Greek cuisine is a regular favorite of vegetarians for good reason. While it is not at all a vegan culture, it does have many dishes with no meat, or where meat or fish are ingredients rather than the principal element of the dish.
Greek kids love vegetables, or at least we did in our family. It’s the olive oil. Not only is olive oil flavorful on its own, it adds the essential calories that vegetables lack and makes them delicious and savory. To this day, fasolakia is the only way my brother will eat green beans and to be honest, the same is true for me.
Fasolakia is an essential dish (at least for me) in a Pikilia (variety plate), where it combines with the other elements in the most delicious way. I especially love to have it on soft Greek sesame bread with a bit of tarama, a delicious dip made with cod roe that is very like mayonnaise, and some skordalia (garlic sauce). MmmmMMm
Fasolakia, aka Fassolia Yiachni: Green Bean Stew in Tomato Sauce
A rich and satisfying stew made with beans, tomatoes, onions, and olive oil.
- 125 ml olive oil
- 1 onion minced
- 7 ml salt
- 7 Ml Oregano
- 250 gr green beans
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- 400 gr chopped skinned tomatoes, fresh or canned
Heat the oil, add the minced onion and salt. Cook until the onions are fragrant and just beginning to change color. This is not so much frying as it is simmering in hot oil.
Add the beans, make sure to carefully coat every bean in the hot oil, and cook for a couple of minutes
Add the chopped tomatoes and cook for 10-20 minutes, until the beans just lose their bright green and are fully cooked.
Remove from the heat and serve
May be served hot, warm, or cold
Spanakopita: Famous Greek Appetizer with Spinach and Feta
Spanakopita is one of the classic dishes of Greek cuisine and at the same time, one of the most versatile. A main course, side dish, or appetizer, depending on how large you make it.
Check out this recipe
Dolmathes with Avgolemono Sauce
Greek stuffed grape leaves are one of the classic recipes of Greek cuisine and made throughout the Mediterranean with regional variations. Within Greece, they are also known as dolmathes, dolmades, dolma, dolmadakia, or yaprakia..
Check out this recipe
Fasolakia, aka Fassolia Yiachni: Green Bean Stew in Tomato Sauce
A rich and satisfying stew made with beans, tomatoes, onions, and olive oil.
Check out this recipe
Easy dry salt-cured olives and olive salt
My favourite olives both to make and to eat are dry-cured. These are so easy to prepare that it's generous to say that I "made" them. They have other advantages aside from the ease of preparation. Dry-cured olives last considerably longer than brine-cured, and the salt used in curing the olives becomes deliciously infused with the olive essence.
Check out this recipe
Brine Curing Green Olives for the Best Flavors
It's much more complicated making olives in a small rural town on Vancouver Island than it was in Toronto, but it's still very well worth doing. It's easy, they last for a very long time, and the flavors are more than worth the small amount of effort.
Check out this recipe
Having The Best, Brine Curing Black Olives At Home
Ripe black olives are ready to cure immediately with no need to soak and rinse for 7 days before brining. Instead, these can be ready to eat in as little as 7 days…depending on how brined you like them to be.
Check out this recipe
Greek style pan pizza dough
In the Neapolitan vs Scicilian pizza debate, I ask “What about Greek pizza?”. When I was growing up in Vancouver, most pizza available by delivery in the Lower Mainland was a Greek style pan pizza. While we also make Neapolitan pizza regularly on pizza nights, this style of pizza is ideal for breakfast. Yes, you read that right. The best pizza is breakfast pizza.
Check out this recipe
Greek baklava with honey and lemon
A sweet confection, this Greek baklava is made with honey and lemon. Delicious at room temperature, but may be served warm (not hot).
Check out this recipe
Kourambiedis – Greek almond shortbread cookies
These shortbread cookies are served coated in powdered sugar at Christmas and special celebrations throughout the year.
Check out this recipe
