Greek Kastoria Butter Bean Salad (Gigantes Kastorias)

This is a salad recipe using what are called 'black' butter beans, which is traditional in Kastoria. Kastoria, in the north of Greece, is renowned for its beans and these particular butter beans, which are actually a very dark brown have a taste which is similar to the taste of chestnuts. The salad is very simple, though you need to soak the beans overnight. It is best served the following day, allowing the sald to absorb the vinegar and oil.

Don't worry if you can't find the 'black' Kastoria butter (or 'elephant') beans where you live, it can also be made with ordinary butter beans.

Ingredients

½ kg black butterbeans (soaked overnight)

1 large onion diced

1 red pepper diced

2 small red chillies chopped (optional)

1 cup chopped parsley

2 tbsp vinegar

120 ml olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Boil the butterbeans and just before they come to the boil, skim off the foam at the top of the water.

Boil for 10 minutes and then throw away the water and drain the butter beans.

Put enough hot water back in the pan for the butter beans, bring the beans to the boil again and simmer for approx. 1½ hours, until they are tender.

Drain the beans.

Mix them in a salad bowl with the rest of the ingredients.

Leave overnight in the fridge and serve the following day.


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Eat and Enjoy!

 

Greek Beetroot And Yoghurt Salad

This is a very easily prepared recipe. It's simple, light and delicious and we're sure you'll love it!

Ingredients

½ kg beetroot

250g Greek strained yoghurt

2 cloves garlic crushed

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp vinegar

2 tbsp quartered walnuts

1 tbsp finely chopped chives

Salt to taste

Preparation

Remove the leaves and clean the beetroots without removing the skins and boil in salted water for approx. 1 hr or until they are tender.

Put in a colander under cold water and remove the skins.

Slice the beetroot and arrange on a dish.

Beat the yoghurt well in a bowl with the oil, vinegar, garlic and salt.

Spread the yoghurt mixture over the beetroot.

Garnish with the walnuts and chives.


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Eat and Enjoy!

 

Greek Salad

It's summertime here and one of the pleasures of life is to sit down with a Greek salad (Horiatiki), dunking your bread in the olive oil and drinking a light beer or whatever your fancy is for a cold drink. We realised that we hadn't included Greek salad in the blog, so here it is. It's very simple and I'm sure a lot of you already know it.

The ingredients are:

Tomatoes (3 medium)

Cucumber (1)

Green Pepper (2)

Feta Cheese (150g)

Greek olives (15)

Raw onion (optional)

Oregano

Olive oil

The amounts of each ingredient really depend on the size. Above, I have included in brackets the amount that we used for the photo you see.

The salad is very easily prepared, chopping the tomatoes to a medium size, slicing the cucumber and the green pepper. Throw them in a salad bowl and slice some raw onion if you wish. Crumble the feta cheese on top, lightly sprinkle oregano on top along with salt to taste and finally pour as much olive oil as you wish on top.


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Eat and Enjoy!

Greek Greens (Horta)

I received a message from Martha from the blog Stir, Laugh, Repeat asking me about Greek 'greens'. Basically, 'greens' is a generic term covering a variety of (green) plants called horta which grow in Greece and are used in side dishes or salads. There are a large number of types of horta, depending on the season and the location. In the countryside, locals gather them from the hillsides or open fields for their own consumption and they are also available at local produce markets.

We picked some types from our garden (we have quite a wild garden!) to photograph for this post. These are horta that are available at this time of year. Later in the summer I'll photograph some other types to post here.

Horta are not only delicious, but also extremely healthy and nutritious. After cleaning them, you boil them in plenty of water for about 30 minutes - depending on how hard or soft you want them - and they are served with lemon and olive oil. The photo you see at the top is a combination of the four types of horta shown below, which were boiled together along with wild fennel - a delicious side dish for our lunch!

Zegounas

In Corfu, where we live, this is called Moscholahano (meaning aromatic cabbage) but in Greece generally it is called Kafkalithra. The photo on the left shows it with flowers, but it is picked before it flowers to be used in cooking. It can also be used as an aromatic herb when making pies.

In Corfu this is called Skatziki, whereas in the rest of Greece it is called Mironia. Like the Moscholahano above, this can also be used as an aromatic herb in pies.

Tzaroulia

Cabbage with Yoghurt Sauce and Mint

This refreshing salad is ideal for accompanying kebabs, meat balls or grilled fish.

Ingredients

200 g cabbage
2 carrots
2 spring onions
3/4 tea-cup black raisins
1/2 tea-cup white almonds
1 tablespoon fresh mint
Salt

For the sauce

2 tea-cups yoghurt (preferrably Greek)
2 teaspoon honey (preferrably Greek)
Salt and pepper

Preparation

Chop the cabbage, mint, spring onions and carrots into thin slices.

Mix them in a large bowl , along with the raisins, chopped almonds and some salt.

For the sauce

In a bowl, beat the yoghurt together with the honey, salt and pepper with a fork.

Add the sauce to the other ingredients and stir lightly.

Ideally, put the salad in the fridge for 1-2 hours.

Eat and Enjoy!

Ancient Greek Salad

Sorry, we haven't been able to update the recipes for quite a while now due to family problems....but now we're back with a vengeance!!

This is a delicious and filling salad - quite different from the "traditional" Greek salad. It's quick and easy to prepare and I think you'll like it!

Ingredients

Some lettuce
Some rocket
1/2 chicory cabbage
1/2 red pepper
1/2 red apple
3 - 4 walnuts
1 glass white wine
1 clove of garlic
1 tablespoon honey (preferrably Greek)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon ginger
Wine vinegar
Olive Oil


Preparation

Salad

Chop the lettuce, rocket and chicory cabbage into a salad bowl.

Chop the pepper and apple into cubes, without removing the apple peel, to give your salad a nice colour, and add to the lettuce, rocket and cabbage.

Add the walnuts, after chopping them in the blender, and mix the salad.


Dressing

Mix the garlic, ginger, salt and pepper in the blender.

Add the wine, oil, vinegar and honey and blend again.



Add the dressing to the salad and you're ready!



Eat and Enjoy!