Homemade cashew butter, cucumber and quick preserved lemon bruschetta

One of the simplest ways to use preserved lemons that you’ve made (or bought) is on toast.

On Sunday, I once again made sourdough bread, with spelt flour and various grains, and when it came out of the oven smelling all nutty and earthy, we couldn’t resist and cut some slices while it was still singing its tune. If you bake your own bread, you know the song I’m talking about. It’s that tempting song of the bread crust sizzling and crackling, much like a log burning in the fireplace, when it has just come out of the oven.

There’s nothing more satisfying than those first few slices of homemade bread paired with all your favorite toppings and accompaniments.

This time, it was my creamy homemade cashew butter, a few slices of fresh, crunchy cucumber, my vibrant, quick preserved lemon, a hint of sea salt, a pinch of piment d’espelette and a light drizzle of extra virgin olive oil —always Greek in my home.

Homemade cashew butter, cucumber and quick preserved lemon bruschetta

Piment d’ espelette is a kind of red chilli pepper originating from Espelette in the Basque Country. It is highly aromatic with an intense flavor yet a subtle heat. If you can’t find it, substitute with paprika.

Ingredients
Sourdough (or country) bread, thickly sliced and toasted
Homemade cashew butter
Fresh cucumber with skin on, sliced
Homemade quick preserved lemons, only the rind, cut in small pieces
Piment d’ espelette
Sea salt
Extra virgin olive oil (I always use Greek)


Preparation
Slather some cashew butter on top of the toasted bread slices, top with a few cucumber slices and a few pieces of preserved lemon rind. Sprinkle with a little sea salt and piment d’ espelette and drizzle with some extra virgin olive oil.
Enjoy immediately.

Spelt waffles w/ blood orange & orange-blossom water syrup and pistachios

I’m not a big Sunday breakfast or brunch kind of person; I’d rather have a big Sunday lunch, which is the Greek way. Sit around the table for two-three hours eating and drinking until late afternoon, then have fruits and dessert followed by a cup of coffee. But once in a while I like to break up that routine and go out for brunch or prepare a breakfast feast at home to start the day right. One thing I never leave out in cases like these is waffles.

I don’t get the fascination with intricate waffle recipes and extravagant toppings, I believe simple is best. My go-to recipe for basic, classic waffles is the one I shared here on the blog back in 2011 and it is as simple as it can get and pretty damn tasty.

The past couple of years, however, I’ve been using more and more alternative flours —purely because I enjoy the flavor and texture they provide to baked goods— so I thought I’d start experimenting with waffle recipes incorporating said flours.

I’ve tried several ones using buckwheat flour and a couple of others using barley and kamut flour, but the one I absolutely love and come back to again and again is this one with spelt flour.

It is straightforward, quick, fuss-free and delicious with the spelt flour providing a subtle nutty flavor to the crispy waffles. I drizzled them with the bittersweet and slightly sharp blood orange and orange-blossom water syrup I made last week, scattered a few chopped pistachios on top for extra texture and they were transformed into a thing of beauty both visually and in terms of flavor.

Spelt waffles with blood orange & orange-blossom water syrup and pistachios

I use a non-stick waffle iron so I never add any oil to it before adding the batter. If yours isn’t non-stick or particularly reliable, add some sunflower oil (or other vegetable oil) when you heat it up. Also, reading the manufacturer’s instructions always helps.

Yield: 12-14 standard-sized waffles

Ingredients
325 g white spelt flour
2 tsp baking powder
A pinch of salt
65 g caster sugar
100 g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
450 ml fresh whole milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

to serve
Blood orange and orange-blossom water syrup (recipe here)
A handful of pistachios, chopped

Special equipment: waffle iron


Preparation
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Create a well in the middle and add the sugar, eggs and melted butter. Mix with a whisk to break up the egss and then gradually add the milk while whisking together all the ingredients. When you have added all the milk, whisk vigorously to break up any lumps in the batter. You should have a slightly thick and smooth batter.

Preheat your waffle iron (and lightly oil it, if needed).

