Tag: feta cheese
Greek Style Shrimp with Angel Hair Pasta
I had to repost this as it was scrumptious! … I have been trying to replicate the delicious meals I had in Greece. This is inspired by all the delicious ingredients one gets to taste in Greek cuisine- like, garlic, dill, feta, etc.. The topping for this pasta is absolutely delicious…
- tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup pancetta, chopped
- 1 medium shallot, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 pound medium shrimp, cleaned and deveined, sprinkled with salt
- 2 cups fresh tomato sauce
- Salt
- ½ pound angel hair pasta, cooked al dente
Heat a frying pan with olive oil. Add the pancetta and sauté on medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the shallot and garlic on medium heat and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the shrimp and brown on both sides for a minute each. Take out of pan and transfer to a plate. Add the tomato sauce and bring to a boil and simmer for about 15 minutes. Add the shrimp back to the sauce. Cook the shrimp for another minute or so and check for seasonings. Serve on top of angel hair pasta.
Topping
- 3 green onions, chopped
- ½ cup parsley, chopped
- 1/3 cup dill, chopped
- ½ cup feta cheese, crumbled
Mix the green onions, parsley and dill in a small bowl and sprinkle over the pasta. Sprinkle the cheese and serve.
Greek Style Beef and Orzo
I love all my recipes but there are some that are extra special and absolutely yummy. This is one of them… I think I saw a version of it on tv but now I can’t remember exactly where.. but I got the idea to do this one pot meal. The orzo is cooked right in the ground beef and then topped with dill and feta!! Absolutely yum… serve it with a delicious crunchy salad and a red wine. Great for a cool, rainy evening…
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pound ground grass fed beef
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 14 oz can of tomato sauce
- 2 to 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup orzo
- ½ cup parsley, chopped
- ¼ cup dill, chopped
- ½ cup crumbled feta cheese
Heat a saucepan with the olive oil. Add the ground beef and separate and brown with a wooden spoon over high heat for 3 to 5 minutes. Add the onion, garlic, cumin, cinnamon, coriander and salt. Saute for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the tomato sauce and bring to a boil. Simmer with the lid on for 20 minutes. Take lid off and add 2 cups chicken broth. Bring to a boil and add the orzo. Cook for 8 to 9 minutes or till the pasta is cooked. Add more broth if needed. I made this in advance and needed to add more broth while reheating. The consistency should be of a stew. Check for seasonings and garnish with parsley and dill. Crumble feta before serving.
Warm Spinach Salad with Pancetta and Feta
This recipe is a play on the popular warm spinach salad. It is typically made with bacon. You start off by cooking some bacon down; taking the bits out and using the warm fat for salad dressing.
I used pancetta instead of bacon; rendered it and kept it aside. A mixture of dijon mustard, white wine vinegar and apple cider make a delicious dressing. To make it interesting, I added crumbles of salty feta cheese. I am a big fan of this cheese- I love salty cheese, and this one is as salty as they come. It provides an amazing punch of flavor. The good thing is you don’t need a whole lot of it and it is naturally lower in fat than other cheeses.
The salad turned out delicious- it was a great start to the meal, especially since it continued with the yummy meatballs…
- 3 cups baby spinach
- ½ cup crumbled feta cheese
Place the spinach and cheese into a medium salad bowl. Keep aside.
- ¼ cup chopped pancetta
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium shallot, sliced
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 2 to 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons apple cider
- Salt
- Pepper
Heat a small frying pan and add the olive oil. Add the pancetta and cook on medium heat for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring constantly till the pancetta bits are crispy. With a slotted spoon, take out the pancetta and keep aside. Keep the flame to medium and add the shallot. Saute for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the vinegar and apple cider. Whisk in the mustard and add salt and pepper if needed.
Pour over the baby spinach, toss and serve.
Broccoli Rabe with Kalamata Olives
Broccoli rabe is by far one of my favorite vegetables. I love the earthy bitterness the leafy greens have. I usually cook them with pasta and some sausage. I add some pine nuts, garlic and basil and top it off with lots of parmesan cheese. It is the most delicious thing to have. Unfortunately my husband and daughter don’t love the pasta dish as much as I do. They prefer pasta with red sauce- I think a lot of people feel the same. I like pasta with all sorts of sauces and toppings but I have to say, I do like the sauceless ones the best. I like to be able to taste all the ingredients in my pasta.
Anyway, as usual I digress. I decided to use the broccoli rabe as a side dish. I like to pair the bitterness of the greens with super salty ingredients like olives and anchovies. I started with blanching the broccoli rabe and sauteed some garlic in olive oil. I melted anchovies into the mix and added the olives.
The dish was delicious with all the ingredients but I decided to take it to another level and added some crumbled feta on top. It made the dish come alive and gave it a creamy texture.
I could have eaten the whole dish by myself. All I needed was some warm crusty bread and a glass of red wine…
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Pomegranate and Feta Salad
Pomegranates are festive. They are my favorite fruit- a bit labor intensive to take the seeds out but so worth all the work. For some reason, I can’ get myself to buy the shelled ones in the stores- so I choose to put in the work.
I love the tangy taste but most of all I love the way the seeds look- like tiny jewels.
I decided to incorporate a salad made with pomegranate seeds dressed with a pomegranate vinaigrette. I had a huge bowl filled with pomegranate seeds and a chunk of feta in my fridge. I thought of feta cheese to cut the tang of the pomegranate seeds. For the vinaigrette, I took out my bottle of pomegranate glaze. I mixed in some white wine vinegar a bit of honey and of course some extra virgin olive oil. The flavors were incredible- tangy, sweet and savory.
Definitely a great salad for the big feast..
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Ribbon Salad with Zucchini and Carrots
I loved making this salad. It is a great way of introducing different vegetables without cooking them. I took a vegetable peeler and made lovely ribbons with carrots and zucchini.
Speaking of vegetable peelers- it is very important to have a good one. I would highly recommend a Messermeister peeler. I got one a couple of years ago and absolutely love it. It makes peeling a cinch.
Making lovely ribbons was very easy with my great peeler. I combined feta cheese with the carrots and zucchinis. I made a delicious dressing cumin seeds, orange and lemon juices.
The salad was delicious with the chicken on the side- healthy and yummy…
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Greek Meatballs- Revisited
My daughter loves meatballs. Whenever I ask her to guess what is for dinner- inevitably, she guesses spaghetti and meatballs.
We had family coming over and I asked my daughter for suggestions for a meal- of course she asked for meatballs. She requested the Greek ones I had made a while ago. I don’t like to repeat a recipe if I don’t have to .. so I started thinking about how to make these meatballs different from the ones I made before. While looking at the previous recipe, I realized I did not use any kalamata olives. That was it- I decided to add some into the meat mixture. The combination of the feta and olives made the dish deliciously salty and nutty.
It was a big hit. I served it with spaghetti, a big green salad and garlic bread. My daughter thought it was a perfect meal…
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