Quinoa Stuffed Tomatoes with Feta Cheese and Kalamata Olives

The theory: Quinoa is named 'superfood', one of the staple foods of the Incas civilization. It has nine essential amino acids, is gluten-freeI and contains lots of magnesium and iron. So, it is good for your health.

The practice: Quinoa has fluffy crunchy texture and nutty taste. It is really very tasty, no matter as a part of a sweet or savoury dish.  

The ingredients: young zucchini, salty kalamata olives, Feta cheese and quinoa. And, of course, do not forget the hot peppers. This stuffing is also excellent as a dish on its own - in that case you can add some lemon juice to increase the acid taste.

Zucchini with Tomatoes and Hot Peppers

With the beginning of the first warm days here, we've started preparing one of the family's favorite summer dishes - zucchini with tomatoes and hot peppers, prepared in a saute pan. The dish is really simple and easy to prepare and is filled with the flavours of the fresh vegetables. It is so low in calories, that no matter how much you eat, you will weight less on the next day. 

Bulgarian Stuffed Peppers with Beans

This is one of the traditional, specific Bulgarian dishes, which are part of the Christmas eve dinner, but which are also a tasty vegetarian option for the winter months. The dish can be prepared with onion instead of leek, but it tastes much better with leek or with a leek-onion mixture. Chili paprika is optional, of course, for the people who do not like hot taste, a plain red pepper can be used. Sauerkraut juice gives additional specific taste to the stuffed peppers and if you have some chopped sauerkraut, you can put it on the bottom of the baking tin or you can wrap the peppers into sauerkraut leaves. 

Baked Goat Cheese with Spicy Tomato Sauce

Fall came out of a sudden this year. 
We were at the sea at the beginning of September and yesterday, less than a month after the vacation, I took the winter jackets out of the wardrobe. 
I hate the all day long rain outside, the freezing temperatures and the cold wind.

There is so much time until next summer... 
On the other hand, I know, final countdowns do not make sense, but next October my Violet will not be with us. 

My beloved first-born child will take her way to the post-parents life and all her suitcases will be transferred to another destination, long way from home.  

Children will never know how tough are some of the decisions their parents make. Parents will never be sure, their children are all right without them. And that is the way it should be. 

But, anyway, I would like to stop time, to take the most of every minute, to open some pictures holding memories of emotions and fun. 

And to post one of Violet's favorite recipes - baked goat cheese with spicy tomato sauce, a healthy, tasty and spicy appetizer, perfect for the long fall evenings.

My Favorite Greek Appetizers

Greek cuisine offers tasteful dishes even for the fussiest eaters.

Some of the Greek specialties have become so popular, that they are now cooked in many places around the world. Here is the list of my favorite ouzo mezedes (appetizers which are best enjoyed with a glass of Ouzo). 

Zucchini phyllo pie

My mother-in-law is the best cook I know. She is not a professional chef, but she knows such increadible recipes and she respects food so much, that she can turn every single ingredient into something absolutely delicious. This is one of her masterpieces. Zucchini phyllo pie - it is a sweet phyllo dough pie, which holds the fresh taste of yound early-summer zucchinis. Two weeks ago when I spent a spent a week with her in her country house she prepared for me her soft zucchini phyllo pie and I took some pictures of her during work. Here is the recipe she is famous for.

Spinach Soup with Leek and Feta cheese

With spring approaching I start to think more often about green colored dishes on my table. Spinach is always a good choice according to me - it has light taste and low calories value. I cook spinach very often. It is good as a part of dips, roasted dishes and soups. 

This is one of my favorite vegetable soups - it is light, with low amount of calories, which makes it good at the end of the winter overeating period.

Crispy fried zucchini (κολοκυθάκια τηγανητά)

I love the taste of fried zucchini. And what makes them so lovable? Their crispiness. Fried zucchini should be hot and crispy. If you have an opportunity to travel to Greece, you definitely should try the fried zucchini served in most of the restaurants and they will never disappoint you. κολοκυθάκια τηγανητά have crispy crusts tender insides.

If you want to prepare this delicious appetizer at home it will be good to follow three  important steps:

Spinach with Feta cheese and croutons

This is a light vegetarian dish, which is good for the times there is fresh spinach at the farmer's market. Of course, lightness depends on the amount of butter and croutons into the dish. So you can play with these amounts  according to your diet limits. According to me, it tastes better if you allow all the ingredients to do their jobs. 

Fried roasted peppers with tomato sauce

This light vegetarian dish is very common in Bulgarian homes at the beginning of autumn. The sweet taste of roasted red peppers, the spicyness from the garlic and the freshness of the rape tomatoes make it one of my favorites for October. 

Eggplant Parmesan (Melanzane alla Parmigiana)

Melanzane alla Parmigiana is a rich dish from Northern Italy, composed of alternating layers of fried eggplant, tomato sauce, Parmesan and mozzarella.  

Roasted eggplant dip (Kyopoolu)

One of the main characteristics of the cuisine of the Balkans is the wide variety of salads. Countries in the region have hot and sunny climate and vegetables grow full of taste. But this is only one of the reasons for the huge consumption of salads here. The heart of the matter is that we start lunch and dinner with hard alcoholic drinks. Rakia in Bulgaria, raki in Turkey, ouzo and tsipouro in Greece are national drinks served at the beginning of the meal. These strong drinks go well with salad. Kyopoolu - a roasted eggplant dip, is one of the most popular Bulgarian summer salads, although it has a Turkish origin. The typical smoky taste of its roasted skin, the soft inside which absorbs a lot of olive oil and salt, the freshness of grated tomatoes and roasted peppers, the garlic as an ingredient make this dip irresistable.

