Recipes Archives - Page 73 of 113

Vegan apple spice snacking cake recipe (refined sugar-free)

I just took stock of my pantry because baking season has officially begun. It started slowly with a few batches of cookie dough for back to school lunches. Then Mr. Picky’s birthday rolled around last week and whoosh it’s Rosh Hashana this Wednesday night already! I don’t need to tell you what is just around the corner, do I?

Thankfully, I share the Jewish holiday cooking with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law. We each host a meal and cook whatever we want. I have the first day of Rosh Hashana lunch, as well as the break fast on Yom Kippur evening. The break fast is actually one of my favorite holidays to host because people literally starve themselves for 24 hours (no water either!) and then come to my house to eat. I could basically serve anything and it would be a hit!

One of the nice traditions of the Jewish new year is eating seasonal foods. Love that! Apples are likely the most important food along with honey which symbolize the hope of a sweet year ahead. I have been loving the new crops of local apples flooding the markets over the past month. My kids particularly love Honeycrisp, Pink Lady (my personal fave), Granny Smith. I use apples all over the place at this time of year — turned into applesauce, sautéed on top of pancakes and waffles, cooked into oatmeal, chopped in salads and folded into simple snacking cakes like this one.

I saw a recipe a few years back for a Depression era chocolate cake called “Wacky Cake.” The cake didn’t use any “expensive” ingredients like eggs, milk or butter and I think got it’s name “wacky” because somehow the crazy recipe actually produced a moist, delicious cake. There are a gajillion recipes for the classic chocolate Wacky Cake, but last year I decided to put a twist on the (vegan) recipe and use apples and spices instead. Delicious!

The result was a moist, fragrant and just sweet enough little cake that I think is just perfect for after school snacks, lunch box treats, brunch or anytime you need a seasonal dessert for a fall gathering, like Rosh Hashana!! I make some sort of apple dessert every year for my luncheon, but I am very fond of this one because it is so darn easy and it freezes amazingly well. It is also pretty clean: whole grain flour, minimal amount of unrefined coconut sugar, and very little oil (I use unrefined coconut oil.) My entire family loves it!

You can do different things with this easy cake. You can double the recipe and bake the cakes in 9-inch round pans for a 2-layer cake. I would use this vegan frosting or a classic cream cheese frosting to go between the two cakes and on top. If you don’t like raisins, leave them out. Or instead of placing the walnuts halves on the top of the cake, chop them up and fold them into the batter. Or make this into muffins. For my do-aheaders, make this today and freeze it for the upcoming holiday (Rosh Hashana, Halloween, Thanksgiving — GASP!) If you are celebrating the new year this week, may it be a sweet one!

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Vegan Apple Spice Snacking Cake

Author: Pamela

Serves: makes 1 8 x8 cake or 12 standard muffins

Ingredients

1 ¾ cups whole wheat pastry flour or whole spelt flour
½ cup coconut palm sugar or brown sugar or cane sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
½ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
⅛ teaspoon cloves (optional)
¼ cup melted coconut oil or unsalted butter (not vegan)
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar or distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ cup water
½ cup orange juice*
1 large apple, peeled, cored and diced, about 1 cup
½ cup unsulphured raisins (optional)
16 raw walnut halves, if desired

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. You can grease your pan with coconut oil or butter and line it with unbleached parchment paper if you want to remove it from the pan to serve it. Otherwise, no greasing necessary if you will cut pieces from the pan to serve.
Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Make a well (indentation) in the flour mixture.
Pour the coconut oil, vinegar, vanilla, water and orange juice in the well and stir until everything is just combined. Do not overmix!
Fold in diced apple pieces and raisins.
Pour batter into pan and smooth out top. If you want, evenly space walnut pieces over batter. Bake for 30 – 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Notes

*Or use all water and up the coconut sugar to ⅔ cup. You can also add diced dates.

