Pita Chips!

These guys are probably my favorite snack food right now. Easy as pie to make and way more cost effective than the kind that come pre-bagged. These are great on their own or with dip, and can easily be modified however you choose.

Recipe:

1 Package of pita (I like whole wheat best)

Olive Oil

Salt

Pepper

Directions

1) Preheat the broiler on your oven

2) Open the pita pockets and rip at the back seam so that you have a single layer of pita.

3) Cut each half pita into quarters (so each full pita will make 8 chips)

4) Arrange the pita pieces on a baking sheet. Brush each with olive oil and sprinkle salt and pepper on each.

5) Put the pan of pita pieces in the oven (under the broiler) for about 2 1/2 minutes. Make sure to check every 30 seconds or so because these burn quickly, and the broiling time can be very different, depending on the heat of your oven.

I think that these would be very nice with cinnamon and sugar, or with some parmesan cheese added. The sky is the limit!

Until our next dinner,

ceh.

Bulgur (Vulgar) Wheat

Bulgar, Spinach and Tomato Pilaf

Well, after such a meat-centric dish, It's probably time to go mostly vegan, right? The dinner can be completely vegan if you choose, just omit the yogurt.

Tonight's dinner (to celebrate a fabulous friend's successes!) was bulgur wheat pilaf. One regular at dinner has taken to calling it "Vulgar Wheat," and that sort of stuck. It's a tasty combination that is a variant of a recipe from Heidi Swanson's fabulous blog, 101 Cookbooks. For my purposes, I streamlined the recipe a bit and served it with some hummus, baba ganoush, cucumber/tomato salad and pita chips. A lovely middle-Eastern inspired feast!

Recipe (serves 3-5):
1 Medium sized white onion, diced
5-8 tbsp. olive oil
3 cloves of Garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 1/2 cups bulgur wheat
(I prefer the finer ground wheat, but the coarser grinds work as well, they just take a bit longer to cook)
2 cups vegetable broth
10-12 oz. fresh spinach
12-15 plum tomatoes
2 tbsp. balsamic vineagar
1 1/2 tsp. chili garlic hot sauce (like Cholula)
2 tsp. soft brown sugar

Directions:
1) Preheat over to 350 degrees.
2) Cut the plum tomatoes in half. Mix half of the olive oil, hot sauce and balsamic vinegar together. Toss the tomatoes in the mixture.
3) Place the tomatoes cut side up in a baking dish. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake tomatoes for 20-25 minutes.
4) Heat a large skillet over medium heat with the remaining olive oil. Fry the diced onion in the oil until it is starting to turn golden on the edges. Add garlic and cinnamon and fry for another 1-2 minutes.
5) Add spinach to the pan and cook with onions, garlic and spices until beginning to wilt. Add lemon juice and cook for another minute.
6) Add vegetable broth and warm. The broth doesn't need to boil, but should be warm.
7) Add bulgur and stir. Cover the pan and cook until all the liquid is absorbed.
8) Add tomatoes on top of the mixture. You can also pour any of the remaining olive oil/balsamic/hot sauce mixture over the pilaf at this point, if you want.

Serve with Greek yogurt, pita chips or just by itself. Mostly, just enjoy it!

Until our next dinner,
ceh.

Any word, I show you that the root of that word is Greek.

Spanakopita

My best friend is Greek, and I can tell you for sure that nothing in the world compares with her dad's spanakopita. It's a delicious spinach pie that is lightly spiced with a bit of feta cheese. to. die. for. This is my version, which is (I think) the next best thing. The important thing to remember here is to get as much water out of the spinach as possible before you start to assemble the pies. I make two 8-inch pies with this and then put one in the freezer (for up to a month or so) to whip out for a quick dinner.

This recipe makes 2 8-inch pies

Recipe:

1/2 package filo dough

3 packages frozen spinach, thawed

5 tbsp. garlic

1 large white onion

6-8 oz. walnuts, toasted

16 oz. (approximately) feta cheese

2-3 eggs

8 tbsp. olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp. of nutmeg

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put all of the spinach in a colander, and squeeze out as much moisture from it as you can. After you are done, it should be significantly smaller in volume, but that's good.

