Greek Orzo Salad

This salad is easy to make and delicious.

 

What You’ll Need:

Dressing:

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon honey

1/2 cup olive oil

Salad:

6 cups vegetable broth

1 pound orzo

2 cups red and yellow teardrop or grape tomatoes, halved

1 7-ounce package feta cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 1 1/2 cups)

1 cup chopped fresh basil

1 cup chopped green onions

1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted

What You’ll Do:

Whisk vinegar, lemon juice, and honey in small bowl. Gradually whisk in oil. Season vinaigrette with salt and pepper.

Bring broth to boil in large heavy saucepan. Stir in orzo, reduce heat to medium, cover partially, and boil until tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain. Transfer to large wide bowl, tossing frequently until cool.

Mix tomatoes, feta, basil, and green onions into orzo. Add vinaigrette; toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.) Add pine nuts; toss. Serve at room temperature.

Spinakopita

Growing up on the east coast gave me the opportunity to experience many diverse ethnic cuisines. As a child, Greek Diner’s became one of my favorite places to frequent. My grandmother used to bring me (regularly) to ‘Penny’s Greek Diner’ in Norwalk, CT. We went there so often that eventually the owners had no need to take our order - they just brought out our meals.

Later on in life when I began dating my husband, my grandma just had to invite him along to our special Greek Diner. Wouldn’t you know he quickly discovered his favorite dish too- ‘Spanakopita’, Greek Spinach Pie. He shared with me (reluctantly) and it became my favorite as well.

After moving to Oregon, we actively sought out Greek restaurants to test their versions of our favorite dish, but none compared. Many disappointments later, we realized we needed to learn how to make this specialty on our own to satisfy the cravings. Thankfully, Mollie Katzen, author of Moosewood Cookbook, had just the recipe we were looking for. We’ve made some modifications, but our version is originally adapted from her recipe. So here it is - an old time favorite that my children and all of my friends seem to enjoy just as much as we do.

What you’ll need:

1-2 Tbs Olive oil
About 2 cups of chopped onions
¼ tsp salt
1 Tbs basil
1 Tbs oregano
2 pounds of fresh spinach, stemmed and chopped
5-6 cloves or garlic, minced
3 Tbs flour
About 1 pound feta, crumbled
1 cup of cottage cheese
Black pepper
Phyllo - defrosted
Additional olive oil for Phyllo

What you’ll do:
Pre-heat oven to 375. Oil a 9X13 baking dish.

Heat olive oil in a large sautépan. Add onions, salt, basil, oregano and sauté for about 5 minutes or until onions are soft. Add spinach a handful at a time, cook for about 8-10 minutes. Stir in garlic.

Sprinkle in flour, stir in and cook for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat. Mix in cheeses. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Place a sheet of Phyllo in the oiled dish. Brush lightly with oil and add another sheet. Continue this process until you have 6-8 sheets, this will give you a nice crisp bottom layer. Add half the filling, spreading it evenly over the entire sheets of Phyllo. Then add 6-8 more layers of Phyllo followed by the remaining filling. Layer the remaining Phyllo over the filling. Oil top and cook uncovered for 45 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve hot and top with Tsaziki.

Baked Brie

Have little time for preparing a last minute get together, but you want to impress your guests? Baked brie with raspberry is simple yet decadent, and your cheese loving friends will gobble this up. Seriously...you should probably make two, or three.

What you'll need:

Brie
Raspberry jam
Pillsbury Crescent dough

Pre-heat your oven 350 degrees. Roll your dough flat onto a non-skick baking sheeting. Place brie on dough and spread jam on top of brie. Fold dough over brie and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Serve warm on its own or with apples and crackers.


*Those of you who have the time and prefer to make your own dough, we'll get a recipe up soon.

Homemade Macaroni and Cheese

Cooking With J & J was recently asked to share a recipe for a healthy version of Macaroni and Cheese. To be honest we're not so sure a healthy recipe is possible. Yummy? Definitely! Better for you than processed box Mac n Cheese? Yep. But healthy....we're not quite sure about that.

We both agreed that Mac n Cheese isn't the most healthy meal.... hey now, no crying, we have some good news. You didn't think we'd leave you hanging like that, now did you? We have some fat trimming 'healthy' recommendations for you.

Drum roll please..............

Instead of making Mac and Cheese your main dish, why not consider it a side?

"What? What's so good about that?" you ask.

Good question. Keep reading, we'll tell you.

One thing we've learned over the years is that if you add more of the 'healthy' stuff (salads and veggies) to your plate, and make it a rule to eat those foods first, then you will naturally decrease your portions of the 'not so healthy' stuff. Well? Whadya think? Not bad huh?

With this strategy you will be doing two excellent things for your health: A) minimizing the amount of fat you ingest from the dairy products included in your recipes - which consequently, is what most of us are concerned with, and B) increasing the amount of nutrient rich foods in your diet. Ok, there is a third thing too. You get to eat things you like and not feel so bad. That's really a win-win situation, don't you think?

Now that we got the 'health' talk out of the way, let's get to the recipe. Be sure to notice that we do use soy milk and Earth Balance to replace cow's milk and butter. This alone will help to cut down some of the fat. This Mac n Cheese sure is delicious!

This homemade recipe is a combination of several different recipes we have used over the years, and it yields this amazing version:

Ingredients:
12 oz Penne pasta
1/2 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup Gruyere cheese, shredded
Cheese sauce recipe follows

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Oil or butter using Earth Balance a 9x13 baking dish.

Cook Penne 2 minutes less than directions on the package, it will finish cooking in the oven. Rinse pasta with cold water and set aside.

Combine cooked pasta with cheese sauce (recipe to follow) in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Pour mixture into baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake uncovered for 25-30 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Cheese Sauce Ingredients:

1/4 cup Earth Balance or non-dairy butter substitute
1/3 cup flour
3 cups of soy milk
3 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
1/4 cup jack cheese, shredded
1/2 teaspoon salt
2-3 cloves of garlic, pressed

Melt Earth Balance or butter replacement in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour. Continue whisking for 2 minutes. Slowly add soy milk, whisking constantly. Cook until sauce thickens, be patient this may take a while, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Add cheese, salt and garlic. Stir until cheese is melted and all the ingredients are mixed well, about 2-3 minutes. Use immediately, or refrigerate for up to 3 days.

**For an added crunch, add whole grain flakes to the top of the macaroni before baking.