giouvetsi/youvetsi... it's all greek to me

turns out i'm doing pretty well preparing myself to be some sort of freakish semi-greek housewife. this is the most comforting dinner anyone would want to come home to on a cold day after school or work! i made this a whiiiilleee ago when there was an entire week of rain (woo, vancouver...). it was so cold, my rheumatic bones were aaaachinnggg and i just needed something warm and comforting to make me feel better. so, i turned to giouvetsi (yoo-vet-see)! it's a traditional greek stew made with lamb, beef or chicken with kritharaki (orzo) or hilopites, cooked in clay pots. now, this recipe does take a while, but most if it is just down time while the beef cooks down and gets fall-apart delicious. i ended up catching up on tons of my homework done, so really, it's a win-win! nommy food, reading done? sign me up.

oh the rain.. my poor bones!

what you need:
2 packs of stew beef
1 1/2 cups of orzo
1 large onion
4 cloves garlic
1 can crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce
2 cups broth
1 cup water (you can substitute red wine here)
3 whole cloves
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp oregano
2 bay leaves
pinch of nutmeg
butter and olive oil
grated myzithra cheese

yum yum yum :)

step 1:
preheat oven to 300. add butter and olive oil to a large pot set to medium high heat and start to brown your beef. once done, place on a dish, cover, and set aside. dice your onion and add to the pan, stirring to scrape up all that caramelized goodness! cook for ~5 minutes, then add your crushed garlic.
step 2: 
once your garlic gets fragrant, add in your broth, water, crushed tomatoes and spices. bring this to a boil, then add your browned beef back into the pot. let this cook for ~30 minutes.
step 3:
add your orzo and cook for another 15 minutes. if you are running out of liquid, just add more water or broth. once the orzo is close to being cooked, take out your beef and place in a oven safe dish. fish out the cloves and bay leaf. pour the orzo/tomato liquid on top and cook in the oven for ~40 minutes.
step 4:
5 minutes before you take it out, grate some myzithra (or parmesan) cheese over the top.

just what you need on a day like that!

update: foodie to do list

right, everyone! i have kind of completely ignored my foodie to do list. i don't think i meant to, buuuut i did. luckily for y'all, i've gone to a few of those places to eat in the last 6 months and am here to share a quick bit about them all!

1) best flatbread: rocky mountain flatbread company
i went with julia one time last semester, and omagawd it was amazing. i had flatbread that was on special, it had cured ham, garlic mozzarella, capers, artichokes and cherry tomatoes. i swear i  devoured that! we also indulged in some sangria and baileys creme brulee. right. nooow i'm sure you want to go! it is as amazing as it sounds. ahhh, yum.

straight from the oven :)

2) vegetarian/cool vibe: the naam
this place was cool, and verrryyy busy. we probably went at a bad time! i just remember awkwardly waiting in the doorway, shuffeling as people were leaving and setting up reservations. but, aside from that, it was pretty good! i got the naam dragon bowl, with peanut sauce, rice, veggies, tofu and sprouts. it was defs one of those things that taste better the second day!

3) lebanese food: nuba
awesome. just awesome. we shared a few mezzes in traditional style, including the amazing sea scallops, grilled halloumi cheese (again, amazing) and baba ganooj and the lamb hushwie. it was awesome. defs going back again!

4) cheese and bread: pan e fromaggio
i was super lucky on this one! there was a living social deal for $40 worth of product for only $20. i bought some brie, some strange bubbly artichoke dip, some very smoky red pepper dip, a matcha rice crispy square, a panini, 2 loaves of bread and some raspberry drink thing. yeah, the artichoke dip was weird and i couldn't make myself eat it past day 2, and one of the loaves of bread went mouldy after 4 days.. but that could've just been me.

5) street food: japadog
julia and i stopped off at japadog downtown before seeing a movie this weekend! oh, it was so delicious! i got a kurobuta terimayo, which is apparently one of their most popular ones. it was so yummy, i defs completely devoured it, even with the onions (which i am usually not really a fan of). i want another. now. om. nom.

typical vancouver: raining on my parade!