Bean and nettle soup with wild plums

We escaped from the heat in a large forest yesterday. The excursion took some hours along a fast flowing river under the shades of old trees and I was surprised to see new nettles  - fresh, soft and young. So I collected some handfuls. No, I did not have gloves, but my craving for nettles was so huge, that I took the risk. Yes, my finders have pins and needles now and they are covered with tiny red spots. But it was worth it. Coming home with my plunder, I decided to prepare a cucina povera dish from the Bulgarian cuisine - bean and nettle soup with wild plums. Although this dish consists only of simple ingredients, it has a rich and diverse flavor. With grassy softness of the nettles, fresh and sour taste of the wild plums and velvet base of the beans, it is deffinitely something to remember. The perfect warm weather bean dish - good for vegans, vegetarians and everybody else. Recipe calls for crushed beans - the only reason for crushing beans is making them faster soft, if you prefer you can keep them whole. 

Cold cucumber soup (Tarator)

Tarator is one of the most typical dishes of Bulgarian cuisine. It is a cold soup based on the combination of yogurt, cucumbers and garlic. Some olive oil, dill and crushed walnuts are the recommended additions to this summer dish which slakes the thirst in the hot summer days. 

Dock and quinoa soup

Diet times again. The forthcoming summer has a lot of requirements, one of them to look good. This is a light and tasty soup which makes you satiated with small amount of calories. Tasty and healthy. You can substitute spinach or Swiss chard for the dock. 

Panzanella - Italian bread salad

Do you know what cucina povera means? It is an Italian term for the poor man's food. 
But nothing offensive. Peasant cooking means take the best from the ingredients you have on hand. Fresh ripe vegetables. Cheap cuts of meat and offals. Stale bread. The meaning is  cheap ingredients or ingredients you anyway have at home, simple recipe, rich taste.
In fact, bread and olive oil are two of the fundamental ingredients of Tuscan cookery and stale bread should not be wasted. So, Panzanella is a way to use a day-old bread. Roast or pan-fry the bread. Chop some ripe, but firm tomatoes. Add dressing and some more ingredients and you've got the summer taste in your plate, even if it is late spring outside. Bread soaks up all the juices from the vegetables and dressing and melts in mouth. Most of the recipes call for fresh basil as an ingredient, but I prefer to skip it in my version. I also substitute hot green peppers for the sweet ones used in the original. 

Spinach and yogurt dip (Ispanak borani)

Yogurt dips and salads are highly appreciated in the Eastern and Middle-Eastern countries. Yogurt provides the dishes with a rich and cooling taste, which is important in places with hot climate and harsh sun. Borani is a persian cold dipping sauce, based on yogurt and vegetables. As long as tsatsiki it goes well with meats or fried potatoes, but also just with a slice of toasted bread. 

Tiro salata (Spicy feta cheese spread)

The Greek word 'τύρι' means cheese. Tiro salata is a mixture of Feta and Myzithra (similar to ricotta) cheeses, olive oil and hot peppers. Sounds good and tastes good. This traditional spicy appetizer is served in nearly every restaurant in Northern Greece where we spend our summer holidays. It is a good meze for ouzo, beer or retsina and it is quick and easy to make at home. The hot banana peppers could be roasted or fresh. If you use roasted peppers, which are easier to incorporate into the cheese mixture, you should roast them on the grill until charred on the outside, then place in a plastic or bag and allow them to sweat until cool enough to handle. After that the skins could be easily removed and you'll be left with  succulent roasted hot peppers. I use fresh peppers. The tiro salata does not look so homogenous, but it is fresh and tasty and I can feel better the spicyness.

Leek and tomato salad

This is a rich and tasty salad, one of our favorites for winter. It is created for the cold months when all the fresh tomatoes have bland and undeveloped taste, but you miss the sweetness of good ripe tomatoes. The oniony taste of leek is by far slighter than the one of onion and garlic, despite they all belong to same family of vegetables and the velvety texture of the chopped canned tomatoes adds softness to the dish. The salad brings summer colors to the table - bright green and white of the leek meets red vibrant color of good quality canned tomatoes. 
My mother-in-law prepares it when she wants to please her hubby. So do I.

A little health info: With its high fiber content and low calories amount leek is a good part of a healthy diet plan. Eating fresh leek reduces the risk of cancer, stroke, heart disease and many other health problems. It supports the healthy digestion. 
Canned tomatoes are more beneficial than the fresh ones because they contain more lycopene - carotenoid responsible for the red color of tomatoes which helps to decrease the risk of hearth disease.   
But the taste of the salad does not need additional reasons to enjoy this simple salad - it is a spicy salad for those who like the heat even into cold dishes.

Vichyssoise (Leek and potato soup)

Vichyssoise is a thick soup, prepared from the white parts of leek, potatoes and heavy cream. If you call it a French soup, it will be a mistake, although you have to twist your tongue in a really French manner to pronounce its name. The soup was created in the kitchen of Ritz-Carlton in New York in the beginning of the 20-th century. By a french cook. But still american creation.
Originally is was intended to be served cold in the hot summer days in order to provide some relief from the heat, but it is very tasty and warming served hot. 
The most refined member of the onion family provides the soup with delicate sweetness.
Creamy and velvety in texture, vichyssoise has a tender and delicate taste, so you can enjoy it even for lunch in a busy day without worrying about your breath. You can play with the amounts of heavy cream you add and you can substitute apples for potatoes if you want to make it lighter and fruitier.

The flavour of the soup is even better the next day, so you can prepare it a day or two in advance and store it in the fridge.