek oregano whenever possible and preferably off the stem and not bottled.
dried Greek oregano on stem
Traditionally spanakorizo is made both with tomato and without. Its just a matter of personal preference really as its just as tasty either way.
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh spinach rinses and chopped OR 1 cup of frozen spinach thawed and drained
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1/3 cup chopped garlic
- 1/4 cup fresh chopped dill OR fresh chopped mint OR combination of both
- 1 tbsp dried Greek oregano
- 1 cup white rice (medium grain)
- 3 cups water
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
- optional : 1/4 cup tomato paste dissolved in 1/2 cup warm water
Cooking Instructions
Sauté onions and garlic gently in olive oil over low heat. Add salt, pepper, oregano and dill or mint. Stir to combine well.
If adding tomato – mix tomato paste in 1/2 cup of warm water. Add to pot. Mix ingredients well.
Add rice and cook for 5 minutes stirring often. If rice starts to stick to the bottom of the pan, lower the heat just slightly.
Add spinach and 3 cups water to pot, mix well to combine and bring to a low boil.
Once you’ve reached a low boil, lower to a very gentle simmer and cover. Cook for 25-30 minutes. Check the rice for doneness at 25 minutes. It may need an additional 5 minutes or so for longer grains.
When rice is completely cooked, mix ingredients well, cover and set aside for at least 15 minutes before serving.
This recipe serves 4/6 – a family of 2 adults, 2 children with leftovers OR 4 adults.
spanakorizo / spinach and rice
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