Turkey and brown rice stuffed bell peppers recipe

Photo by Sarah Elliott for Pamela Salzman

In all my classes since Labor Day, everyone seems to be so motivated to get back into a cooking and dinner routine! Although, now that I think about it, people that come to a cooking class ARE motivated to cook. So maybe the entire universe isn’t looking for new dinner recipes, but I am. And I am doing my best to be really organized about meals again.

I find it a million times easier to make dinners in the summer than during the school year. Sliced tomato, burrata, basil and olive oil counts as a meal in the summer. Not so much now. My family wants “real food!” Of course my days right now are overscheduled and I am still driving around a 16-year-old who could easily have her license by now if she were only motivated to take the test. I was dying to get my driver’s license when I was in high school. Not my daughter. She seems perfectly content to let me and her friends be her personal Uber. Why am I talking about this? Oh right. Because I am driving all over the place in those precious hours before dinner time. So I need to be Uber organized, if you will.

I taught these turkey and brown rice stuffed bell peppers in a class a year or two ago and realized I hadn’t made them in a while. With a salad, green vegetable or some millet-cauliflower mash, this is a great weekday meal for my family. My husband and son feel like they’re getting a substantial “meaty” main dish and I know that there’s more plant-based foods in this recipe than meat, so I’m happy too. My mom and my grandmother used to make stuffed peppers often, but they used ground beef and I don’t think much rice, if any at all. I love adding a hearty grain like brown rice here to stretch the turkey a little further.

I think this recipe has a lot of flavor as it is written, but there’s plenty of room for adaptation here. Add basil or switch to cilantro; add some grated cheese to the mixture or on top; add a little turkey sausage; or use grass-fed beef if you prefer. Once I had a half of a small zucchini and I grated it into the onion mixture. Mushrooms also go really well here. One thing I would advise is to seek out pesticide-free or organic bell peppers since they are on the Dirty Dozen produce list.

For those of you do-aheaders (like me), stuff the peppers earlier in the day and refrigerate. Then bake when you get home. Or, prepare and bake these after school, and transfer cooked peppers to your slow cooker on the warm setting until you are ready to eat. I am doing this more and more since I have a little time after school to do meal prep and then I’m out with the rest of the taxi drivers until dinner time. Until, I pray, someone decides to get herself into gear and let me stick to my day job.

5.0 from 2 reviews

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Turkey and Brown Rice Stuffed Bell Peppers

Author: Pamela

Serves: 6

Ingredients

6 medium sweet bell peppers, washed
2 Tablespoons unrefined olive oil + additional for greasing the peppers
1 pound ground turkey
1 clove garlic, minced
½ onion, minced (can be done in a food processor with the “pulse” button)
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 ½ teaspoons sea salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 cup chicken or vegetable stock, divided
¼ cup marinara or tomato sauce
1 ½ cups cooked rice (I use brown rice)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Trim the tops off the bell peppers, just enough to remove the stem. If you want, dice up any pepper that you removed with the stem. Scoop out and discard the seeds. Rub the outside of the peppers with a little olive oil. Place cut side up in a baking dish and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes.
Warm olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and parsley to the pan. You can also add any pepper bits you may have diced. Sauté about 2 minutes and add ground turkey, garlic powder, oregano, salt and pepper. Break up the turkey into small pieces with a wooden spoon and sauté until turkey is almost cooked through.
Add tomato sauce and ½ cup stock. Simmer on low for 5 minutes until just cooked through. Add cooked rice to turkey mixture and combine well.
Spoon turkey mixture into each pepper and fill to the top. Place the stuffed peppers in the baking dish and add ½ cup stock to the bottom of the pan. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 35 minutes until peppers are nice and soft and the turkey mixture is heated through.

Notes

You can add a little shredded mozzarella on top and broil until melted, if you like.

bell peppers brown rice ground turkey onions parsley

Whole Grain Olive Oil Cake with Rosemary and Dark Chocolate Recipe (refined sugar-free)

I made this cake once to bring a friend’s house for dinner and people were stealing each other’s crumbs. I served it to my family and my son spit it out. Just being honest. It would be really awesome to say that my family loves everything I make, that my 10-year-old scarfs down whole grain cakes with rosemary and dark chocolate and never, ever, ever asks for Flaming Hot Cheetos. But alas, I live in the real world with at least one child, as well as one adult, whose palates are rather, shall we say, simple.