Whisk the batter and add a portion of it in the waffle iron. Portion depends on the size of your waffle iron. Ensure that the batter fills all the grooves and close the lid. Don’t open it for a couple of minutes because the waffles need time to set and create a skin. If you open the iron, the waffles may break up.
Cook them for 4 minutes or until they have taken on a golden color. Take them out with the help of a rubber spatula, place them on a wire rack to avoid getting soggy and continue cooking the rest.

Serve them immediately drizzled with the blood orange syrup and scatter a few chopped pistachios on top.

You can keep the batter in the refrigerator for a couple of days, covered very tightly with plastic wrap. Whisk well before using.

Greek eggs with tomatoes aka Strapatsada aka Kagianas

This is perhaps the simplest Greek recipe in existence and if you are into tomatoes and eggs, this is for you.

The more common name of this dish is “eggs with tomatoes”. In parts of Greece they call it strapatsada, in others, kagianas. In my home, we have always called it eggs with tomatoes and it is what its name implies; scrambled eggs with tomatoes and olive oil.

As with anything simple, though, it requires the best ingredients and a method; a specific method that works and it need not be messed with.

First, you grate the tomatoes, a practice that is very common in Greece to get the juice and pulp of the tomatoes without the skin in order to make sauces. They are slowly simmered in olive oil to produce an intoxicatingly sweet sauce and then, the lightly beaten eggs are added to the pan.

The whole thing gets a gentle mix and then out comes the most honeyed sweet and savory egg and tomato dish you’ve had. Topped with some fresh oregano leaves, lots of black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil, it is the best thing to eat with a good, crusty loaf of bread.

Variations: Even though, customarily, this simple dish doesn’t contain more ingredients, there are some variations. You can add some cubed or crumbled feta when you add the eggs; it will melt and be deliciously tangy. Just be careful not to add too much salt because the feta is already salty.
You can substitute the feta with other cheeses like graviera or kefalotyri.
You can add some boukovo (Greek red chilli flakes) to give the dish an extra kick, or a little smoked paprika to give it a different flavor.
You can add some finely chopped green bell pepper or some long sweet red pepper which you should add together with the tomatoes.
If you’re feeling more adventurous, you can add some loukanika (Greek sausages). Fry them in the olive oil, remove them from the pan and then add the tomatoes.

Greek eggs with tomatoes aka Strapatsada aka Kagianas

Feta and bread are the ideal accompaniments to this dish which is perfect for either lunch or dinner. A glass of cold lager beer or a shot of ouzo wouldn’t hurt either.

If your tomatoes are not in season or are more bland than you expected, add a sprinkle of sugar when you add them to the pan, in order to give them the sweetness they’re lacking.
Don’t be tempted to process the tomatoes instead of grating them. It is not the same. The result will be different and the dish won’t be as it was intended.

I love the flavor of fresh oregano and that’s why I add it sometimes. It is however optional as it changes the flavor profile of this simple dish, as do any other herbs you may add. Fresh or dried oregano, fresh thyme or fresh marjoram are good options.

Yield: 2 servings

Ingredients
2 large, ripe and juicy tomatoes (about 400 g in total)
4 medium-sized eggs, beaten lightly with a fork
2½ Tbsp (35 ml) extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling on top of the dish
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
A few small fresh oregano leaves (optional)

Special equipment: box grater


Preparation
Grate the tomatoes (on the large holes of the grater) inside a bowl. As you grate, the skin will remain in your hand, so throw that away.

In a medium-sized skillet or frying pan, add the olive oil and heat over medium-high heat. Add the grated tomatoes and a little salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until the tomatoes dry a little bit but not completely, for 7-8 minutes. See photo for reference.

Add the eggs, a little more salt and pepper and stir with a wooden spoon. Cook for about 3 minutes, until they set but still remain juicy, stirring gently every 30 seconds. Don’t overcook or the eggs will be dry.

Serve immediately on plates, sprinkle with a few oregano leaves (optional) and drizzle with some olive oil. Grind some extra pepper on top and enjoy!