 6) liquid chocolate with chilli: thierry: chocolatierie patisserie cafe
oh. my. god. this was amazing. a while back we watched the movie chocolat, and since i'm in luuuurve with spicy food, i HAD to go and try the basque chilli hot chocolate. all i have to say is super rich and super thick and had a lovely hint of spice. totally worth the money! and the macarons they had were pretty amazing too!

they even had a hidden berry in the raspberry macaron!

so, that's all the places i've been to since i started the foodie to do list, i'll be sure to keep y'all updated on whatever happens next!

ingredient of the week: spinach

oh, hey there! here's another installment of ingredient of the week! this time it's spinach. i know, i know, why the hell would i want to eat spinach? well. for one, it's full of iron and i'm anemic.. soo... that's just a match made in heaven. two, it's so versatile! it can be eaten raw or cooked, and it wilts down super small so you can fit lots of it into one portion, magnifying the amount of nutritiony goodness! now who doesn't like that? so, how do i like to eat my spinach? well... usually any salad i have has spinach in it, cause in my case, you can never get enough iron. i also love adding it to my morning fritattas!

spinach fields forever

nutrition wise, spinach is pretty much a superfood. its super high in vitamin k, a, e, b2&6 and c, manganese, folate, calcium and iron, not to mention has tons of fibre, some omega-3s and is super low in calories. along with all these, spinach is also full of health promoting phytonutrients such as carotenoids (beta-carotene, lutein etc) and flavanoids which provide powerful antioxidant protection. these function as anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer agents and reduce free-radical damage all over the body. spinach also has certain antioxidants that help prevent eye problems including macular degeneration, blindness in the elderly and cataracts. sooooo i eat spinach a lot of ways, but this time i decided to make a soup. it's uber important that you have a nice big piece of crunchy, delicious bread with this!

spinach and sweet pea soup

what you need:
1 9oz package of spinach
2 cups of frozen peas
1 onion
1 carrot
1 celery stalk
2 tbsp olive oil
3 cups low sodium chicken or vegetable stock
2 pinches of nutmeg
salt and pepper
1 tbsp cayenne pepper (less if you don't like it spicy!)
1/3 cup skim milk 
* optional: 1 package of crimini mushrooms

step 1:
put a big pot on medium heat and add in your oil. while that's heating up, dice your onion, celery and carrot and add in. let that cook down for ~15 minutes. once the onion is translucent, add your spinach, stirring to help wilt it down.
step 2:
once wilted, add in your broth frozen peas, cayenne, nutmeg, salt and pepper. let that simmer away for ~15 minutes. in the meantime, if you want, sautee mushrooms. these just added an extra depth of flavour to the soup.
step 3:
once your soup is done, set it aside and let cool for a bit. ladle out ~1 cup of the broth so you can adjust the thickness of the soup. carefully blend the soup in batches until nice and smooth. if it needs to be thinned, add the extra broth. add the soup back to the pot to heat and pour in milk. this just makes it nice and creamy.

enjoy!

once again, i'm the worst greek alive

so. i'm really lame. i made tzatziki a looooooong time ago for my greek independence day shindig, which i meant to post up here. and i never did. i also didn't post the dolmathes we made! what is this? how did i forget all that food we had? ugh. blasphemy. how does a greek not share the greekness? that's like, the most important part of being greek. and i fail at it. but whatever. i'm at least giving you the recipe for my tzatziki.. so please don't be too angry greek gods? i'm trying here, ok?

thick and perfect for dipping!

what you need:
500 or 650 g container of greek style yogurt
1 cucumber
3 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp chopped dill
1 lemon
salt and pepper

step 1:
strain the yogurt in a lint free cloth over a bowl for about an hour. if lazy, just use the yogurt as it is. it turns out basically the same. grate your cucumber and squeeze as much liquid out of it as you can.
step 2:
add cucumber to a bowl along with the yogurt, minced garlic, chopped dill, juice of 1 lemon and salt and pepper. taste, and adjust how you like it! i usually add a lot more lemon juice.

yum yum yum 

so that's it! super simple, quick and healthy dip. can be used in pitas with falafels, wraps, on souvlaki.. the list goes on and on!