But if I catered to the lowest common denominator in my house all the time, we’d never get to know the deliciousness that is this nutty, earthy, lightly sweet cake with a savory infusion of rosemary. And dark chocolate! Maybe it sounds like a weird combo to you. I actually wasn’t sure myself when I first whisked these ingredients together, but the scent emanating from my oven was enough to convince me that this is a very tasty cake.

I love rustic desserts. The flavors are deep and I don’t have to worry about anything looking too perfect. And I think anything rustic lends itself better to whole grain flours. I found this recipe in one of my favorite cookbooks, Good to the Grain, by Kim Boyce. She uses refined flours and refined white sugar, but I actually think the cake tastes better and more interesting with whole spelt and whole wheat pastry flour, and sweetened with maple syrup. I also don’t find myself in a sugar coma after eating a piece of this.

I mentioned that I have made this cake for after dinner, but I think it would also be lovely for a brunch. Sweet and savory all in one easy-to-bake cake. Maybe with a dollop of Greek yogurt. Love it. No thanks, Mr. Picky? No problem. More for me!

5.0 from 1 reviews

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Whole Grain Olive Oil Cake with Rosemary and Dark Chocolate Recipe

Author: Pamela

Serves: 8

Ingredients

1 cup unrefined, cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil + extra for greasing pan
¾ cup whole spelt flour (or use all purpose)
1 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour or all-purpose flour
¾ cup Grade A maple syrup or natural cane sugar*
1 ½ teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
¾ teaspoon sea salt
3 eggs, at room temperature
¾ cup whole milk or unsweetened hemp milk, at room temperature
1 ½ Tablespoons fresh rosemary, finely chopped (measure, then chop)
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate (70% cacao), chopped into ½-inch pieces

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch round cake pan with olive oil.
Whisk the dry ingredients (including cane sugar, if using) in a large bowl. Set aside.
In another large bowl, whisk the eggs thoroughly. Add the maple syrup (if using), olive oil, milk and rosemary and whisk again.
Using a spatula, fold the wet ingredients into the dry, gently mixing until combined. Stir in chocolate. Pour the batter into the pan, spreading evenly and smoothing the top.
Bake for about 45-50 minutes, or until the top is domed, golden brown and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. The cake can be eaten warm or cool from the pan, or cooled, wrapped tightly in plastic, and kept for 2 days.

Notes

*If using cane sugar, add with the dry ingredients. If using maple syrup, add with the wet ingredients.

dark chocolate olive oil rosemary spelt flour whole wheat pastry flour

Fennel and green bean salad with olives recipe

I cannot get out of summer mode, people. And when it’s 80 degrees and sunny here at the beach, it’s hard not to be this way. I really wanted to post a new recipe here over the weekend, buuuuutttttt I procrastinated. A lot. The weather was so perfect and we weren’t totally overscheduled like we usually are so I helped Mr. Picky and his pal set up a lemonade stand. And then I was so exhausted from their 10-year-old exuberance that I took a nap. For the first time since 1998. And then the beach was pleading to me to come for one last summer visit. So I did. And I then I had to make a blueberry crumb cake and some salads to bring to a friend’s house. And then I just rationalized that all you people were doing the same thing I was so you wouldn’t be online waiting for a new recipe from me.

How was it waking up today? I thought it was brutal! I keep seeing hashtags like #readyforseptember #septemberhereicome #excitedforfall. You know what my last hashtag was? #fallisoverrated I actually have a lot to look forward to this fall, but I think I just feel gipped. Summer is supposed to be three months like every other season in nature. But it’s not really. My son’s school has 9 1/2 weeks off for summer. Uh… #tooshort.

I did do a fair amount of cooking this summer when I was home and at my parents’ house. But I had so many projects and recipes I wanted to test and I got around to NADA. I think that’s another reason I am not really ready for fall. Because I’m not ready! Not to worry if you’re taking any of my classes this fall– I will get my lazy rear into gear pronto.

