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!

ingredient of the week: lentils

lentils are this week's ingredient of the week! i've been meaning to highlight them for a while but for some reason, the grocery store closest to campus didn't have any. luckily, i was able to find both the green and red types on a mega shopping trip a few days ago.

now, i talked a bit about lentils being healthy in my recipe for dahl here. but since this is ingredient of the week, it's time to get into a bit more detail of their awesomeness. lentils are part of the legume family, which to me is just kind of confusing. mainly because i was always learning french and legume in french is veggies. i couldn't understand how other things such as chickpeas, kidney beans, black beans and pinto beans could be in the same category as lettuce or broccoli or something.

red lentils like these were used in the recipe below

anyways, legumes are really important for people who are vegan or vegetarian. they are a high, non-animal source of protein. lentils in particular have about 20 grams per cup, which is pretty good considering you're not getting the added fat of meat!
lentils also are high in iron, which is super important for young women. i am anemic, and i take an iron pill to help keep my levels up and avoid the freaking crazy symptoms and just feeling tired all the time. so it is really important to me to always have a high amount of iron in my meals whether i'm eating a meal with meat or not.
lentils are also high in folate, which acts to reduce the amount of artery damaging homocysteine levels in the blood. in my human growth and development class (where we basically just talk about babies) we learned about neural tube defects.. and they aren't nice things. folate helps prevent these from occuring, so thats why anybody who's thinking about getting pregnant should eat lentils and take their folic acid.
other than all that, lentils are high in fibre (approximately 20 grams per cup!) and have a low calorie count, which is super good for any dieter because they will keep you full for a reaaalllyy long time, but you can save on those cals.

moroccan pottery

i decided to make a kind of moroccan-inspired soup with lentils. i've always wanted to go there... not that i can right now, so i went there by food and flavour. i am starting to feel a little sick so i really just needed something healthy, but warm to keep my sore throat away. this soup just gets tastier by the day!

what you need:
1 large onion
2 carrots
2 celery stalks
2 potatoes
1 cup red lentils
1 cup frozen peas
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 can diced tomatoes
6 cups water or broth (i used half of each)
2 tsp olive oil
5 cloves garlic
1 1/2 tsp turmeric and cinnamon
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp chilli powder
1 scoop greek yogurt

step 1:
chop up your veggies and garlic and peel and cube your potatoes. in a large pot placed on medium heat, add olive oil. when warm, add your onions and garlic and saute for about 3 minutes. once onion is translucent, add in the celery, carrots and ginger and saute for ~5 minutes.
step 2:
then add in your spices: turmeric, cinnamon, chilli powder and cumin. cook, stirring often for about 3 minutes. once all mixed together, add in your tomato paste, diced tomatoes, water or stock, lentils and potatoes.
step 3:
stir to ensure the flavours have combined and bring to a boil. reduce heat and then simmer for ~40 minutes. for the last 5 minutes of cooking, add in your cup of frozen peas. once warm, add a dollop of greek yogurt on top and you're ready to eat!

good timing for soup - just started to get a sore throat!

this soup recipe made such a huge portion (serves 8!) and it's so filling that i ended up freezing about half of it. i enjoyed mine with some nice jalapeno foccacia bread.

UPDATE: also a nice addition when serving this soup is sriracha sauce. it adds a nice little zip!

ingredient of the week: greek yogurt

here we are again with another installment of ingredient of the week! i have been looking for greek yogurt for suchhh a long time in vancouver. they didn't have it at the two or three grocery stores that i usually go to, but luckily on a grocery adventure with the english girl in bc, i stumbled upon a brand i had never tried before - greek god's yogurt. now, that was kind of scary because i have tried some that have literally - i mean literally - tasted like barf. all acidy and just nasty. but i tried this one anyways. they didn't have the low-fat version at the grocery store which was fine with me.. i was just happy i found some. but, if possible the non-fat or lower-fat versions are best, mostly because the regular version is high in fat. although not the bad kind of fat, i'd rather just go for the lighter option!

this brand defs did not taste like barf  : )

so, greek yogurt is way, way different than regular yogurt. first off, it's strained three times so that most of the liquid whey is gone. this means you get double (!!) the amount of protein compared to normal yogurt. higher protein content (in any food) means that you can stay full and satisfied longer, this is why it's one of my favourite breakfasts!

since greek yogurt is not treated with heat (most regular yogurt is), more of the lactobacterial cultures can survive to make it into your gut. once there, they work hard to improve your digestive health by keeping you regular and reducing diarrhea. they also aid in the absorption of essential vitamins, minerals, protein, fats and carbs, and help produce amino acids, b-vitamins and vitamin k. basically, you need these 'good' bacteria in your diet to keep you healthy.

another point is that greek yogurt is low in sugar (about half the sugar content compared to regular unsweetened non-fat yogurt). because of the three-straining process, most of the natural sugar is removed.
oh yeah, and of course, it has lots of Ca²⁺. 

anyways, i like greek yogurt becaue it can be substituted as a healthier version for many higher-fat items such as mayo, sour cream, buttermilk, whole-milk and whipped cream. plus you don't need to worry about it curdling if you heat it up. here are two ways which i enjoyed my greek yogurt today:

greek honey and greek yogurt: the best breakfast of all time

this morning i had a nice scoop of yogurt with my greek honey. it's quick, light, nutritious and kept me full right through my class until 12:30. i loooovveee it.

midday smoothie with greek yogurt

i also made a smoothie before lunch.
what you need:
1 cup organic apple juice
1 fresh banana
2 heaping handfuls of frozen strawberries
1 handful mango or peaches
1 tsp ground flax (i bought regular seeds then pulsed them in the actual blender - money saver!)
1 tbsp greek yogurt

step 1: 
combine all and blend!

i also really like using greek yogurt in tzatziki, salad dressings, marinades (makes the meat super tender), sauces and dips etc etc. it's super versatile, you can basically use it in anything!