Good luck foods are one of the most fascinating chapters in global food history. For Greeks on New Year’s, the food of luck is either a bread, cake or pie called vasilopita. There are dozens of different regional renditions, some sweet, some savory. For the Italians, it’s lentils, which symbolize money. In the American South it’s black-eyed peas. I am devoting this blog to my favorite black-eyed pea recipes, equally delicious for good luck and good health! They’re the perfect Mediterranean diet ingredient: humble, versatile and easy to cook.
I want to wish everyone a safe, happy and healthy holiday season and New Year. We celebrate with season’s “eatings,” always with a Greek twist, a drizzle of olive oil and spoonful of honey and the scent of warm spices permeating so many holiday dishes. Holiday traditions culminate at New Year’s for Greeks, the day most people actually exchange gifts.
Chestnut trees grow all over Greece, especially in the mountains, which account for 80% of the Greek landscape. They are one of the traditional ingredients in the rice stuffing for the Christmas or New Year’s turkey. They often stud wine-braised pork dishes, also served on the holidays. Chestnut spoon sweets, chestnut puree and chestnut flour […]
One doesn’t usually think of anything Greek when it comes to a Waldorf salad, named for the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York City. It was first created there, by Oscar Tschirky, maître d’hotel, to be served at a charity ball in honor of St. mary’s Childrens’ Hospital in March of 1896. It has become a […]
FACTS & TIPS: Why Hazelnuts? I had originally created this recipe with bits of cured pork in mind, using a very small amount of meat the way my ancestors would have a few generations ago. But then I wanted to challenge myself and make the recipe totally vegan. Nuts do the trick, and hazelnuts are […]
In the vast majority of recipes in this ongoing collection, I’ve steered clear of refined sugar as an ingredient. But the truth is that some of the most traditional preparations on Ikaria and elsewhere in Greece are the fruits, nuts, and young vegetables preserved in sugar syrup called glyka tou koutaliou. or spoon sweets. Vyssino, […]
FUN TIP: Creamy texture doesn’t have to be achieved with, well, cream! In this recipe, I call for an age-old Greek tradition for using nuts as a thickener. Cashews, while not native to Greece, are a much-loved nut. They are super rich in iron and copper, which impacts our metabolism in a positive way. Cashews […]
There’s no end to the good things cauliflower gives our bodies. But did you also know that it is one of the best detox vegetables around? There are many ways to detox but nixing the refined carbohydrates and sugar from our diet is first and foremost. If we focus on adding nutritious vegetables to our […]
FUN FACT:Quinoa is a very new ingredient in the Greek kitchen and has been embraced for its versatility, healthfulness and ease of use. Quinoa is a great addition to the diet of anyone who wants to cut back on meat. A single cup of cooked quinoa has around 8 grams of protein, which is roughly […]
FUN FACT: Many of us have seen, tried or at least heard of a Greek salad, but chances are we may also have experienced it in its American version, with lettuce and vinaigrette. Real Greek salad calls for neither! The brininess of the olives and/or capers or sea fennel provides ample acidity and lots of […]