This summer I made a lot of salads like this Fennel and Green Bean Salad with Olives. It’s everything I love when the weather’s warm and I only have an appetite for veggies, fruit and acai bowls. I happen to love fennel which I’m sure you know by know if you’ve hung around here long enough. It has such a unique flavor and great crunch and it’s actually fabulous for digestion. Green beans are loaded with Vitamin K, beta-carotene and Vitamin C. It’s a very hydrating salad too.

The dressing has a nice salty bite from a little bit of anchovy paste. But if you’re vegan or don’t want to use the anchovies, just drop it. I am a bit of a salty gal myself, so I love the dressing and the olives in the salad. This is the perfect salad to serve with seafood or a frittata or grilled chicken.

Even though summer has come and gone in the blink of an eye, I’m still looking for recipes like this one for the sultry days ahead. And for those days when I am not motivated enough to do more than slice some fennel. #indenial

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Fennel and Green Bean Salad with Olives

Author: Pamela, Adapted from "cucina rustica," by Evan Kleiman and Viana La Place

Serves: 6

Ingredients

1 pound green beans, trimmed and halved
Kosher salt for blanching beans
1 large fennel bulb (about 1 pound)
¼ cup unrefined, cold-pressed, extra-virgin olive oil
3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon anchovy paste or 1 anchovy fillet, minced
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
freshly ground pepper to taste
¼ cup oil-cured black olives, pitted and quartered

Instructions

Prepare a large bowl with ice water and set aside. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add a heaping tablespoon of sea salt. Submerge the green beans in the boiling water and cook 3-4 minutes or until they are crisp tender. Drain and immediately plunge into the ice water bath. After a few minutes, drain and set aside to dry a bit.
Trim the stalks off the fennel bulb and cut away any bruised spots. Cut the fennel bulb in half lengthwise. Cut out the core at the base and slice the fennel thinly into strips. (I would slice them more thinly than I did in the pictures here.)
In a large serving bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, anchovy, garlic, salt and pepper. (You can also do this in a glass jar with a screw-top lid.)
Add the green beans and fennel to the dressing and toss to combine. Remove garlic and discard. Sprinkle with olives and serve.

fennel green beans olives

Lentil and grilled eggplant salad recipe

Do you remember the Dunkin Donuts commercial from the ’80s, where the guy wakes up super early in the morning every day and says, “time to make the donuts” ? That’s how I felt yesterday morning when I stumbled out of bed as the sun came up because it was “time to make the lunches.” Oy. How is it that I love to cook, but I dread making school lunches?

This isn’t a post about school lunches though. I’ll still post my kids’ lunches once a week on Instagram and Facebook so we can all share ideas. I just can’t believe it’s the beginning of school and I have not eaten what I think is enough tomatoes! Or eggplant. Or peaches. So now I’m on a mission to eat as much summer produce as I can before it is gone. And the first day of school is my warning bell.

I saw a post on Instagram the other day asking who was excited for pumpkin season? Uh, not me. What’s the rush? I would be delighted to eat watermelon and plums for a bit longer thank you. I want to make more of this Lentil and Grilled Eggplant Salad. I taught this salad in a class last year and I became obsessed with it, making it for friends and family all summer long. It has many of my favorite foods like grilled eggplant, which is much better than eggplant cooked any other way, in my opinion; hearty, protein-rich lentils, which are my favorite vegetarian protein source (Mr. Picky’s, too); and of course, the best of summer, ripe, juicy tomatoes.

I love the earthy, assertive flavors in this salad and especially the delicious, mustard-y vinaigrette. Dijon and lentils are great pals. This would be a perfect salad to bring to a Labor Day BBQ, especially if you don’t eat meat and make to ensure a vegetarian option. Or make this for dinner with something green on the side and you’re done. I’ve also added some goat cheese or feta for an extra salty bite. Many of my students like the precooked lentils from Trader Joe’s which would make this even easier to put together. Because I’m all about easy if it will make me cook something at home instead of getting take out. Gotta run — it’s already that time of day. Time to make dinner!

