CHICKPEAS WITH SPINACH

Ingredients
2 medium onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cups cooked chickpeas
1 1⁄2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes (or same amount, tinned)
red pepper flakes (to taste)
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon oregano
1 (10 ounce) package frozen spinach, chopped and defrosted

1 -2 lemon, juice of (to taste)

Preparation
In a large saucepan, over medium heat, saute the onions and garlic in the olive oil until the onions are tender.
Add the chickpeas, tomatoes, pepper flakes (to suit your taste), and oregano,and paprika.
Cover and simmer for about 18 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add spinach and cook about 7 minutes longer, or until spinach is cooked.

Add the lemon juice (I usually like to add the juice of about 1 1/2 lemons. Add the juice of 1 lemon, taste and adjust to your own, personal taste), salt and pepper.

Source:food.com

SWEET CHEESE BAKLAVA RECIPE

Ingredients
1 cup finely chopped PLANTERS Walnuts
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup honey, divided
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
12 sheets frozen phyllo pastry, thawed, cut in half crosswise

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine walnuts, sugar and spices; set aside. Beat cream cheese, 1/4 cup of the honey, the eggs and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended.
Layer phyllo in 13x9-inch baking pan, brushing each phyllo sheet with butter and sprinkling rounded tablespoonful of the nut mixture evenly over every other phyllo sheet. Spread cream cheese mixture over top.

Bake 25 to 30 min. or until cream cheese mixture is set. Heat remaining 1/4 cup honey; drizzle over baklava. Cool to room temperature before cutting to serve. (To serve chilled, cover baklava with plastic wrap and store in refrigerator up to 2 days. For best flavor, remove from refrigerator about 30 min. before serving.)


Source:kraftrecipes.com

OCTOPUS IN TOMATO SAUCE-GREEK STYLE(HTAPODI KOKKINISTO)

Ingredients
Small octopuses or a bigger one (about 1 kilo) fresh or frozen
1/3 cup of olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 clove  garlic, finely chopped
3-4 ripe fresh tomatoes or 1 can (500 grams) of tomatoes with juice
1 tablespoon tomato paste
Salt (optional) and freshly ground blackpepper
1 cup of red dry wine
2 cups water
2 bay leaves
1 sprig fresh rosemary (optional)
850 ml (31/2 cups) water

1 packet of ditali pasta (500 grams)

Preparation
The octopus must be very carefully washed and dried, and the beak removed.See how to  clean octopus an octopus here.
 Put the saucepan on the heat until it is hot and add the octopus.  Mix until it sweats out a pinkish liquid.  Keep an eye on it mixing every now and then and cook it in its juices until that liquid has evaporated.
Remove the octopus and cut it into smaller pieces about 3 or 4 cm. long.
Add oil to the pan as well as the onion  and garlic and saute until translucent scraping the pot to clean what’s left from the octopus.
Add wine and stir until alcohol evaporates.
Meantime, blend tomatoes in a food processor together with the tomato paste and add to the octopus, as well as pepper, bay leaves and rosemary and 2 cups of water.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 1 hour. Remove bay leaves after ten minutes of cooking.
When the octopus is cooked, add more water and bring to a boil.  Cook the pasta in the sauce stirring from time to time, taste and add salt, if necessary.  (I do not add any salt).
Serve with Greek feta cheese.
Second way to cook it is after the cooking procedure, preheat oven at 180 degrees C, transfer octopus with sauce into a Pyrex or baking pan and add some hot water and cook pasta in the oven for about 20 minutes, mixing a couple of times.
Grate myzithra cheese on top.

For a Lenten dish, do not add the cheese.

Source:kopiaste.org

MARINATED GREEK LAMB CHOPS WITH ROAST POTATOES (PAIDAKIA)

Ingredients
For the marinade
8 lamb rib chops (approx. 700g/ 25 oz.)
1/3 of a cup olive oil
1 clove of garlic
1 1/2 tbsp mustard
1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tbsp fresh chopped rosemary (optional)
zest of 1 lemon
3-4 peppercorns
For the potatoes
4 medium sized potatoes, cut into wedges
1 large clove of garlic, minced
50ml olive oil (1/4 of a cup)
80ml water (1/3 of a cup)
1 tsp dried oregano
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp semolina

