Recipe 21 & 22: Greek Salad with Lemon dressing

I love summer, nothing like vitamin D, a tan and summer fruit and vegetables. I also seem to be ok with dealing with greens.

Recipe number twenty one, (187 to go!) is one of the quickest salads ever and still is quite filling, so can be used as a main. Although Jamie Oliver deems it "Greek Salad"  I don't believe its exactly kosher.... it has Greek feta and olives- that's about it.

I have made this now twice and slightly different both times. Word of warning though, do not make it 1hr advance of your dinner party, otherwise it turns everything soggy :(

Avocado and Feta Salad

2 tomatoes
1 avocado
1 spanish onion
1 tsp dried oregano
Red wine vinegar
Olive oil
Handful of pitted olives
1 lemon
about 200g Feta Cheese
Lettuce mix (or Cos lettuce)
1/4 Ciabatta loaf *optional see step 5*

METHOD

1. Peel, stone and avocado. Cut into wedges and place in a bowl with squeezed half of a lemon. Cut the tomatoes erratically into 1cm shapes, finely dice the shallot.
2. Put the tomatoes, shallot, oregano with the avocado, splash with vinegar, a glug of olive oil, salt and pepper. Set aside for 5 minutes
3. Rinse the lettuce mix and either put on separate plates or on one platter. Sprinkle the pitted olives onto the salad, spoon the avocado and tomato mix on, crumb feta cheese over. Toss the salad lightly.
4. Just prior to serving, drizzle the vinegar mix over the salad and with the second half of the lemon spritz the salad. Or alternatively serve with the lemon dressing (recipe 22)
5. *To add a little bit of carbs, grill slices of ciabatta with olive oil and either serve on the side or, wait till cool and then crumb over the salad (if you decide to crumb the bread, I would recommend preparing it just after step 1.)

Lemon Dressing

1 Lemon

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

METHOD

1. squeeze a whole lemon into a jug and then add olive oil - double that of what was squeezed from the lemon. e.g. if you squeeze 50ml of lemon juice, use 100ml of olive oil.
2. Taste and then add Salt and Pepper to taste.

Note: it will separate after a few hours, just shake before serving.

Recipe 15: Greek inspired meatballs

My best friend and her husband are huge cooking fanatics. Her husband especially makes the most divine dinners and love cookbooks, so whilst over there a couple of weeks ago I went rummaging through his books and found this recipe by Donna Hay, a well known Australian cook.

Greek inspired Meatballs

1/3 cup couscous
2/3 cup chicken stock
300g mince
1 tblsp honey
1 tsp finely grated lemon rind
1 tsp chopped rosemary
salt and pepper
80g feta chopped coarsely
Flatbread, hummus, baby spinach leaves,mint leaves and halved cherry tomatoes to serve.

METHOD

1. Place the couscous in a bowl and pour over the hot stock. Cover with plastic wrap and stand until the stock has been absorbed. 
2. Combine the couscous, mince, honey, lemon rind, rosemary, salt and pepper and mix well. Stir in the feta.
3. Shape the mixture into 1/3 cup flat patties
4. Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add the pattie and cook for 4-5 minutes each side until cooked through
5. to serve, place flat-bread on serving plates and spread with hummus. Top with spinach leaves, mint, tomato and the meatballs.