Greek Feast

Day 222

I did skip a few days there; sorry about that...let's catch up.

Friday, May 29
We didn't really have a formal meal. I grabbed a BK veggie burger while running errands and later we shared the rest of a George's mushroom pizza that Laura had gotten for lunch.

Saturday, May 30
We went to Mike's Bar and got a pile of naughty fried food with their Build Your Own Basket. We got the jalapeno poppers, mozza sticks, sweet potato fries, onion rings, mac n cheese bites and deep fried mushrooms.

Sunday, May 31
This was last night, the night Laura slaved over the Greek feast, so we had some of it last night, but some of it wasn't done until it was too late to eat. I also went out and got a BK veggie burger because I was too hungry to wait. I should have just waited, because it wasn't long after I ate that we fried the falafel and pitas, so we sampled most of the Greek stuff.

Monday, June 1
Greek food all day! I had spanikopita for breakfast, and this plate you see in the pics below for lunch and supper. And there is plenty left for tomorrow. WOOT!

Moussaka, falafel, spanikopita, pita, hummus & olives

Moussaka, falafel sandwich, spanikopita & olives

Veggie Moussaka

Recipe here

This is amazingly good. It was the dish that took so long to make, because there were a lot of steps. I can't see us making this often, for that reason, but someday again. Thank you Sia Koulis, for the recipe. We may have gone our whole lives never having tried moussaka. 

So many ingredients in this. Eggplant was the one I was excited about. Oh, and potatoes.

Eggplant

Missy was interested in the process. She was probably hoping for a taste but it wasn't done until very late. These things take time!

Laura slaving over moussaka

It wasn't done until bedtime so we didn't try it until today. It's super yummy and a shame it's such a process to make.

Moussaka

Spanikopita

Recipe here
Greek spinach pie..soooo good. Laura used frozen spinach instead of fresh, but otherwise followed the recipe.

Spanikopita

Falafel

Recipe here
Laura makes awesome falafel. I've only had falafel at three other places before (Boyce Farmers Market, Pita Pit and Calactus), and all falafel is pretty good, but Laura's is the best. There are only a few pieces on a plate in the pic below, but believe me, there is an enormous bowl of falafel dough in the fridge to make more. More! MORE!!!!!!

Falafel

We have the falafel with a delicious tahini sauce that Laura always makes. We usually have this with falafel on pita bread with tomatoes and Romaine lettuce.

Laura's Tahini Sauce

About 1/3 cup tahini
Lemon juice to taste

Add water or until desired consistency

2 cloves garlic

Hummus

Laura also makes the best hummus. We like ours super garlicky so it has a bit of kick to it. Here is the recipe from another blog. It's a keeper.

Hummus

Homemade Pita Bread

Recipe here
Laura has been making her own pita bread for years, and it's so much better than that dry old store-bought kind.

Homemade pita bread

Greek fare

Reviews/Comments

Took a long time to make. Do not attempt this unless you have 5 or 6 hours to kill. But, soooo worth it!!

Missy was here Sunday night while Laura was making it. She enjoyed the falafel and hummus but wasn't a fan of spanikopita. It was still warm, so that could have been why.

Baba Ganoush & Greek Salad

Day 133

So, Thursday was a most depressing day and I wasn't even close to being in a blogging mood. We ordered the Mediterranean Pizza from Pizza Delight, in case you were wondering. Friday was another shitty day and I also wasn't home most of the evening. I ate a peanut butter sandwich for supper. Not very blog-worthy, is it?

Today is a better day. My boy got a job and I got some things done. And, Laura made baba ganoush. Well, she made it last night, but we didn't eat it until today.

Baba Ganoush & Greek Salad

Baba Ganoush

Baba Ganoush is a lot like hummus, but with a slightly different, slightly smoky taste and a much different (creamier) texture. It's made with eggplant instead of chick peas, but like hummus, it has parsley, garlic, tahini, lemon, olive oil and yoghurt.

Here is the baba ganoush recipe she used, but, rather than the three medium eggplants it called for she only used one because it was a nice big one, about 2 lbs, and she also used more lemon juice.

Baba Ganoush

Homemade Pitas

I'm sorry, but the pitas from the grocery stores tend to be super dried out, even from the minute you buy them. Fold them in half and they crack. So, Laura makes our pitas. They take a little time and effort, but she thinks it's worth it and I really appreciate her effort. They're sooo good. They're not only soft and pliable but they're tastier.

Homemade pitas

Greek Salad

What would complement baba ganoush better than a nice, fresh Greek salad? Laura made a wonderfully tangy Greek dressing for it. I could drink it right out of the bottle. The recipe is posted below.

Greek Salad Ingredients

1 head of Romaine lettuce
1 tomato
1 English cucumber
3 small red onions
1/2 block feta cheese
1/2 bottle sliced Kalamata olives

Greek Salad

Greek Dressing

We have these awesome salad dressing bottles that show you the recipe right on the bottle and Laura used it for today's dressing. In case you can't read it, you add the following to the bottle:

1 tbsp parsley
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp minced garlic
1/8 cup blue cheese (we skipped it)
1/8 cup feta cheese (we doubled it)

Greek dressing

The above ingredients fill the bottle to the first line. Then you add EVOO until you reach the next line, red wine vinegar until you reach the following line and lemon juice until it's filled to the line at the top.

The dressing in the pic above has obviously settled since the ingredients are of all different weights. We have to shake well and use it quickly. It's also half gone as you can see. Here's a pic we took earlier.

Greek dressing

Baba ganoush & Greek salad

Reviews/Comments

We had this for lunch and supper and it was amazing. I give it a 10. Laura too. So healthy and fresh. Probably added an extra day to our lives...hahaha