Light lunch

Sometimes I get in a rut with what I eat for lunch or as a snack. Even though there’s plenty of inspiration around me, I always end up having the same avocado and egg toast, or a ham and cheese toast, fruit with nuts etc. and my belly, and taste buds, is getting tired of them. Do you have the same problem? Eating the same thing over and over?

So, as I am trying to find ways to change things up, I thought it would be a good idea to post these options here too in case any of you out there are in the same predicament as me. Most of the time, they are not going to be exact recipes with precise ingredients, but rather more like guides and ideas about a super easy, light lunch or snack made with few ingredients and minimal effort.

I have shared some of these in the past that would definitely fit into this category, like the open-faced sandwiches with pasta elias (Greek olive paste) and tomatoes, or the ones with figs, mascarpone and prosciutto, and you can find all of them here.
Hope to inspire not only myself but you too along the way. Tell me what you think! I’d love to hear your thoughts.

So, let’s start with these two open-faced quick sandwhiches, brushette or tartines, call them what you like. They are made with whole-wheat, multigrain bread, Greek yoghurt, cucumbers, tomatoes, herbs and a spicy sauce. I used harissa (a Tunisian hot red chilli paste) because I’ve been obsessed with it for a long time now—I actually have one great recipe with harissa that I plan to share with you very soon—but you can use the Indonesian sambal oelek, the Serbian ajvar or the Thai sriracha too.

Tomatoes and yoghurt with harissa on multigrain bread

Ingredients
Dark multi-grain bread, sliced
Greek yoghurt, full-fat (I used one with 10% fat)
Ripe tomatoes of any kind, I used baby Roma tomatoes, sliced or halved
Harissa
Flat leaf parsley, chopped
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt


Preparation
Smear the bread slices with a couple of tablespoons of yoghurt. Arrange the tomatoes on top. Dot with some harissa depending how you handle heat. Sprinkle with the parsley and season with salt. Drizzle some olive oil on top.

Cucumber and yoghurt with dill oil on multigrain bread

Ingredients

for the dill oil
A large bunch of fresh dill, about 15 g
150 ml extra virgin olive oil
A pinch of salt

Dark multi-grain bread, sliced
Greek yoghurt, full-fat (I used one with 10% fat)
Cucumber, unpeeled, thinly sliced
Fresh dill leaves, chopped
Salt


Preparation

for the dill oil
Pick the leaves from the dill and discard the stalks. Place them in a small food processor and add the olive oil. Process until smooth and add the salt.
This yields a good amount of dill oil. You can keep it in the fridge, in a glass jar, for a couple of weeks. You can use this flavored oil not only on top of this tartine but also tossed in salads or on top of baked or barbecued fish.

Smear the bread slices with a couple of tablespoons of yoghurt. Arrange the cucumbers on top. Drizzle some dill oil on top, sprinkle with the chopped dill and season with salt.

PS. Sorry you can’t see the dill oil in the photos I took because, silly me, I drizzled it on top of the yoghurt instead of on top of the cucumbers. It is similar to the mint oil I made a few years back for this tomato salad.

Wild asparagus, yoghurt and ricotta galette with whole-wheat pastry

Greek holidays are not for vegetarians. We celebrate with lots of food, mostly meat, and especially on Easter (Orthodox Easter is this Sunday), the food is for hard-core carnivores and not for the faint-hearted.

We roast a whole lamb on a spit, we make kokoretsi (lamb’s liver and lungs wrapped with lamb’s intestines), kontosouvli (pork neck pieces on a spit), sausages, fried veal liver and so on and so forth, you get the picture. In case you don’t, check out this post in which I shared some photos from my Easter in Greece two years ago.

There’s always a need for something fresh on the table alongside all that meat, like salads, legume dishes and pites (Greek pies). You know I love making pites, small or large, but I also love making galettes, like this one I made the other day using the wild asparagus I raved on about in my last post.

