MEATLESS CHUNKY, CHEESY TOMATO SAUCE

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, chopped well

2 garlic cloves, minced
2 ribs of celery, chopped well
1 sweet Italian frying pepper, chopped, seeds removed 

2 teaspoons tomato paste
1 (15-ounce) cans tomato sauce
1 cup water

7 fresh tomatoes, peeled, seeds removed, chopped 

or 1 can (28-ounces) whole tomatoes 
2 teaspoons dried oregano
a few sprigs of fresh thyme, a few basil leaves and a little parsley
salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese

Directions:

• In a saucepan, heat the olive oil and add the onions, celery, pepper and garlic. Sauté until soft. 
• Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute.
•  Add the tomato sauce and water and stir to deglaze the pan.
•  Add the oregano and thyme. 
• Add the tomatoes. 
• Mix, season with salt and pepper to taste, bring to a boil and reduce the heat to low. Cover and let simmer. 
• After half an hour check the sauce. It should be pretty thick.  At this point add the grated cheese, stir well and cook for another 15 minutes. 
• Chiffonade the basil leaves and mix them into the sauce. Turn off the heat. 
• The tomato sauce will be thick, sweet and fragrant: use it up!

STRAPATSADA FLAVORED WITH PEPPERS

A plate of strapatsada is one of my favourite Greek meals. It tastes like summer! It's because of the tomatoes, I think. When they ripen and turn bright red they bring that special taste to this dish. The salty feta cools things off, and the eggs bind all the ingredients together. 

There are about as many variations of strapatsada as there are regions in Greece. In the north, peppers are added. In some islands, feta cheese doesn't even make an appearance. The most popular version is the one with eggs, feta and tomatoes, and that's the one I prefer. I don't grow peppers, but once in a while friends bring me peppers from their garden. That's when I like to throw this version of strapatsada together. Just a couple of peppers, one mildly hot and tangy, the other sweet and tender, just two peppers will add an appealingly piquant note to strapatsada. Try it. Use the freshest ingredients you can get, and you'll have a delicious, nutritious and economical dish! 

INGREDIENTS:

6 large fresh tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 long green hot pepper, seeded and sliced into thin rings

1 sweet Italian frying pepper, seeded, sliced in half lengthwise and chopped

4 or 5 eggs, beaten

salt and pepper to taste

dried oregano

feta cheese, crumbled

2 tablespoons milk 

2 tablespoons olive oil

DIRECTIONS: 

In a skillet, heat the olive oil and add five of the tomatoes.  Season with salt and pepper, add the garlic, oregano and peppers, stir to combine and cook over medium heat until the liquid from the tomatoes has evaporated. Add the reserved tomato and mix.
 

Add the milk to the beaten eggs then pour the egg mixture onto the tomatoes.  Cook while constantly stirring the mixture in a folding motion. The eggs should become incorporated with the tomatoes but they should not get overcooked or burned. 

 Freshness here is key: get the best organic eggs!

 Just as the eggs are about to finish cooking, add the feta cheese and continue cooking and folding for about another minute or so.  

Plate the strapatsada and serve it hot with toasted bread as an accompaniment.

WHEN YOU'RE EATING TO LIVE TRY THE POLENTA: REFLECTIONS ON READING MFK FISHER'S "HOW TO COOK A WOLF"

“By all means marry; if you get a good wife, you'll be happy. If you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher.” That’s what Socrates said, and it’s well known that he had an unhappy marriage. Therefore, he became a philosopher. I imagine his wife was a horrible cook because soon after Socrates became a philosopher he coined this phrase: “Eat to live, do not live to eat.” I think what Socrates meant was not to be a glutton or engage in debauchery. Keep to the middle of the road, don’t go overboard. 

I like to remember the “eat to live, do not live to eat” quote every time I go to the supermarket. Everything there is strategically arranged to tempt the buyer! That’s what you call marketing (pun intended). Before you know it, you’ve bought a whole host of things that you have no use for. That’s excess, and that's not a good thing. Socrates would be disappointed as would be MFK Fisher; MFK eschewed excess. Of course, when times are hard, excess is difficult. When the "wolf is at the door," meaning when one is faced with difficult times, ingenuity must come into play. 

