Before the summer ends I want to post my favorite breakfast. Greek yogurt with fruits is something I can always eat. On Sundays this is what I usually prepare in the morning.

I like using Olympos yogurt. It just tastes better than Total. I like all sorts of fruit but with the yogurt I prefer melon, peach, pear, grapes and figs. I also like bananas but only the small ones that can be found in Crete and Cyprus.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

difficulty: easy

Preparation:

Put the yogurt into a bowl and let it get room temperature.
Meanwhile cube the fruits in 2cm cubes. Half the grapes. Put the fruits on top of the yogurt.

You can add walnuts or almonds to it. It is also nice to pour some honey over the fruits and yogurt.

In Greece Vleeta falls under the category of Chorta which means “weeds”. Botanically it is Amaranth. It is served a lot in Greek cuisine. It is especially healthy as it contains a lot of bitter components. Not everybody likes the bitter taste the plant has once it is boiled. This taste can be helped with adding some bacon and Graviera cheese.

The dish can also be prepared with the green bits of the beet root.

Preparation: 20 minutes

difficulty: easy

Preparation:

Wash the Vleeta and boil it in some water for 3 minutes. Drain well.

Meanwhile dice the onion and fry it with some olive oil. after 5 minutes add the minced garlic. Fry for a minute or two. Now add the Vleeta and stir well.

Fry some bacon in a second pan until crusty.

Dice the cheese and add to the Vleeta. Reduce the heat and melt the cheese. Season with salt, pepper and some drops of lemon juice.

Add the crispy bacon and serve.

I was lucky. The fishing boat had landed the minute I entered the port. It was not the greatest choice of fish but for a fish soup ideal. The fish was as fresh as it could get. I paid two kilos of fish and got three. The only downfall was that no one would clean the fish for me. I liked my buy though and went straight home to cook.

I forgot my fish hand book so I have added a shot of the fresh fish below.

Preparation time: 30 minutes

cooking time: 30 minutes

difficulty: easy

Preparation:

Clean the fish and separate the heat and the tail. I do boil them as well, but separately that makes things easier.

Peel the vegetables and cut them roughly into pieces. Put into a pot and bring to boil with some water for 15 minutes. Then add the fish and boil another 15 minutes on low heat.

Remove the fish and the veggies. You can throw the celery green. Put the rest of the vegetables aside.

Season the soup with some lemon, salt and pepper. let the fish cool down and fillet it.

In order to serve the fish I heat up portions of the soup and add the vegetables and the fish just for one minute to heat up.

This dish of egg and vegetable can be found under two different names here in Greece. Eggs Kagiana or Strapazzada. This fact made me research a bit. I consulted Mariana from the History of Greek Food blog and here are some of the findings.

Kagiana (which is pronounced: Kayana) is an egg dish known to every Greek. The name though derives from the Persian “Khâgine” which means omelet. The dish was known throughout the Ottoman Empire which explains how it is spread nowadays. In the East Roman Empire (Byzantium) the dish was call “Sfungaton”- sponge which again describes the omelet.

Strappazada however derives from the Greek word στραπάτσο which equals the Italian strapazzo , to beat. Uova strapazzate are scrambled eggs. Strapazzada is known mainly along the Ionian coast and the west coast of the Peloponnese. In the rest of the country the dish is called Kagiana.

As a friend from Serbia told me this dish is there known as Kajgana.

Preparation time: 5 minutes

cooking time: 10 minutes

difficulty: easy

Preparation

Heat the oil in a pan. Meanwhile dice the bell pepper and add it to the pan. Fry for a couple of minutes on medium heat.

Dice the tomato and add it. Let it cook for a minute or two. Beat the eggs in a bowl, season them with salt and pepper. Add the eggs to the pan and let them cook in the juices of the tomato.

Stir occasionally.

Serve with crumbled feta cheese on top of it.

A light summer dish made of vegetables. Briam can be found throughout Greece as well as in the surrounding countries. The name lets me assume that the dish originates in the Ottoman empire. The dish fits the season perfectly due to its main ingredients such as tomato, eggplant and courgette.

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Baking time: 1 hour

difficulty: easy

Preparation:

Peel the potato, then cut into wedges. Cut the eggplants, courgettes an tomato into cubes of a similar size.

Cur the red onion into rings.