5.0 from 3 reviews

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Lentil and Grilled Eggplant Salad

Author: Pamela

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

¾ cup French lentils, picked over and rinsed
¼ cup dry white wine
½ yellow onion
2 garlic cloves, smashed
3 cups vegetable stock or water
2 Tablespoons unrefined, cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing vegetables (or use melted unrefined coconut oil to grill vegetables)
3 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar, preferably raw
1 ½ teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 medium eggplants (approx. 1- 1 ¼ pound each), sliced lengthwise ½-inch thick
1 small red onion, sliced into whole rings
1 large tomato, diced
⅓ cup fresh whole flat-leaf parsley leaves
½ cup walnuts, roughly chopped

Instructions

Place the lentils and the wine in a medium saucepan over medium heat and simmer until the wine has been absorbed.
Add the stock or water, onion and garlic to the saucepan with the lentils and bring to a boil over high heat, lower to a simmer and cook for 25-30 minutes, or until lentils are tender.
Whisk the olive oil, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper together in a small bowl and reserve.
When the lentils are done, drain and pick out onion and garlic pieces and discard. Place lentils in the serving bowl and pour a tablespoon of the dressing onto the warm lentils and stir gently to combine. Reserve remaining dressing.
Turn your grill on to medium-high heat. Brush the eggplant and red onion with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Grill the eggplant and onion until tender and slightly charred (not burned).
Chop the grilled vegetables into bite-size pieces and add to the lentils. Add the chopped tomato, parsley leaves and walnuts.
Toss the salad with the remainder of the dressing and taste for salt. Serve warm or room temperature.

eggplant lentils red onion walnuts

Corn and zucchini frittata recipe

I just returned from Dallas, one child and many suitcases lighter. Sigh…. My daughter has officially opened her wings and flown from the proverbial nest to plant her roots at college. The whole thing is quite surreal as many of you may or may not know. One minute they’re spinning around in a pink tutu drinking from a sippy cup and the next you’re renting a mini fridge and lecturing them about why beer is the devil.

I actually met my husband freshman year of college. So we couldn’t help but reminisce about our move-in experience and our crummy, old and unrenovated dorm. I think my daughter was a little tired of my exclaiming every five minutes how her new dorm is “like the Four Seasons compared to where we lived!” Of course you can’t furnish the Four Seasons with cinderblocks and plastic milk crates. So we channeled our inner Nate Berkus and coordinated duvet covers with cork boards. Funny, I do not remember my parents making two trips to Bed Bath & Beyond, two trips to The Container Store, a visit to the campus bookstore, Whole Foods, and, of course, amazon.com for anything and everything we didn’t find in the oasis of Dallas and that could be delivered in 2 days flat. As another student’s exasperated father said to me after his ninth trip up the stairs with the umpteenth box, “My parents sent me to school with a towel.” Yep.

Even the food is better at college than it used to be. My daughter’s school has a smoothie and juice bar in the dining hall. I knooooow!!!!!! So I kinda had to stick my fingers in my ears and sing a little “la-la-la-la” song when my sweet girl started to complain about what she was going to eat. Not listening!

In the week after we returned from Europe and before she left, I did indulge her with all her favorites though. And it was my pleasure. We had pasta with pesto, caprese salads, spanakopita, oatmeal-butterscotch chip cookies, veggie frittatas, acai bowls and on and on. All for my daughter who was pickier than Mr. Picky and at 17 now craves fresh-pressed juices and veggie tacos. Certainly, nothing beats food cooked by your mom who loves you to the moon and back. I will miss cooking for my baby to be sure, but I am already planning cookie and granola bar care packages.

This corn and zucchini frittata is one of my daughter’s favorites and a perfect way to enjoy summer’s last gifts before they slip away. I very often make frittatas on Fridays or the weekend to use up whatever’s left in the fridge and that’s exactly how this one came about. I had leftover sautéed corn and zucchini from dinner to which I added some beaten eggs and voila! Our newest favorite frittata was born.