MFK Fisher’s book “How to Cook a Wolf,” written during World War II, is devoted to giving ideas on how to eat well during hard times. The book's premise is how to master the proverbial wolf rather than let him threaten. Keep calm, be ingenious, and persevere. That's "How to Cook a Wolf!" Clever title, enjoyable book. This was my introduction to MFK Fisher (Thank you, Simona). Fisher was a bohemian, a cook, a gourmet, a journalist and a pioneering food essayist. In her book, she discusses food shortages, rationing and other difficulties faced in the US during the World War II.  

Her observations about food contradicted what was commonly believed at the time, but she was right on target: Eat lots of fresh vegetables she said. Have a nice, big salad. Don't forget about seafood. If you have wilted vegetables, they're perfect for soup. Make sure your eggs are fresh, even if you have to pay a little more. It will be worth it in the end. Make your food stretch by adding rice or potatoes to it. Save on gas: your oven can accommodate more than one dish at a time. Add the dessert in there along with the main course ... Her ideas about fresh food and food economy are conveyed in a clever, appealing manner. One of these days I may have to try baking her tomato soup cake. Tomato soup? In cake? It's been heard of. It was a pretty common Depression-era and wartime addition to spice cake. Tomato soup was the "mystery ingredient" which allowed cooks to economise on the use of oil/butter, milk, eggs, and sugar. MFK doesn't tell us, but tomato soup makes a cake moister and sweeter. Of course, you know ... don't add it when making a genoise ... 

 MFK Fisher's "How to Cook a Wolf" is the entry for COOK THE BOOKS CLUB,  this round hosted by Simona from BRICIOLE.  Read the book, cook what inspires you from the reading, then blog about it.  That's the objective! 

I would not have been able to praise Fisher had I not decided to write what follows, some of my thoughts concerning food shortages in wartime Europe. Once I had those thoughts on paper, I felt a sense of relief and was able to go back and reread "How to Cook a Wolf" with enjoyment. It was Fisher's chapter on how to manage during blackouts that brought back memories of stories heard from relatives concerning how they dealt with blackouts. And with curfews, too. And with fear. During World War II, my family lived in Greece, which was under nazi occupation. Things there were just a tad more serious than in the US (of course, if not for US soldiers, who knows what Europe would look like today). 

In her book, Fisher explained such things as how to cook a tough cut of meat. During the war, my family felt they were rich if they could eat bean soup for dinner. My grandfather was imprisoned and nearly shot because he bought meat from someone who butchered a cow without having gotten permission from the authorities. Needless to say, the man who butchered the cow (his own cow), was shot. Shot dead. Knowing all these stories, plus lots more, I initially reacted to Fisher’s book with commingled feelings: with interest, because this is a charming book, but also with disdain because I knew and sympathised with people who had it a lot worse than Fisher's intended readers. In wartime America, food was plentiful albeit rationed. In Greece, food was a luxury and near starvation was the norm. Tell me MFK, how do you make a nice meal out of just a handful of raisins? I really don't think MFK, knowledgeable as she was, would have had an answer.

But if during World War II my relatives considered beans to be a rich meal, polenta was their staple meal. They would eat polenta nearly every day. My grandfather was the polenta guru of the clan, cooking it over an open fire in the yard, and stirring it all the long time it needed to be stirred. Then he would take it to my grandmother who poured it onto a platter and flavoured it either with petimezi (a syrup made from grapes), or with feta cheese: Polenta made either sweet or savoury. My mother once told me that she loved the sweetened petimezi polenta. I believed her 100 percent because mom was known for her sweet tooth and for the desserts she made! 

Fisher has a very nice recipe for polenta in the chapter "How to Pray for Peace," and she aptly describes the starchy cornmeal concoction that is polenta as "a sturdy... mixture, the kind that has survived centuries of loving obedience from hungry, simple peoples."  
   

Strapatsada

I would like to dedicate this post to the persevering spirit of my relatives and the like-minded spirit of all war-torn families. For this entry of Cook the Books Club, I cooked two dishes that I heard lots about from my mother: Strapatsada, a dish made with tomatoes, eggs and feta cheese, definitely a luxury food during the war. Strapatsada is reminiscent of Fisher's recipe "eggs in purgatory," known across the pond that is the Atlantic Ocean as "uova in Purgatorio." 

