Category: Occasion

Recipes related to holidays and special occasions

Holiday Main Courses

Pumpkin pastitsio…savory roasted pork with an herb crust…stuffed turkey…and more. These are some of the dishes you’ll find in my holiday main course section, so hurry, take a look, and head straight to the supermarket!

Holiday Soups, Starters, and Meze

You’ll find traditional and contemporary Greek mezedakia (small plates) in this section, as well as some great soups and starters for your holiday table. Give it a Greek spin…use Greek olive oil, Greek yogurt, feta and more to make your holidays healthy, stealthy, and bright!

Lettuce, Fennel, Orange, Radish Salad

Lettuce, Fennel, Orange & Radish Salad

Refreshing. That’s the word that comes to mind when munching and crunching on this delicious salad. Dress it with real Greek olive oil and vinegar, which you can order on my online store here.

Arugula, Fennel, Pomegranate and Olive Salad

arugula salad with pomegranate

Fresh arugula salad with a crunchy, colorful, and highly nutritious addition: pomegranate. It is one of the oldest known fruits, symbol of fertility in many cultures, antioxidant-rich, and greatly appetizing.

Greek Yogurt, Smoked Salmon Canapés

Smoked Salmon Canapes, a recipe by Diane Kochilas

Salmon isn’t exactly a fish that swims anywhere near the Mediterranean or Aegean, but it’s a fish that Greeks have embraced, both fresh and smoked. It pairs beautifully with the thick Greek yogurt that has conquered the world. In this recipe, I mix in a little katiki, a grainy, sour, yogurt-like cheese from mainland Greece […]

Naoussa Style Braised Christmas Pork and Leeks

This is a pan-northern-Greek dish, one of the all time classics and favorites on the Sunday and festive table. In Naoussa, the addition of tomatoes to the dish distinguishes it from other versions around the region. Locals say the best cut for this is pork collar. For 4-6 servings ½ cup olive oil 1 ½ […]

N. Greek Sweet Polenta with Pumpkin Preserves

Here’s a really unusual, delicious recipe for sweet corn cream that comes from Northern Greece. The dish is adapted from my book, The Country Cooking of Greece. It’s a great example of elegant but rustic Greek cuisine.

Nut-Stuffed Shredded Wheat Rolls, Ioannina Style / Kataifi Yanniotiko

Most people who are familiar with kataifi, the thin-strand pastry, think it is actually shredded wheat or shredded phyllo. In fact, it’s made with a batter that is poured through a tiny-holed spout onto a large, hot, circle griddle that spins slowly, thus creating the vermicell-like effect. From what I know, a few places still […]

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