Your Cooking Coach
Show MenuHide Menu

Tag: Greek cuisine

Greek Chicken with Potatoes & Feta

  • 1 to 1½ pounds chicken thighs and legs (bone in)
  • 5 garlic cloves
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon fresh oregano (1 teaspoon dry)
  • ½ cup kalamata olives (pitted)
  • Juice of half a lemon
  • 2 teaspoons salt

Transfer the garlic, oil, olive, oregano, lemon juice and salt into a mortar and pestle (or a processor). Take the paste out and add to a large zip lock bag with the chicken pieces. Marinate for 3 to 4 hours.

  • 3 to 4 medium yellow potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
  • 3 to 5 plum tomatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces and seeds squeezed out
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt
  • ½ cup crumbled feta cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Add the chicken with the marinade. Add the potatoes, tomatoes, oil and salt. Mix well and bake in oven for 40 to 45 minutes till the chicken is tender and potatoes are crisp. Take out of oven and garnish with feta. Serve with roast vegetables and couscous.

Greek Style Oven Fries with Oregano and Lemon Zest

  • 6 to 8 medium yellow skinned potatoes, cut into wedges
  • 1 large foil lined cookie sheet
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F convection for 400 degree F regular.

Add the potatoes to a large saucepan filled with water. Bring to a boil. Turn heat off, drain the water and return to the pan and let the potatoes dry.

Transfer to the lined cookie sheet. Add the olive oil and salt. Mix well and roast in oven for 45 minutes to an hour till the wedges are golden brown and crispy.

Topping

  • Zest of one lemon
  • 1 tablespoons fresh oregano, minced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • Salt

Transfer the hot potatoes into a large bowl. Add the lemon zest, oregano and garlic and toss well. Add more salt if needed. Serve immediately!

 

Grilled Shrimp with Dill and Tzatziki Sauce

This is my nod to our delicious trip to Greece a couple of summers ago. All the flavors I loved and enjoyed are in this delicious dish. Perfect dish for a summer evening with a glass of Rose!!

  • 1 pound fresh shrimp, cleaned and deveined
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • ¼ cup fresh dill, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
  • Zest of one lemon, save the lemon for juicing a bit later
  • 3 garlic cloves, grated
  • Salt

Marinate the shrimp with the olive, dill, oregano, lemon zest, garlic and salt for at least 2 to 3 hours. Half an hour before grilling, juice the lemon into the shrimp. Skewer the shrimp and grill until just done.

Tzatziki Sauce

  • ½ cup Greek yogurt
  • ¼ cup grated cucumber, excess water squeezed out (between your palm)
  • 2 garlic cloves, grated
  • Juice of half a lemon
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped

Mix all the ingredients together, taste for seasonings and let it sit for half an hour.

Serve with freshly grilled pita and shrimp.

Greek Style Branzino with Sautéed Spinach

I would make this for Valentine’s day… so, yummy and healthy… very garlicky but who cares if everyone will be smelling of garlic!!

  • 6 cleaned fillets of Branzino or any other white fish with skin on
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Drizzle of olive oil

Sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides of the fillets and drizzle olive oil

Sauce

  • 3 garlic cloves, chopped fine
  • 2 tablespoons fresh oregano, chopped
  • Juice of one lemon
  • ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Mix all the ingredients together and keep aside.

Preheat broiler to high.

Heat a wide frying pan on medium high heat. Add the fillets, skin side down to the pan, 2 to 3 at a time. Cook for 3 minutes on medium high heat and transfer to a cookie sheet, skin side down. Finish cooking all the fillets and transfer the cookie sheet to the broiler. Broil for 3 to 4 minutes or till the fish is cooked or opaque. Serve warm with a drizzle of the oregano sauce.

Sauteed Spinach

  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 2 10 ounces baby spinach
  • 1 to 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese

Heat a wide frying pan with the oil. Add the garlic and sauté on medium heat for 15 to 20 seconds. Add the spinach and cook on high heat till it wilts. Continue sautéing on medium heat for 5 to 6 minutes. Add salt and serve with a garnish of 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.

Chicken with Lemon and Dill

Simple, simple dish to make through the week…

  • 2 pounds chicken breast, cut into chunks
  • Juice of half a lemon
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • ¼ cup fresh dill, chopped
  • 1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Marinate the chicken chunks with the lemon juice, olive oil, dill, parsley, oregano and salt for 2 to 3 hours. Skewer the chicken pieces and grill till done. Serve warm.

Greek Meatballs- Revisited

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…
read more …