I also made polenta, which was my family's wartime staple. After the war, polenta all but disappeared from Greek dinner tables, but strapatsada is still a favourite.

Here is a pertinent war-time story: my cousin Socrates was born during World War II. I am very fond of Socrates, he is a righteous dude. He is named after Socrates, the philosopher. This is how that happened:

Soon after he was born, the yet unnamed baby Socrates was taken to church, ready and willing to be christened. It’s a Greek tradition to name the newborn after his or her grandparents. And there was the problem. The baby's mother wanted her son to have her father’s name, and the baby's father wanted his son to have his father’s name. For days, the back and forth had been: 

"It's going to be Nicholas!"
"No, it's going to be Constantine!"

Husband and wife could not agree (sound familiar)? They arrived at church still arguing about names. Now the godmother of the baby was to be my mother, who at the time was about 12 years old. Godparents in Greece have special powers. They can execute a coup, and give the baby a name of their own choosing. My grandfather saw that the argument between the baby’s parents was not going to be settled anytime soon, so he approached my mother. 

“Tell the priest to name the baby Socrates,” he whispered in her ear. 

As a compromise, grandfather decided to have the baby named after one of the famous ancient Greeks. You know, Socrates, the philosopher who said “eat to live, do not live to eat.” So the ceremony started, and when the priest asked:

“What is this servant of God going to be named?” my mother belted out: 

“Socrates!” 

So Socrates it was, and Socrates it is. After every christening, there always follows a big celebratory dinner. That’s the point of this story: what do you serve when there is nothing much to be had? Vegetables! My grandparents grew tomatoes in their yard. Plus they had some chickens they kept for the eggs, plus they always managed to get feta cheese. (How they got feta cheese during the war is a very long story. I can email you the details). With those ingredients on hand, they made strapatsada. Lots and lots of strapatsada. And the sweet kind of polenta. And a salad too. A really big salad. Plus they had homemade noodles flavored with olive oil and more feta cheese. Then, there was fruit for dessert. My mother always spoke about that dinner. In the midst of deprivation such a feast made a big impression. I think MFK Fisher would have been pleased with the results. 

Thank you for reading my post, but I am not finished. Reader, hang on. I have one more thing to add: 

Socrates, I love you! 

PEPERONATA IN A LE CREUSET POT FOR ALEXANDRA FULLER

A disturbing and darkly humorous memoir of colonial life in Africa, examining the themes of  love, loss, and reconciliation

We first met them in Let’s Not Go to the Dogs Tonight.  Author Alexandra Fuller continues the story of her family in the sequel called Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness. Both books are my favourites and I recommend both!  

With a narrative that moves skillfully back and forth in time, Fuller introduces us to her ancestors who left Great Britain for Kenya. Her memoir tells of the love her family came to experience for Africa: a love of the wild, a love of adventure, a love of land and nature. Many people tell you that Africa can possess the soul. It must be true, but why?  

When we experience Africa's abundant primordial landscape, the presence of wildlife, and the freedom from conformity that can exist in this beautiful continent, these things strike a fundamental chord within us; they cannot be exiled from memory. Instead, they create a permanent love and longing for Africa. It’s a perilous love because along with beauty a danger abides there. It manifests itself in terms of poverty, war, absence of medical care, needless death. This dangerous love took hold of Fuller’s family. 

The author's mother, Nicola Fuller, and Nicola's pet chimpanzee at home in Kenya

Author Alexandra Fuller

The memoir focuses on Fuller’s parents, concentrating on the girlhood and adult life of her romantic, adventurous, eccentric, probably bipolar, certainly courageous and always loving and entertaining mother, Nicola Fuller. The product of British colonial Africa, Nicola along with her husband Tim, leave Kenya for the West, but cannot become accustomed to it. Before long they return to Africa determined to stay forever.  It is a decision that will cost them dearly. Low in funds, they choose to settle and farm in politically turbulent Rhodesia, where land can be had for less.