Put all the vegetables together into a roasting pan. Pour the diced tomato and one glass of water over it. Season with salt and pepper.Drizzle some olive oil over it.

Put into the oven at 180 degrees centigrade for 1 hour.

This dish is served warm or cold with a slice of feta cheese.

Again a recipe that uses Paximadi bread. This dry bread with barley is used a lot in Greek cuisine and Dakos is the classic dish for it. A hearty salad with tomato and feta cheese for hot weather. The Italian equivalent is Friselle, a dish that is common in Apulia.

Preparation time: 5 minutes

difficulty: easy

Preparation:

Cube one tomato. Grate the second tomato into a bowl.

Break the Paximadi bread in large pieces. Pour some water over it and place it on a plate. Pour the grated tomato over it. Then add the cubed tomato. Put the chopped onion, some capers, olives and crumbled cheese on top. Add a few drops of oil.

The BBQ season has started but not all of us have the possibilities to do a BBQ. Here I present a method of preparing lambb chops in a way that does not require open fire but delivers a very juicy and crispy chop. Besides that it goes faster.

Preparation: 5 minutes

cooking time: 10 minutes

difficulty: easy

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to max. I use air and broiler.

melt some butter. Spread the butter over the lamb chops.

Mix the spices 50:50 then add some salt and pepper.

Sprinkle the spices over the chops. Put the chops into the oven and let them bake for 5 minutes on each side.

The Striftari is a Greek noodle. It is often served as salad rather than a regular pasta dish. You can find Striftaria with all sorts of flavors. Mine were seasoned with spinach an garlic, which developed a wonderful scent while boiling them.

Preparation time: 5 minutes

cooking time: 5 minutes

difficulty: easy

Preparation:

Bring water to boil in a pot. Use a small pot and put as little water as possible. Too much water makes them loose some of the aroma. Drain the cooked pasta after boiling for 5 minutes.

Shred the zucchini and the carrot into a bowl. Chop up the red pepper and add to the bowl.

Mix oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a small bowl.

Add the drained noodles to the veggies. Pour the oil-sauce into the bowl and mix well. Serve the salad slightly warm.

Wasser zum Kochen bringen. Verwenden Sie dazu einen möglichst kleinen Topf. Die Striftaria sollten gerade darin Platz haben. Das Wasser sollte die Striftaria gerade bedecken. Kochen Sie die Nudeln für 5 Minuten.

Die Karotte und Zucchini in eine Schüssel raspeln. Die Paprika waschen und in Streifen schneiden, in die Schüssel geben. In einer Tasse Öl, Zitrone, Salz und Pfeffer anrühren.

Die Nudeln abgießen und zu den Gemüsen geben. Mit der Sauce mischen und lauwarm servieren.

Nothing better than burgers, but they have to be juicy. There are many theories on how to get them juicy. Some of then have to do with the frying or grilling process, others with the mixture of the ingredients. My secret ingredient is the apple.

Preparation time: 5 minutes

frying time: 10 minutes

difficulty: easy

Preparation:

Chop the onion finely and put it into a bowl with the meat. Shred the apple and add it to the bowl.
Crush the rusk finely and add it to the meat. Add the egg and mix all well. Season with oregano, salt and pepper. Form burgers and fry them on each side 4 to 5 minutes.

This classic Greek dish is very popular throughout the country. It is often eaten as a snack and you can find it in every bakery. I would even say it is a common as a slice of Pizza in other places.
In taverns it is served as Mezze or first course to accompany a glass of wine or Ouzo.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

baking time: 60 minutes

difficulty: easy

Preparation:

Defrost the filo pastry.

Wash the spinach and dry it in a spinner. Cut it into stripes and put it in a big bowl.

Peel and chop the garlic and the onion. Chop the dill. add all to the spinach. Add 2 eggs and crumble the feta cheese into the bowl. Season with salt and pepper and mix all well.

Spread half of the filo pastry into an oiled baking form. Spread out some oil in between the sheets. Make sure that your form is not too big, the sheets should exceed the form at the sides.

Place the filling in the middle of the baking tray and spread it out. Now cover the filling with the remaining sheets. Make sure you spread some oil in between the sheets. Fold the ends of the upper sheets with the ends of the lower sheets so the filling is enclosed.

Whip the remaining egg in a small bowl and spread it over the filo. Bake for 60 minutes at 180 degrees centigrade.