It would make a perfect side dish for the Easter table or any other occasion really. It would also make a perfect light lunch or dinner to pair with a glass of wine and eat outside. Have you noticed how the days are getting warmer and warmer?

The pastry, which is partly made with whole wheat flour, is smeared with a mixture of Greek yoghurt and ricotta and then topped with wild asparagus that have been tossed with extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. After baking, the asparagus are drizzled with some more extra virgin olive oil that makes them glisten and even more irresistible than they already are.

The flavors of the fresh and mildly bitter wild asparagus mingle with the sweet and smooth creaminess of the ricotta-yoghurt and the short, crumbly and buttery base that melts in your mouth and that has an earthy quality which pairs beautifully with the wild asparagus. A knockout spring tart.

Kali Anastasi and Kalo Pascha (Happy Easter) to all my fellow Greeks and to all those who celebrate!

Wild asparagus, yoghurt and ricotta galette with whole-wheat pastry

If you’re in Greece, you can substitute the ricotta with anthotyro.
If you can't find wild asparagus, you can substitute them with slender green asparagus spears.

The pastry can be made one or two days in advance and kept in the fridge wrapped in plastic wrap.

Yield: 1 galette / 6 pieces

Ingredients

for the pastry dough
130 g whole-wheat flour
130 g all-purpose flour
170 g unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
60 ml (4 Tbsp) cold water

for the filling
150 g Greek yoghurt 2% fat
150 g ricotta cheese
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 + 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
200 g wild asparagus

1 small egg, beaten, for glazing

Special equipment: large food processor, plastic wrap, rolling pin, baking paper, baking sheet, pastry brush


Preparation

for the pastry dough
• with a food processor
In a large food processor, add the flours, cold cubed butter and salt and process for a few seconds until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Then add the vinegar and the cold water and process in order to bring together the mixture into a rough dough. Don’t over mix.

• by hand
In a large bowl, add the flour, cold cubed butter and salt and, using two knives, a pastry cutter or your fingertips, cut it into the flour, until you have a mixture that resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Then add the vinegar and the cold water and mix with your hands, working quickly, until you have a rough dough.

Empty the dough onto a clean surface and knead lightly to form a smooth dough. Don’t knead too much or vigorously. Shape it into a ball and then a flattened disk. Wrap it with a large piece of plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator to chill, for 2 hours.

for the filling
While the dough is chilling, prepare the filling.
Add yoghurt, ricotta, a little salt and pepper, and 1 Tbsp olive oil in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth. Taste and add more salt if needed.

Rinse the asparagus under cold running water and snap off the woody parts at the bottom end. In order to do that, take the end of the asparagus between your thumb and forefinger, holding the top half with your other hand, and bend it until it snaps. It will automatically snap at the part where the woody part ends and the tender part starts. This snapping point will be lower or higher depending on the spear.
Cut the asparagus in half if they are too long and place them in a bowl. Toss them with salt and pepper and 1 Tbsp olive oil.

Preheat your oven to 200°C.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator, unwrap and discard the plastic wrap and place dough between two large sheets of baking paper. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into an approximately 35cm round, with a 3mm thickness. The dough should be somewhat pliable yet it will be a little stiff. (If it tends to break apart when you roll it out, let it warm a bit before you try again). Remove the top baking paper and place the rolled out dough, along with the bottom baking paper, onto a baking sheet.
Smear ¾ of the yoghurt-ricotta filling evenly on top of the dough, leaving a space around the edges of the pastry, about 4cm. See photo for reference.
Top with the asparagus and fold the edges of the dough up and over the filling, making sure to seal any cracks. You can use the baking paper to pull and fold the dough over the filling.
Using a pastry brush, glaze the dough with the beaten egg.

Place the baking sheet on the middle rack of the preheated oven and bake for 35-37 minutes until the pastry takes on a golden-brown color and the asparagus look a bit charred.
Take the galette out of the oven, leave to cool for 10 minutes and drizzle the filling with a little olive oil.
Optionally, you can top it with some freshly grated lemon zest or even a grating of parmesan.

Serve with the remaining yoghurt-ricotta filling on the side.