salt and freshly ground pepper

Preparation
To prepare this Greek lamb chops recipe (paidakia) start by preparing the marinade. In a shallow glass baking dish add all the marinade ingredients and blend. Add the lamb chops (paidakia) and rub the meat with the marinade. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for a least 3 hours (if you have the time leave overnight).
Return the lamb chops at room temperature and preheat the oven to 200C.
Cut the potatoes into wedges and place them on a large metal roasting pan. Into a bowl add the remaining ingredients and blend. Pour the mixture over the potatoes and season well with salt and pepper. (The potatoes and the ‘paidakia’ cook at different times, so you should add the lamb chops later, about 20-30 minutes before the end of cooking time).
Bake the potatoes in the preheated oven for 40 minutes, until a nice golden crust has formed on the potatoes. Turn them out of the oven, toss them a little bit to bring them upside down, sprinkle with a pinch of oregano and put back into the oven for another 30-40 minutes. If all of the liquid has been absorbed and the pan appears to be getting dry, add 1/4 of a cup hot water into the pan, before they have fully browned.
Remove the paidakia (Greek lambs chops) from the marinade and season with salt and pepper.  Place the lamb chops in the same pan (on a single layer) and bake for 20-25 minutes flipping them sides halfway through cooking time. (Greeks are not big fans of medium rare, but if you like your lamb chops pink, grill over high heat for 1 minute to get them all crispy and pop in the oven for 10-15 minutes, flipping them sides halfway through cooking time.)

Let the paidakia (Greek lamb chops) rest for 5-10 minutes and serve with a last minute squeeze of a lemon and a pinch of dried oregano. Enjoy!

Source:mygreekdish.com

HONEY AND CHEESE ROLLS

Ingredients
1 cup reduced-fat feta cheese
1 egg yolk
1 cup anthotiro or 1 cup ricotta cheese
cinnamon
1⁄2 cup grams honey
9 ounces filo pastry, crust
honey, for dressing
grated nuts, for dressing

butter, for basting the filo pastry leaves

Preparation
Mix feta, anthotiro, honey, egg yolk and cinnamon until a thick pulp is created.
Cut the filo crust in stripes of 12 cm wide each.
Baste with melted butter and place on the bottom of each stripe a portion of the mixture.
Then roll each stripe like rolling a cigar. Baste the surface of each roll with melted butter and bake in preheated oven in 160 - 170 C until golden.

Garnish with honey and grated nuts.

Source:greek.food.com

SHRIMP SKEWERS WITH TZATZIKI, SPINACH AND FETA

Ingredients

1 cup Greek-style (2% or nonfat) yogurt*
1 cup 1/4-inch cubes English hothouse cucumber
3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice plus additional for drizzling
2 tablespoons chopped shallots
1 1/4 teaspoons aniseed, finely crushed, divided
Olive oil (for brushing and drizzling)
1 pound uncooked large shrimp, peeled, deveined, tails left intact
8 cups baby spinach leaves

3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Preparation

Mix Greek-style yogurt, cucumber, dill, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, shallots, and 3/4 teaspoon crushed aniseed in small bowl; season tzatziki generously with salt and pepper. Chill.


Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Brush grill with oil. Thread shrimp onto 4 metal skewers. Brush shrimp all over with olive oil; sprinkle with salt, pepper, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon crushed aniseed. Grill just until shrimp are opaque in center, about 3 minutes per side. Divide spinach among 4 plates; drizzle lightly with additional lemon juice and olive oil. Top each with 1 shrimp skewer. Spoon tzatziki over shrimp; sprinkle with feta cheese and serve.

Source:epicurious.com

BRIAMI(GREEK OVEN ROASTED VEGETABLES)

Ingredients
5 large zucchini, washed and scrubbed and cut crosswise into 1/4 inch thick slices
4 large potatoes, peeled and cut crosswise into 1/4 inch thick slices
3 -4 garlic cloves, sliced thin
1 large onion, peeled, cut in half, each half cut into thirds, large wedges (Spanish or Bermuda)
2 large tomatoes, peeled and quartered
1⁄4 lb hard cheese, cut into large chunks (I use 'kefalograviera or 'myzithra' which you may not have, something like Parmesan would be excelle)
1⁄2 cup olive oil
1⁄4 cup water
1 tablespoon oregano
2 tablespoons fresh spearmint, minced (or 1 tsp dry)
2 tablespoons cut cilantro (optional)

salt and pepper

Preparation
Preheat oven to 420 degrees F.
Put everything in a very large baking pan. Pour water, olive oil on top and add herbs. Season generously.
Put your clean hands in the pan and give all the veggies a toss so herbs, and oil and salt and pepper go on everything.
It looks like a lot but don't worry - it'll 'melt' down considerably during cooking.
Roast for a couple of hours, stirring everything up a couple of times to allow veggies on bottom to come up and brown nicely too. What you're after in terms of texture is for the vegetables to 'melt' into each other, but without losing their individual shape. NOTHING crisp-tender going on here - just meltingly, comfortingly, deliciously tender.
This is delicious with good crusty bread (lovely juices) and feta cheese on the side- like we eat it.

Will probably serve 6 hungry people, or maybe not. We go through it fast. It's even better the next day.


Source:food.com