Surprisingly, corn goes so well with eggs and adds a beautiful sweetness, but more importantly, the perfect texture to the soft eggs. Sometimes I add goat cheese or feta to the top and I’ve even made this for a big crowd by doubling everything and baking it in a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Summer’s bounty is still here, but only for a few fleeting moments longer. Enjoy every last morsel while you can, because it will slip from your fingers before you’re ready to let it go.

5.0 from 3 reviews

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Corn and Zucchini Frittata

Author: Pamela

Serves: 6

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons unrefined, cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil + additional
1 bunch scallions, trimmed and sliced
2 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
3 medium zucchini (about 1 pound), ends trimmed and sliced ¼-inch thick by hand or by the slicing disk of the food processor
Fine grain sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
8 large eggs
1 ½ cups of organic corn kernels, from 2-3 ears (frozen, defrosted is fine)
½ cup grated cheddar or mozzarella or a few crumbles of feta or goat cheese (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a 10-inch skillet, warm the olive oil. Sauté the scallions until softened. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the zucchini slices and a generous pinch of salt and sauté until tender, about 6 minutes.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs, 1 teaspoon salt, and a few grinds of black pepper. Stir the cooked zucchini mixture and the corn (and grated cheese if using) into the eggs and combine well. Pour the mixture back into the skillet. If using feta or goat cheese, scatter the pieces across the top of the egg mixture.
Transfer skillet to the oven and bake until firm, about 40 minutes.

Notes

Alternatively, bake in a larger skillet for less time for a thinner frittata.

Or, cook gently over medium-low heat, covered until slightly set on the bottom, 15-20 minutes. Transfer the skillet to the oven and broil until the top is slightly puffed and golden, about 3-5 minutes. Serve warm or room temperature.

corn eggs green onions zucchini

Fresh tomato soup recipe

The moment we arrived in Lake Garda on Wednesday for the last leg of our trip, I looked at my husband and said, “Good luck getting me on that plane back home.” The vistas are breathtaking, the air is clean, and the food is to die for. Total heaven here. Check out my Instagram and Facebook page for some pictures.

One food combination that I will never tire of is tomatoes and basil. And if you add some high quality mozzarella, I am even happier. I do so many combinations of tomatoes and basil in the summer, whether it be in soups, salads, pasta, eggs, grains, on toast, and on and on. Needless to say, I have been indulging like crazy in Italy, where I will argue you find the best tomatoes!

I made this soup at home before I left. The recipe is from Angelini Osteria, one of my favorite Italian restaurants in LA, and was printed in the LA Times recently. I didn’t waste any time making it! Trust me when I tell you that you must use great, flavorful tomatoes here. Otherwise, the soup will probably taste like nothing. I’ve tasted other Italian tomato soups in the past and they’ve all tasted like tomato sauce. Not this one! It’s so light and fresh with just a little essence of basil. It is summer in a bowl! Also, did you know that tomatoes are very rich in lycopene, a powerful antioxidant and anti-cancer compound. But the lycopene becomes more available when the tomatoes are cooked. Bonus!

I couldn’t help but drizzle some good olive oil on the soup and tear a smidge of burrata into it, too. If you want to keep this dairy-free or vegan, just forget the burrata and add a piece of grilled bread rubbed with some garlic. You really can’t go wrong.

Sadly, this vacation is coming to an end soon. But I am excited to get back in the kitchen in a few days and cook again. I’ve been so inspired by all the places we have visited. I am also looking forward to seeing many of you next week in class. Lots of stories to share and yummy food to make!