falafel me crazy

falafel. delicious middle eastern fast food. i love it. it's awesome. so, why not attempt to make a healthier (aka baked not fried) version at home? doesn't seem too hard to make, non? well. it drove me crazy. absolutely crazy. this was possibly the biggest kitchen fail i've had to date! not the actual falafel. that actually turned out really really well, it was just the falafel making process.

here's a story for ya. we have small food processor. as i found out in the middle of prep, it is so old it doesn't work. so what do you do to fix this? blend it. well, that sort of helped.. but it started making chickpea soup. basically, i spent 2 hours mushing up and chopping through the mix so it was smooth enough to make falafel with. pleaaase have a food processor that works if you make this. please. i beg you.

crispy, fluffy, yummy!

what you need:
1 can of chickpeas
1 small onion
3 tbsp chopped parsley (and cilnatro but i left it out cause i loathe it)
4 cloves garlic
3 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt and pepper
4 tbsp whole wheat flour

step 1: 
pre-heat oven to 400. in a food processor, combine chickpeas, roughly chopped onion, garlic, parsley, cumin, coriander, salt and pepper and blend until well chopped, but not pureed together. sprinkle on the baking powder and flour and pulse a few more times.

try to get your mixture smoother than this. my arm was clearly too tired..

step 2:
scoop a small amount of the mixture into your hand and try to shape into a ball. if it falls apart, add more flour to the mix.

it should look something like this

step 3: 
press down and place into an oiled oven-safe dish. bake for 10 minutes each side or until nice and golden brown! they were still crispy on the outside, and fluffy on the inside, without frying them!

these freeze really well! after you've rolled and squished them, just place them in a ziploc bag and lay flat in your freezer. you can eat them plain, dip them in tzatziki (recipe to follow!), or you can put it in a pita like i did. so yummy!

hot and healthy quinoa breakfast bowl

that's right. quinoa. for breakfast. why had i never thought of this before? when it cooks it fluffs up like mad, so it would clearly just be an awesome alternative for your joe shmoe oatmeal or cream of wheat. quinoa is just so much cooler. gluten free and jam packed with nutrition (complete protein, iron, niacin and fibre), quinoa is pretty much just the best way to start your day! it was thick, creamy, filling and ridiculously satisfying! this meal is something i like to call a superfood. it has so many vitamins and minerals its basically a big, delicious dose of health! pecans and almonds added healthy fats, extra protein, tons of antioxidants, 18 essential nutrients and of course, the crunch factor. the ground flax added your daily dose of omega-3 fatty acids, fibre and phytochemicals. cinnamon and nutmeg provide all the manganese you need, blood sugar control and all that nice stuff.

i added quite a bit of cinnamon to my quinoa cause it makes it so much more comforting for those cold, early mornings! also, i used soy because i invited a not-so-milk-loving-but-quinoa-loving friend to taste my little experiment. plus i like that it has all sorts of vitamins, minerals and goodness in it as well. basically, i would add a bit, taste, and adjust to your liking. so, without further ado, here's the recipe!

oh. yeah. my little bowl of comfort, right there!

what you need:
1 cup quinoa
1.5 cups vanilla soy milk (or whatever milk you like)
1/2 cup water
handful chopped pecans
handful chopped almonds
handful of fresh berries (blackberries were the best!)
3 tbsp crushed flax seed
2-3 tsp cinnamon
2 pinches of nutmeg
* if you use regular milk, add 2 tbsp brown sugar to make it sweeter

step 1:
pre-heat oven to 350. put a large pot onto medium high heat. add your water and milk, and wait for it to boil. if your quinoa isn't pre-washed, place it in a sieve under water until it runs clear. once boiling, add your quinoa and cook for ~15 minutes or until big and fluffy or until all the liquid is gone.

bubble bubble bubble

step 2:
chop up your pecans and almonds and toast in the oven for a few minutes. be careful not to burn them! once your quinoa is cooked, stir in your flax, cinnamon, nutmeg and nuts. serve and plop on the berries of your choice!

doesn't that just look glorious?!

this batch made enough to last me the entire week, plus give some to a friend! to reheat, simply scoop in a bowl, add a bit of milk and heat for ~1.5 minutes or until milk starts to bubble. you can use other fruit as well, such as pears, apples, bananas or nectarines! i looooved it with blackberries though. so delicious!