Easy and simple: Greek salad

I am currently working on adding a bit of fun to the blog so I thought to start sharing from time to time some videos instead of pics. We have filmed a lot of recipes lately and I will incorporate them very soon.

So for the first video reference tutorial I chose the Greek salad because let’s face it: who doesn’t love Feta cheese? There are billion of ways to make this salad out there but I did stick to my mom’s recipe and this is the way I now make it at home.

Ingredients (serves 2) :
-1 cup sliced cucumber
-2 cups cherry tomatoes cut in half
-1/2 green pepper sliced
-1/2 red onion
-8-10 olives
-1 cup feta cheese
Dressing:
-1/4 cup olive oil
-1 tbsp. capers
-1 tbsp. oregano
-1/2 tsp. salt

Hope you guys enjoy! 🙂

 

June photodiary: Greece

Aw…my lovely Greece.

This trip was definitely an exciting one! I got to spend my birthday with my family and got to work with amazing people. We laughed, we bickered and we laughed again.

I polished my skills as a translator for Jimmy when people talked to him in Greek. He learned new words like «fovero» that means «amazing» and «akrivos» that means «exactly».

The weather was kinda cold and we suffered a little when we jumped into the freezing water, but hey…cold water is good for your skin (and also for having a minor heart attack once you touch the water).

 

Proud of my roots: 6 things I love about being 1/2 Greek

When I was a little girl I remember feeling a little ashamed of my Greek second last name «Frangopoulou». You have no idea how many nicknames I got thanks to that.

Today is a whole different story. I love being half Greek and half Italian. It makes me feel special. Thanks to my mom I learned how to speak fluent Greek and I love going to Greece and understanding everything.

Here six things I love about being Greek:

1) The food is spectacular. I love Greek salad and feta cheese is my favorite cheese of all time. Not to mention my mom’s «moussaka» and her amazing easter «chureki».

2) My mom and I speak Greek when we want to say something private so no one will understand. It’s a plus when we do it with a little giggle.

3) I spend most of my Summers in Greece and I have to tell you: make this trip one of your lifetime’s bucket list, you won’t regret it.

4) You get to be a smart-ass when you hear a word that has a Greek root. Remember the movie «My big fat greek wedding»? Remember the bride’s father, how he used to tell people that every-single-word had a Greek root? Well, that’s me most of the time.

5) I just love the smell of Greek coffee.

6) I have a tatoo on my left wrist that says «Pistevo» that means «I believe»

I have to thank Andreas Dermitzakis for this lovely article in the Greek newspaper!

 Here my tatoo

Favorite three healthy recipes from my blog

Just in case you didn’t get to see them I want to share with you guys some past recipes of the «Culinary Tuesdays» posts. These are easy and healthy. I always make them and I love them!

Enjoy!

1) Greek salad recipe

2) Breakfast omelette

3) Fresh salad mix

 

 

 

Greece: 5 places where I would rather be right now

Summer is here, I am working: no fun at all. I am here sitting in my work space wishing I was swimming in the clear and warm Greek waters. My summers consisted of frappe coffee, swimming and sharing with family. I want to leave everything as it is, pack a small bag and randomly leave.

So today my mind is flying far away and I want to share my inspiration board of five places I’d rather be right now instead inside a room with air condition and extreme allergy.

1) Paros

2) Zakinthos

3) Agia Marina

4) Kalogria

5) Lefkatha

Shall we all leave everything and book a ticket to Greece? We wish right…

 

 

Greek Easter recipe: Koulourakia

This year the Catholic and Orthodox Easter are the same day. So celebrating my mom’s Greek traditions I want to share with you the recipe to the typical Greek Easter cookies called «Koulourakia». This sugar cookies are normally served with Greek coffee in the afternoon. You can add some sesame seeds or you can skip them as I did.

I followed this recipe from the Food Network and was really pleased with the results. Since I am on a limited diet, I just had just one cookie and let me tell you it was good. Really good.

 

Kalo Pasxa! (Happy Easter!)

Throw back Monday: Easter edition

I hadn`t seen my grandparents for eight years. I live far away and it is very complicated to see them often. So three years ago I decided to book a flight and make a surprise appearance in Greece to visit them.

The only person who knew was my aunt Irini. She picked me up at the airport at midnight and we went straight home. When we arrived to my grandparents house everything was quiet because they were sleeping. So my aunt woke my grandfather gently and said she had a surprise for him. Both my grandparents woke up and went to the living room where I was waiting,excited.

Their first reaction was absolute silence. I knew, from my grandfather`s expression, that he thought he was still dreaming. He gently approached me and touched my face. We both started to cry.

I will never forget this trip.I spent two weeks with my grandparents and I am truly thankful for those days together. That was the last time I saw my grandfather, he passed away eight months later.

I want to share my favorite things that happened in that Easter trip to Greece because it was my first Easter there and one trip I will never forget.  

1) One of the traditions on Greek Easter is to paint boiled eggs red. You have to hold your egg then you tap the end against the end of your opponent’s egg, trying to crack it. It is called «tsougrisma» and it always ends in laughter.

2) I feel in love with this giant mug to grow flowers in.(Isn`t the Easter bunny lovely?)3) Spring flowers. I couldn`t stop taking pictures of flowers everywhere. 4) The «Lefko Pirgo» at sunset. This was spectacular. 5) I discovered chocolate euros. 6) Tangerine tree downtown.7) Had the best «Giro» in town.8) Found baked Lays in Greek. 9) My beautiful grandmother`s flowers.10) I had strawberries every single day. 11) This happened. I rarely eat fried food but I made an exception.12) Here with my papu Kiriakos. This was our last picture together. I will treasure it for the rest of my life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Opa! Let’s cook some Greek food

You have no idea how much I get excited when I think about Greek food. It takes me back to my childhood where my Yiayia (grandmother) used to cook for me and I could eat anything I wanted. Nowadays I have a very limited diet but I sometimes ask my mom to cook for me some of her special dishes.

What I love about Greek food is how many vegetables are used in the recipes and I have learned to eat them all since a little girl. I did get my green on a daily basis and I still do.

I want to share my favorite Greek foods. I will try to make some of these recipes for the blog. I searched the web for some accurate recipes but stumbled upon Greek webpages. Not a good idea. So I looked further and found english alternatives for this recipes.

1) Tzatziki. This is a wonderful yogurt-cucumber dip that can be served next to a Greek salad or with roasted lamb.

http://fedandfit.com/2013/02/19/homemade-tzatziki/

2) Obviously the Greek salad. This was the first recipe on my blog. It’s easy, colorful and fun. You can serve this next to meat or chicken. You can also have it as a main dish if you wish to keep it simple.

http://thegoldenlimoncello.com/2014/01/21/fresh-and-simple-greek-salad/

3) My mom still cooks this at least once a month. I love to have it for dinner or lunch. It is a good way to eat your protein and vegetables at the same time. I present you the eggplant Moussaka.

http://www.feastingathome.com/2013/03/rustic-eggplant-moussaka.html#.UcT9fpzpyYs

4) It is very difficult to find tender grape leaves to make this recipe, but once you do, it becomes heaven. Dolmathakia are stuffed grape leaves with rice.

http://greek.food.com/recipe/dolmathakia-stuffed-grape-leaves-306903

5) I left dessert for the end. My mom and my grandmother make semolina Halva all the time. My mom sometimes makes it sugar-free for my sister. This recipe is a combination of simple ingredients that taste like heaven.

http://www.mygreekdish.com/recipe/halva-greek-semolina-pudding-raisins/

I hope you try some of this recipes!  Kali oreksi! (Bon appetit)