5.0 from 1 reviews

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Fresh Tomato Soup

Author: Pamela, adapted from adapted from Angelini Osteria via the Los Angeles Times

Serves: 4-5 (although the original recipe said serves 6-8)

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons unrefined, cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
1 small onion, finely diced
½ carrot finely diced
2 large basil leaves
1 sprig fresh thyme
3 pounds fresh tomatoes, coarsely chopped
¾ teaspoon sea salt + additional to taste
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
optional garnishes: burrata, grated Parmesan cheese, croutons

Instructions

In a medium, heavy bottomed pot, heat 2 Tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, basil and thyme. Cook, stirring frequently until the vegetables are tender; 10-12 minutes.
Stir in the tomatoes, along with ¾ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Simmer for 20 minutes to break down the tomatoes and meld the flavors.
Remove from the heat and puree the soup in a blender or food processor, then strain through a strainer. Taste for seasoning. I added a bit more salt.
Serve the soup hot or warm, with desired garnishes and a drizzle of olive oil.

basil garlic onion thyme tomatoes

Chicken souvlaki with tzatziki recipe

I thought since I am vacationing in the Mediterranean with my family for three weeks, I would post some new recipes that complemented my travels. When I return (if I ever return!), I will definitely write up my itinerary and any do’s and don’t’s which I learned that might be helpful for your planning purposes.

If you’ve hung around this blog long enough, you’ve read that Mediterranean food is my favorite. It’s my comfort zone. It’s exactly the way I like to eat – fresh, seasonal, organic food, mostly veggies, legumes and whole grains, olive oil, more fish than meat, a little sheep or goat cheese and yogurt,. Mediterranean cuisine is also considered to be among the most healthful in the world. More importantly, I think the food is just downright delicious, but simple. Of course in order for simple food to taste amazing, each ingredient has to be the best.

This is where sometimes we have trouble duplicating something we’ve eaten, even if we have the exact recipe. For example, there’s no secret Greek salad recipe. I have made and eaten a lot of them in my life, some forgettable and some outstanding. It just comes down to the ingredients that were used.

Chicken Souvlaki is an easy, light dinner I can pull together quickly and one that I know everyone will eat. It’s basically a grilled, marinated chicken and veggie kabob, which I love to serve with a very tasty cucumber-yogurt sauce called Tzatziki. My family likes to eat it with grilled pita bread (which is literally store-bought pita that I put on the grill just to get a few char marks) or garlic rice. You can also serve the kabob over a Greek salad which would make for a great light summer dinner.

Check out my recent Instagram and facebook pictures from Greece and Turkey. We will be finishing off our trip next week in Venice and then Lake Garda, so expect some Italian recipes soon!

5.0 from 1 reviews

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Chicken Souvlaki with Tzatziki

Author: Pamela

Serves: makes 6 12-inch skewers*

Ingredients

1 ½ teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
3 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, divided
2 medium cloves of garlic, finely grated, divided
1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano
1 ½ teaspoons dried thyme
2 Tablespoons unrefined, cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 ¼ pounds boneless-skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 2-inch cubes
2 Persian cucumbers, chopped or coarsely grated (personal preference)
1 cup full fat Greek yogurt (Straus makes a great organic one)
½ Tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint or dill (optional)
8 small plum tomatoes, halved (or large ones quartered)
½ small red onion, cut into 2-inch pieces
6 whole-wheat pitas (optional)

Instructions

Whisk together lemon zest, 1 ½ Tablespoons lemon juice, 1 grated clove of garlic, oregano, thyme, 1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon olive oil, and ½ teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. Add the chicken, and toss to coat. Marinate at room temperature for 45 minutes or refrigerated, covered, for up to 6 hours.
Meanwhile make the tzatziki sauce: Stir together the remaining lemon juice and garlic, the cucumber, yogurt, vinegar, herbs (if using) and ½ teaspoon salt. Refrigerate, covered, until ready to serve.
Heat the grill to medium-high. Thread the chicken, tomatoes, and onion onto 6 skewers. Brush with remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil, and season with pepper.
Grill skewers, turning, until browned on all sides and cooked through, about 8 minutes. Grill pitas until charred, about 2 minutes per side.
Serve skewers with charred pitas and tzatziki sauce.

Notes

*Not all skewers are the same size. This recipe would probably make 8 9 ½-inch bamboo skewers.

chicken cucumber red onion tomatoes yogurt