You can keep the galette for a day or two, covered, at room temperature, but it is best eaten the same day.

Watermelon radish, fennel and avocado salad with whipped feta dressing

Winter can be monochromatic, especially in northwestern Europe. There are days when it seems like a dark veil is covering the whole sky, allowing only a few rays of sun to pierce through; the continuous rain makes it even worse. It can be romantic—at least that’s how I viewed it when I first moved to Holland from Greece, and it still feels like that sometimes—but mostly, these gloomy winters can be quite tiring, affecting both body and soul.

Seeing bursts of color in the form of fruits and vegetables is invigorating. Citrus, beetroots (more on those later), radishes, cauliflowers, carrots and cabbages are the saving grace of winter.

With the glorious reds, greens, pinks, yellows, golden of the citrus, with the purple of the cauliflowers and cabbages and, of course, the unexpected and thrilling fuchsia-pink color of the watermelon radishes; that psychedelic color that only nature could have dreamed up.

With the green and off-white surrounding it, it looks like a tiny watermelon waiting to be savored. If only I had some nigella seeds to artfully place on one slice, it would be magical, right?

Being an extremely visual person, I get turned on by color and hues and tones, and making this colorful salad was exciting. Even though pink is not my color by any stretch of the imagination, this one was rather cute and against the bright green of the avocado and the ivory of the fennel, it was really a color-fest if there ever was one.

The flavor of the salad was vibrant, refreshing and light with the crunchy, slightly peppery and bitter radish, the creamy, sweet avocado and crisp fennel, and the whipped feta dressing tying everything together, because this dressing, let me tell you, is key. It’s the secret of this salad and one of the most delicious dressings this feta-obsessed Greek has tasted. The salty tang of the feta is smoothed over by the (real) Greek yoghurt and Greek olive oil and the sprinkling of sumac is the proverbial cherry on top, adding a touch of acidity and a faint spiciness that balances the flavors of the salad.

Paired with a piece of grilled or oven-baked salmon and fresh bread, it is a perfect meal.

I leave you with this song. See you here again soon.

Watermelon radish, fennel and avocado salad with whipped feta dressing and sumac

The watermelon radish is an heirloom Asian Daikon radish. It is mildly peppery with a crisp texture and belongs to the same family as rocket, broccolo and turnips.
If you can’t find it, substitute with daikon or another type of mild-flavored radish.

Yield: 4 salad servings or 2 main-course servings / 400 ml feta dressing

Ingredients

for the whipped feta dressing
200 g feta (Greek of course!)
120 g (real) Greek yoghurt, full-fat
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp white balsamic vinegar (or white-wine vinegar)
Freshly ground white pepper, 4-5 grind of the pepper mill

for the salad
3 medium-sized watermelon radishes, peeled and sliced very thinly (preferably with a mandoline)
1-2 avocados, sliced thinly
½ large fennel bulb, sliced
Lemon juice
Olive oil

Fennel fronds (from the fennel bulb), for garnishing
Ground sumac, for sprinkling over the salad

Special equipment: food processor, mandoline (optional)


Preparation

for the whipped feta dressing
If your feta is too salty, soak it in cold water for 15 minutes (in one piece). Drain and use in the recipe.
Cut the feta in small cubes and place it along with the rest of the ingredients for the dressing in a food processor. Process until you have a smooth and creamy mixture.
Empty it in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place in the fridge until ready to use. It will firm up a bit in the fridge.
You can make it 4 days ahead and keep it covered in the fridge.

to make the salad
Arrange the watermelon radishes on a large, shallow plate. Brush with a little olive oil.
Toss the sliced fennel with a little lemon juice (1 tsp) and olive oil in a bowl.
Brush the sliced avocado with a little lemon juice and olive oil to keep it from turning brown too quickly.

Top the radishes with the fennel and avocado and scatter the fennel fronds over the top.
Drizzle with a generous amount of the feta dressing and sprinkle with sumac. Keep extra dressing handy in a bowl at the table for extra helpings.
Enjoy!