Greek God Pasta

So I forgot to take pictures again. Oops! This was a pretty good recipe. It think it needed more cheese throughout, not just on top. I used more feta than that. I don't know how "Greek" this really is except for the feta cheese. I just used what ever pasta I had on hand - farfalle I think. I scaled the recipe back a little, because it made a lot. We had leftovers for a few days.

Greek God Pasta

• 1 (16 ounce) package whole wheat rotini pasta
• 1 (16 ounce) can peeled and diced tomatoes, drained
• 2 tablespoons chopped green bell pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped green onion
• 3 cups tomato sauce
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 cup sliced black olives
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add rotini pasta, and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes. Drain and pour into a deep casserole dish.
3. Stir tomatoes, green pepper, green onion, olives and tomato sauce into the pasta. Season with basil and oregano and mix until evenly blended. Sprinkle mozzarella and feta cheese over the top.
4. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until cheese is melted and bubbly. Let stand for a few minutes before serving.

Greek Seasoning

Aaron made up his own recipe for gyros, and since we had used up the pita pockets we made them into tortilla wraps. He sliced up some pork and sauteed it in olive oil and used this seasoning. He used fresh garlic and about half of the recipe.

Greek Seasoning

• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried mint
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 1/2 teaspoon dried minced onion
• 1/4 teaspoon dried minced garlic

In a small bowl, combine all ingredients. Store in an airtight container in a cool dry place for up to 6 months.

For the gyros he used lettuce, sliced tomatoes, feta cheese, and sour cream. We didn't have any cucumbers, or that would have gone well with it too.

Greek Pasta

Greek Pasta

This was really good. I had some mushrooms that needed to be used up and some feta cheese I didn't want to go bad. I only had 8 oz of mushrooms and it was fine. I also used a little more garlic, less oil, and since we sprinkled the cheese on top I didn't used that much feta and David preferred Parmesan. I used more than just oregano, I added, marjoram, basil and parsley as well. It was really good. Oh, and I didn't blanch or peel the tomatoes, I just chopped them up.

• 1 pound linguine pasta
• 3 tomatoes
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pound mushrooms, sliced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1 (2 ounce) can sliced black olives, drained

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Plunge whole tomatoes in water briefly, until skin starts to peel. Remove with a slotted spoon and place in cold water. Add pasta to boiling water and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. While pasta is cooking peel blanched tomatoes and chop.
3. In a large skillet over medium heat, heat olive oil. Stir in garlic and mushrooms and saute until mushrooms begin to give up their juices. Stir in tomatoes and oregano and cook until tomatoes are tender.
4. To serve, plate pasta, top with hot tomato sauce and sprinkle with feta and olives.

Chickpea Salad

I based yesterday's dinner around this salad. It sounded so good. I think it could have used a little more salt. I followed the recipe pretty closely, but used a chopped roma tomato instead and I used 1 c. of dried chickpeas (soaked and cooked) so I think that's more than on 15 oz can, but I don't know. It went really well with the Greek Chicken and the Garlic Parmesan Orzo.

Chickpea Salad

INGREDIENTS

• 1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
• 1 cucumber, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/4 cup finely chopped sweet onion
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl, toss together chickpeas, cucumber, tomatoes, onion, garlic, parsley flakes, dried basil, and Parmesan cheese. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and season to taste with salt. Toss until well combined, and adjust seasoning as needed. Cover and refrigerate at least 45 minutes before serving. Serve chilled.

Greek Chicken

This recipe comes from recipezaar.com I don't use it quite as often, but it does have a lot more ethic and international recipes on it. So when I had a Greek salad prepared I looked for a Greek main dish with ingredients I had on hand. I didn't marinated it that long and it was still good. Probably better if I had done it longer. I didn't have a fresh lemon so 3 Tbsp of lemon juice was fine. I also used chicken thighs and drumsticks instead of breasts. And 2 cloves of garlic. I don't have a rack for a roasting pan or a broiling pan, so I put aluminum foil on a small cookie sheet and it worked fine.

Greek Chicken

4 chicken breasts
2 lemons, the juice of
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp. oregano
salt and pepper

1. Place chicken in shallow pan.
2. Combine other ingredients and pour over chicken.
3. Cover and refrigerate for a few hours to overnight.
4. Place the chicken on a broiler pan, or on a rack in a baking pan in a 450 degree oven.
5. cook for 35 minutes (or until done)