This was in the early 1970s, when the brutally oppressive Rhodesian government led by Ian Smith had forced most of the six million black Rhodesians into Tribal Trust Lands, where their actions could be monitored and controlled. Fuller admits that the white colonialists, numbering at about 250,000, did not question the treatment of blacks. They prefered "to believe that theirs was a just life of privilege. Critics accused these whites of belonging to the Mushroom Club: kept in the dark and fed horseshit." 

A guerrilla war broke out, during which white South Africa offered help to Rhodesia through the use of chemical weapons. Rhodesia was eventually turned over to the black majority and was renamed Zimbabwe. The Fullers lost their farm, but more severe in scope was the death of three children and the psychological breakdown of Nicola.  Through it all, however, to quote Nicola Fuller, "it didn’t occur to us to leave … we came to see our lives fraught and exciting, terrible and blessed, wild and ensnaring … (we saw) our lives as Rhodesian, and it’s not easy to leave a life as arduously rich and difficult as all that." So they stayed on, moving to neighbouring countries, trying to find work, looking for a home. Several years later, they settled in Zambia, eventually building a fish and banana farm, finally being able to savour their love of Africa in relative peace. They built their new home close to a tree called "the tree of forgetfulness," which according to legend possesses magical powers: by sitting underneath the tree of forgetfulness all troubles and arguments are resolved. And "Nicola Fuller of Central Africa," as she likes to call herself, believes this "2 million percent." After her daily work tending her fish ponds at the farm, you will find her sitting under the tree of forgetfulness, pouring herself a cocktail. Actually, her husband Tim (who oversees the banana part of the operation), pours the cocktails, Nicola, along with Tim, of course, enjoys. 

The author's mother, Nicola Fuller, likes to cook flavorful stews in her treasured Le Creuset cooking pots. I think she will enjoy my red pepper stew. 

Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness is an extremely engaging book, one that's difficult to put down. Alexandra Fuller writes with honesty, sensitivity, and where it fits in, with humour. She understands her mother’s viewpoint (which has undergone improvement throughout the years), and she is also clear about the suffering black Africans endured under colonial oppression. One cannot help but be disturbed by the history of colonial Africa, poignantly described here.  However, the book is also populated by a plethora of eccentric characters, be they human, simian, equestrian or canine. They are entertaining and unforgettable. Plus there are those Le Creuset pots. A set of orange Le Creuset pots that move along with Nicola Fuller all the many times she pulls up stakes. Thousands of delicious, flavorful stews were created in them! The pots, over 40 years old now, are displayed in her kitchen, and they still see regular use. (Buy something of quality, and you will have it forever).

Author Alexandra Fuller, now an American citizen residing in Wyoming, writes lovingly both about her family and about Africa. Her prose shines. After all, she is describing her beloved mother and her beloved Africa.  

This is my contribution to Novel Food, the literary/culinary event hosted by Simona from Briciole.  Read it, cook something inspired by it, and then write a post about it.  For this round, I made a lovely pepper stew, a peperonata!

A peperonata in honour of Alexandra Fuller, cooked in a Le Creuset pot! Problem is, my Le Creuset is green and not orange like Nicola's ...  But it's the standby cooking cauldron in my kitchen, therefore I get a pass, right? In it went chopped onions, fresh tomatoes, a sweet potato, some lovely herbs ... A very pleasing and easy to make stew on a hot summer day!

BORLOTTI BEANS IN A MEDITERRANEAN BEAN STEW (BARBOUNOPHASOULA)

Borlotti beans! Gentile's, my favourite grocer here in suburban Philadelphia, had them for sale. "Wow," I said to myself, "barbounophasoula!" I made a beeline for the display, got a  bag and filled it to the top. Since childhood, I've loved eating these beans! Cooked with olive oil and tomatoes, seasoned with parsley and bay leaf, they are so good, even children with finicky tastes will not refuse them. Or so I believe. The bean shells have a bright red colour, and I think it's the colourfulness of the crop that makes them attractive to children. That's how I learned to love them. I liked sitting in front of a table where the red borlotti beans had been scattered and helping to shell them.  

Cute!

Once the shells were opened, pearl-like beans spilled out, soft and fresh, their creamy flesh speckled with deep-pink markings. They were just beautiful!  