2) In a non-stick pan, heat approximately 2 tbsp. of olive oil and add the onions. Fry them until they are soft and just turning brown at the edges.

3) Add garlic, nutmeg, salt and pepper and fry for another 1-2 minutes.

4) Add Walnuts and spinach and stir until everything is incorporated. Then, turn of the heat and let the mixture cool to room temperature

5) While the mixture is cooling, get out your filo dough. For tips on working with this infamously tricky material, I think this is a great resource: Tips on Handling Phyllo Dough Sheets. You can get your station set up with the damp towel, pastry brush and extra olive oil in a bowl.

6) Take the cooled spinach/onion/garlic mixture and mix in the eggs and feta cheese. It's a judgement call on whether it is 2 or 3 eggs. You are looking for a texture that loosely holds it shape, but isn't too sticky.

7) Commence filo dough layering. Put one layer down, brush it with olive oil, then put another down. You want to form a crust that is about 6-8 layers deep in the bottom of each pan. It's also good if there are edges hanging over, these will be folded over the filling later.

8) Divide the mixture in half and fill each pan. Fold the edges of the bottom crust over the top of the filling, making sure to brush oil on each layer.

9) Layer the top crust, again 6-8 layers deep, pushing the edges of the filo dough sheets down into the sides of the pan.

10) Put the pie in the oven, and bake for about 30 minutes, or until the crust is golden.

*A side note: if you are cooking a pie from the freezer, do not thaw in advance. Just put the pie from the freezer in the oven at 350, and bake it for about 40-45 minutes. And there you have it!

Until our next dinner,

ceh.

Well, I've never been to Spain/But I kinda like the music...

Shrimp Paella

Tonight for dinner, we had paella. This was a distinctly non-vegetarian version to satisfy some very carnivorous visitors to my place. It's a classic Spanish dish (hence the 3 Dog Night lyrics...) and it's a great combination of crunchy and rich and spicy. This was my first time rolling out the recipe, and it was a runaway success.

The prep for cooking is a bit of work, but once everything is chopped and ready to go, then the cooking process is easy and super rewarding!

This batch served three hungry eaters with leftovers -- I would say probably 4-6 servings in total.

Recipe:

1 lb Shrimp (deveined and headless, but with the shells on)

1/2 lb chorizo, diced

1 chicken breast, cut into 1 inch dice

2 1/2 cups white short grain rice (like arborio)

1 white onion

1 tbsp. chopped garlic

3 tomatoes, peeled and seeded and roughly chopped

3 1/2 cups of vegetable or chicken broth

1/2 cup white wine

2-4 tbsp. Olive Oil

2 tsp. paprika

1 pinch turmeric

1 pinch saffron

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

4 tbsp. fresh parsley, for garnish

Salt and black pepper, to taste

Directions:

1) Heat a bit of olive oil in a 10-12 inch non-stick skillet on the stove until it is very hot. Then add the chicken and cook until brown.

2) Warm the stock with the turmeric and the saffron. Stir occasionally to make sure the spices are dissolving and incorporated.

3) Add onions, garlic, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning and cook until they are soft and most of the water has evaporated from the pan

4) Add chorizo and paprika and cook until fragrant. Then add tomatoes. Again, cook until most of the liquid is gone from the pan.

5) Deglaze the pan with the white wine. Cook for approximately 5 minutes or until the liquid has reduced by half.

6) Add the rice and cook until it is translucent around the edges, approximately 1-2 minutes.

7) Slowly pour the spiced stock into the pan and stir until everything is just incorporated.

8) Arrange the shrimp around the top of the pan and cover the pan. Turn down the heat to medium low. Cook for about 15 minutes, or until the liquid is absorbed.

9) Take off the lid and turn the heat back up for 3-5 minutes to get a crispy layer on the bottom and sides of the pan.

10) Sprinkle parsley across the top and voila!

I hope that you enjoy this recipe as much as I did.

Until our next dinner,

ceh.