The following recipe is ideal for the weekend and at any point in general that you are missing summer. Sardines are super healthy and tasty and this recipe super easy.
(more…)Tag: vegetables
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Beef soup with vegetables
As the winter is coming in London the amount of recipes that include the word “soup” in it is increasing all the time.
Chicken soup is one of my favorite of all times, along with any Chinese soups which I really like. I remember that when I was young my mother used to do either beef soup or some fish soup, depending on the fish that she could find on the local markets.
However, for some reason I never really liked it as much as the chicken soup, or the fish soup. Nevertheless, obviously everything changes as you grow older and now i consider it one of the best comfort foods you can have.
The more traditional way of cooking that soup is by adding orzo and red sauce which is still nice, but …well i made some small modifications. In this specific case i didn’t add orzo but rather kept the plain with lemon.
On other cases i just add some mustard. It is equally great i have to say but i guess it is heavily influenced due to the fact that i have spent the past 10 years of my life in UK.
Well… here it is…
BEEF SOUP WITH VEGETABLES AND MUSTARD – INGREDIENTS
- 1 kilo of Beef chopped.
- 2 daphne leafs
- 4-5 carrots chopped
- 2 onions finely chopped
- 1 small bunch of celery
- 3 medium sized potatoes chopped
- Salt/Pepper
- Vegetable cube
- 1 lemon
Our Beef Soup is ready. Greek style! METHOD
- In a big pot, add the olive oil in medium heat and let it sizzle. Add the beef and stir it well.
- Add Salt and Pepper as well and the onions and let the beef become a bit brownish. Fill it up with water, add the Daphne leaves as well as the vegetable cube.
- Put in the potatoes, the celery and carrots and let them boil for 2 hours. In my case i used a pressure cooker for almost an hour.
- After the beef is done add a spoon of butter and the celery leaves and keep boil for couple of more minutes.
- Serve with a bit more celery leaves and a slice of lemon.
Obviously you can make the same soup with some variations… Sometimes i prefer to add a spoon of mustard rather than butter.
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Briam- Baked Vegetables
One of the first recipes that I learned to cook when I came in the UK 7 years ago was briam (or else Tourlou Tourlou). That is a really well known dish in Greece and Turkey with baked vegetables. It is very tasty and healthy in the same time.
If you cook it nicely and you give it some time…the vegetables will melt and become like a cream melting to your mouth giving you a really tasty food without messing up your diet. “Tourlou tourlou” means in…greek and Turkish…mixed up. Basically that’s the basic idea of the food… a lot of vegetables mixed up and baked in the oven providing a range of colours and flavours.
Take a look in the ingredients
INGREDIENTS
- 2 Aubergines sliced in big pieces
- 2 courgettes sliced in big pieces
- 1 big potato cut in various sizes
- 1 big onion finely chopped
- 1 small bunch of parsley finely chopped
- 1 small bunch of mint finely chopped
- 1 glass of olive oil
- Salt and Pepper
- Baking Foil
- 250 grs of Feta Cheese.
METHOD for Briam
There isnt anything easier than that. Just add all the ingredients in an oven tray and add the Olive oil, Salt and Pepper. Use your hands and make sure you stir the ingredients well. Cover the tray with the baking foil and insert it in the oven on high heat. Leave it there for 45 mins and then remove the baking foil making sure you stir the ingredients once more.
When the potatoes get soft then its ready. It is important for that reason the Aubergines/courgettes to be sliced in big pieces. Add parsley and the mint, as well as the grated feta cheese and stir so it can go everywhere.
Tips: be careful to slice the potatoes in really small cubes as they need to be cooked fast or else all the other vegetables will be cooked faster and you will end up eating them rare…