Of course, when cooked, the beans turned brown, but it seemed to me that the beautiful colours transformed themselves into tasty food notes that I just loved to gobble up. So I have always been excited about borlotti beans. The Greeks call them barbounophasoula, which I've noticed is quite a long word ... The word describes the appearance of the beans. "Barbouno" is taken from the word for red mullet, a fish that is very plentiful in Mediterranean waters and has the same red on white markings as the beans. "Phasoula" is the word for beans. Indeed, the common bean belongs to the genus Phaseolus vulgaris, and that is the genus that borlotti beans belong to. They are widely cultivated in the Mediterranean region. Italians love to cook them in "Pasta e Fagioli" and also include them in minestrone. We Greeks stew them with tomatoes in a sauce that turns luscious from the flavour of the bean liquor. I believe the best way to enjoy them is while they are fresh, so stock up when you can find them, shell them and freeze them for later use. Of course, they can be had dried, but the dried ones need to soak overnight before they're cooked. 

Borlotti beans are sometimes referred to as Roman beans, and they are related to cranberry beans but don't confuse them with pinto beans, which have a somewhat similar appearance but quite a different taste. Here is my recipe for borlotti beans cooked Greek style:

Ingredients:

About 2 pounds fresh, shelled borlotti beans
1 large red onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 bunch Italian parsley, chopped
1 can (15 ounces) diced tomatoes (it would be marvellous to use fresh tomatoes)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 celery ribs, diced
1 small pepper: use a hot pepper if you like, or use a sweet Italian frying pepper.
1 bay leaf
dash of oregano
salt and black pepper to taste
olive oil
2 cups vegetable broth
water

Directions:

• In a large pot heat the olive oil and sauté the onions and garlic. 
• Add the beans, mix, then add the celery and pepper and stir for a few minutes. 
• Add the tomatoes, the tomato paste, the parsley, the oregano, the bay leaf, the black pepper, and the vegetable broth. Mix well. 
• Add enough water so that the beans are covered by liquid. The amount of liquid should reach about 1/2 inch over the beans. How's that for scientific measurement?
• Bring to a boil, lower the heat to simmer and cover. Let cook for 45 minutes to an hour.  Check occasionally to make sure that not all of the liquid has evaporated. About 30 minutes into cooking, season with salt and drizzle some olive oil (3 or 4 tablespoons), over the beans.  
• When ready, the beans should be soft and most of the liquid should have cooked off. The stew is a stew and should not be soupy. You should have a  nice, slightly thickened sauce. 
• Remove the bay leaf, place the borlotti beans into a serving bowl, and bring them to the table.  They are ready to eat. I hope you enjoy them! 

Any leftovers? They'll make a great lunch! Mix them with fresh tomato and parsley and enjoy them on a slice of bread.

PASTA PUTTANESCA with SHRIMP and FETA

I got the idea to make pasta puttanesca with shrimp and feta cheese when I was reading Andrea Camilleri's novel "The shape of water," featuring the character of Inspector Montalbano. I was reading the book for my participation in Cook The Books Club, and I had to think of something nice to make that reminded me of the book. The shrimp, the briny sauce, and the briny feta cheese bring to mind the seaside where inspector Montalbano likes to stroll. 

This is an enjoyable dish and very easy prepare. I love how Greek and Italian ingredients are combined here: strong Mediterranean roots! This dish depends on freshness, therefore, working quickly when preparing it is a must. I had the idea of garnishing the pasta with some fresh grape tomatoes which are very abundant at the market this time of year. They are imported all the way from Mexico and are very tasty. 

Linus happens to love pasta and today he is waiting patiently for his share.

Ingredients:

olive oil

1/2 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/2 pound linguini

2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon dried oregano

2 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese, plus a little more for garnish. 
two or three sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
3 Roma tomatoes cut into chunks (seeds and skin removed)
some grape tomatoes cut in half, to be used for garnish

4 anchovy fillets

2 tablespoons capers, rinsed

1 teaspoon red pepper seeds, or use more if you prefer

4 cloves of garlic, chopped
10 pitted Kalamata olives, sliced in half

¼ cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped

Directions:

• First, prepare the pasta and shrimp: 
• Fill a large pot with salted water and bring it to a boil. Add the linguini and cook according to package directions. 
• Drain the pasta and place it in a large bowl. Sprinkle some olive oil on the pasta, and mix.
• Meanwhile, in a large skillet heat 3 tablespoons olive oil. 
• Add 2 cloves of garlic and sauté for one minute. 
• Add the shrimp and thyme and cook for about 3 minutes, until the shrimp have turned pink. 
• Remove from the heat, add the feta cheese and season with freshly ground black pepper. 
• Add the shrimp mixture to the pasta.
• Add some parsley and mix well. Cover and set aside.
• Now make the puttanesca sauce:
• In a pan heat some olive oil and add the rest of the garlic along with the anchovies, red pepper seeds, and capers. Cook for about one minute, stirring. 
• Add the olives, the oregano, the Roma tomatoes and the sun-dried tomatoes. 
• Cook for about 10 to 15 minutes.
• Add the sauce to the pasta and shrimp and mix. 
• Before serving garnish with the grape tomatoes and the rest of the parsley and feta cheese.

SUMMER FRESH TOMATO and KALAMATA OLIVE BRUSCHETTA

This is a lovely bruschetta recipe packed with flavour.  Fresh tomatoes, a dash of garlic to keep away the vampires, and a mixture of fresh herbs that give a je ne sais quoi character to the appetizer, something that all good appetizers should have just to add a zany quality to your party! 

There is lots of fresh basil and parsley here. I decided to give it a Greek twist by adding some Kalamata olives, and then, at the last minute, I decided to throw in some capers. To top, I used one of my favourite cheeses, Pecorino Romano, freshly grated. I had some anchovies in the cupboard and I thought why not? For a few of the appetizers, I omitted the cheese and used an anchovy as a topping. Why? Because my guests deserve it, that's why! 

This recipe makes lots of appetizers, however, go ahead and adjust quantities as you need to. Here's my recipe:

Ingredients:

• 5 ripened plum tomatoes 
• 1 shallot, finely minced
• just a few Kalamata olives, pitted and finely chopped
• some capers, finely chopped

• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

• fresh basil sliced chiffonade style
• freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese  
• anchovies

Ingredients for the bread:

• Bread, cut into slices for serving. You could save your stale bread, cut it into slices and store it in a plastic bag until ready to use, and at that time you can lightly toast it.
• some olive oil 
• about one or two cloves of garlic 

Directions:

• Cut the tomatoes in half and remove the seeds. Rinse the tomatoes under cold running water to make sure all the seeds are gone, and then dry with paper towels. Once the tomatoes are dry, dice them up.    
• Make a dressing by mixing the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, and salt and pepper. 
• In a medium-sized bowl mix the shallots, tomatoes, capers and olives. 
• Pour the dressing over the tomato mixture and mix. 
• Set aside for about 3-4 hours. Do not refrigerate.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Right before the bruschetta is to be served, top each bread slice with a little olive oil and place them in the oven. Toast lightly. 
• Once the bread is out of the oven rub some garlic on each slice. 
• Top with the bruschetta.
• Top with the basil chiffonade 
• Top some slices with freshly grated Pecorino Romano 
• Top a few slices with anchovies. 
• Arrange on a platter and serve.

It's a promise: you'll enjoy biting into the crunchy slices of bread, and you'll savour the medley of fresh herbs and vegetables that make up the delicious je ne sais quoi character of this treat! 

MEDITERRANEAN INSPIRED SANDWICH WRAP WITH HUMMUS & AVOCADO & OLIVES & FETA & . . .

What's in the packets?  I got some parchment paper and wrapped my lunch in them.  Looking, cute, my delicious wrap sandwich, all wrapped up! Here's a picture of what's inside:

 I made these for lunch twice.  The first time without feta cheese, and the second time with feta cheese. With is the way to go!

Get your favourite sandwich wrap and lay it flat on a cutting board. Spread the surface with hummus, then sprinkle chopped parsley on top. Meanwhile toast some sunflower seeds, a few pumpkin seeds and some pine nuts. When they become fragrant take them out of the oven and scatter them on the surface of your wrap.

Top with olives that have been pitted and cut in half.  I used Kalamata, olive cured, and green olives from Mount Athos. 

  

Peel and slice half an avocado.  Spread that on one side of the wrap.

Top the avocado with half of a sliced tomato. Season the whole surface with oregano, and some freshly ground black pepper.

