Greek Food Rocks my Socks

One of my favorite cuisines in the world is greek food. Whenever I'm given a choice between greek and anything else (even my native and beloved Puerto Rican), I will invariably choose a really good greek hole in the wall over whatever's being offered me. I still haven't mastered the cuisine, but I do have a handful of tried and true dishes that I can whip up whenever I'm feeling the need for Greeky Goodness.

Mediterranean Chicken Gyros

Lemony and delicious, these chicken gyros are sure to make pretty much anyone happy :-)
Ingredients:

•  3-4 chicken tenderloin cutlets
• juice of one lemon
• 1 package of crumbled feta cheese
• 4 tablespoons olive oil, plus 1 for cooking the chicken
• 1/2 tablespoon oregano, plus enough to season chicken
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• Good quality flatbread/pita bread
• Salt and pepper
• Romaine or butter lettuce
• 1/2 thinly sliced red onion
• Aluminum foil
• Tzatziki sauce (see recipe below)
  

Process:

1.   Season chicken with salt, pepper and oregano. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in skillet over med-high heat. Add chicken and cook until nice golden brown on both sides and until just barely before cooked all the way through. Remove from heat and cover, let sit for about 10 minutes. Chicken will continue cooking while it sits.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine juice, remaining olive oil, garlic, feta and 1/2 tablespoon oregano. Mix well.
3. Check chicken to see if it's done. If it's done, cut into bite sized chunks and add to the lemon/feta mixture. If it still needs some cooking, go ahead and fire the skillet back up and finish cooking your chicken. Once done, let sit for a couple of minutes before cutting into bite sized pieces and adding to feta mix.
4. Stir the chicken to coat with the feta blend. Let it sit for a couple of minutes while you prep to assemble your pitas.
5. Place your pita on a square of aluminum foil. Assemble your pitas in this order: tzatziki sauce, chicken, lettuce and red onions. If you have any leftover feta, you can add that as well if desired. Fold it up, using the foil to hold it closed. Serve and enjoy.

Tzatziki sauce

This is so good. Sometimes I daydream about plates of dolmades (stuffed grape leaves) and pools of tzatziki sauce. I'm starting to see it premade in grocery stores now, but none of those lifeless blends can hold a candle to a homemade batch of delicious and incredibly good for you T-sauce.

Good for you AND delicious? Why yes, you did hear right. Greek yogurt, cucumber, garlic, EVOO, lemon and dill combine to make a health nut's tastebud's dream come true. So enjoy this delicious treat, guilt free!

Ingredients

• One container plain greek yogurt
• One cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped or grated
• 1-2 cloves minced garlic
•  a good squeeze of lemon juice, about 2 tablespoons
• 1.5 teaspoons dill
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• Salt & pepper to taste

Process:

1. Squeeze cucumber between two paper towels to get excess water out. Place in a bowl. Add all other ingredients, mix well. Delicious in gyros, on turkey burgers, toast, etc.

Greek Green Beans

I'll be the first to admit this is a bit of an odd recipe that may not be to everyone's liking. I first had a similar version at a greek restaurant and agonized when I moved away, realizing only after several hundred miles separated us that I really really really liked these. They're very good in a vegetarian pita with thick slabs of feta, onions and green peas, although I like them best when paired with an herb and olive-crusted chicken breast.

Ingredients

• 1 bag frozen green beans
• 1 can stewed tomatoes
• 1/2 clove garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

  Process

1. Heat oil in a skillet. Add the green beans. It's ok if they're frozen, they sure won't stay that way for long. 
2. Add garlic and stewed tomatoes. You may want to chop them up a little with a spatula or knife. Add spices and sugar. As you cook it will start to thicken up a bit. Once that happens and the beans are cooked through, the beans are ready to go.

Spanakopita

Spanakopita is one of those things that is very easy to get wrong, but when it's right it's very very right. It's a spinach and feta filling in a flaky phyllo pastry. Now, before you go wrinkling your nose at the idea of "spinach" and "delicious" in the same sentence, let me tell you that when done right, the flavors of spinach, feta and dill blend together in a creamy bit of heavenly bliss wrapped in a lovely flaky pillowcase of phyllo dough goodness. If you've ever had spanakopita and hated it, I can pretty much guarantee that whoever made it just wasn't doing it right. Here to remedy that dreadful situation is my favorite recipe for this super yummy pastry. I don't remember where I found this, but the author clearly had greek blood in their veins. Enjoy! :-)

Ingredients

• 1 package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained and squeezed dry
• 1 large onion, diced (get prepackaged for convenience if you want. It's ok, I won't tell.)
• 2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
• 4 ounces feta cheese
• 1/4 cup EVOO
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 package phyllo dough
• 1 tablespoon flour
• half a stick of butter, melted

Process

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Heat oil in a skillet. Cook onions until soft and transluscent. Add spinach, dill and flour. Cook until   moisture evaporates.
3. Remove from heat and add feta, eggs and S&P.
4. Place phyllo in a stack next to you and cover with a clean damp towel. Take one sheet and put in front of you. Dip a basting brush or paper towel in the melted butter and brush the entire surface of the sheet with the butter. Add another sheet, cover that one with butter. Add a third sheet, cover with butter. With a sharp knife, cut into 4 equal squares. Put a good spoonful of spinach mixture into the center of each square and wrap them up. Traditionally you'd made triangles, but I have terrible luck with that and couldn't begin to tell you how to do it correctly, so I just make little dumpling-like sacks instead.
5. Repeat the process until either the phyllo or the filling is all used up. Place on a baking sheet, brush with butter and bake for about 1 hour until golden brown.