Get some feta cheese, crumble it, and spread it on top of the tomatoes. Try not to buy pre-crumbled feta. It is made up from whatever pieces have been leftover or sank to the bottom of the cheese barrel and it's usually dry and very, very salty. Instead, buy feta that is sold in blocks (do you know that you can desalinate feta by soaking it in water for about fifteen minutes to half an hour? If you find that feta is too salty for you, soak it in some water and then rinse it well. Store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator, so that it stays fresh and doesn't dry out). 

Top the feta with salad greens.

Now comes the time to wrap.  Start with the end that has all the vegetables on it, and wrap the sandwich firmly.  Remember: you're the boss!

Trim off the edges and cut in half.

Get some parchment paper and some kitchen twine and make two nice parcels out of the sandwiches.

Take them with you for lunch. Eat one for lunch and give the other to a friend. Or, save the second piece for the end of the workday, to eat before your drive home. That way you won't be too ravenous when dinner time comes. And ...

BON APPETIT!

GREEK SALAD or HORIATIKI SALATA with ROASTED CHICKPEAS

Eating a Greek salad is one of the best parts of summer! Simple to make and so very delicious. Just about everyone has their favourite version of Greek salad, and below you'll find the recipe for mine. I make it without lettuce and no, there is absolutely nothing wrong with lettuce! But a traditional Greek salad contains no lettuce chiefly because, unless harvested in a greenhouse or shipped from a colder weather region, lettuces don't grow during the heat of the summer months as do tomatoes and cucumbers. 

This is the rustic, country style version of Greek salad that goes on the table in every Greek household and seaside taverna. The dressing is simply olive oil and lemon, maybe a little vinegar too. There's always some dressing left at the bottom of the bowl and it absorbs the taste of the salad ingredients. In keeping with the rustic nature of this salad, a common practice is to mop up and eat the leftover dressing with pieces of freshly baked bread. This necessitates that one disavows a large measure of savoir-vivre but sometimes, who cares? It's a fun, sharing experience to break bread with one's tablemates in this way. There is even a colloquial term for the morsels dipped in an olive oil dressing: they are called papara ... 

The word "horiatiki" derives from the word "horio," which means village. Horiatiki salata can be translated as rustic style, or country style, or village style salad. Because of its rustic nature, there is no set amount of ingredients to be used. Just make sure the salad looks good! I use the following:


Ingredients:

• 2 or 3 tomatoes, sliced (sometimes I use both red and yellow tomatoes)
• 1 cucumber, peeled, sliced lengthwise then cut up into slices crosswise. Remove the seeds! It's preferable to use the English variety of cucumber because it has fewer seeds and tastes the best 
• 1 green pepper, seeded and sliced (for subtler texture and flavour you can use a sweet Italian frying pepper)
• 1/2 red onion, peeled and sliced into thin rings
• a combination of kalamata and oil-cured olives, pits removed
• feta cheese cut into cubes
• chopped parsley
• black pepper
• a small amount of salt 
• capers, rinsed
• dried oregano
• olive oil
• a bit of lemon juice
• if you are a vinegar fan, a bit of vinegar

optional: one small can of chickpeas or some homemade croutons if you have stale bread that needs to be used! A nice touch would be to roast the chickpeas, allow them to cool, then incorporate them into the salad. Same goes for the croutons. Drizzle with olive oil before placing in the oven and roast at 450°F/200°C for about 15 minutes. Keep checking so that they don't burn.

Directions for the salad:

• Arrange the sliced tomatoes and cucumber on the bottom of a nice sized salad bowl.
• Top with the peppers and capers. 
• Add the onion slices, salt if using, black pepper, oregano, parsley, and olive oil.
• Sprinkle with a bit of lemon juice and the vinegar if using, and mix.
• Once the above ingredients are mixed, add the feta and olives in a decorative pattern. Top with a bit more olive oil and oregano.
• If you made the chickpeas or croutons, make sure they have cooled and throw those on there as well!
• Before the salad is served let it sit in the refrigerator for a while. It will come out tasting refreshing, plus the aromas of the vegetables and olive oil will get a chance to mix together, creating their own unique flavour.

If you try this or any other Greek salad, I hope you really, truly enjoy it!