Garlic Pasta

Bowtie pasta mixed with garlic and olive oil, garnished with freshly grated kefalotyri cheese.

My apologies for the long absence in new postings. School has been very busy. But here’s a very simple and delicious recipe for garlic lovers!

• 10 to 15 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 450 g pasta, cooked according to the package’s directions (before draining the pasta, save 1/4 cup of the pasta water)
• (optional) 2 cups of kefalotyri cheese, coarsely grated

1. In a large pan, cook the garlic with olive oil for approximately 10 minutes on medium heat.

2. Once the garlic is cooked, add in the drained pasta and pasta water. Combine well.

3. Serve, and if desired, sprinkle each serving with a generous amount of kefalotyri cheese.

Minced garlic gently cooking in olive oil.

Bowtie pasta with garlic and olive oil.

Baked Balsamic Portbello Mushrooms

Portobello mushrooms baked with balsamic vinegar.

• 6 portbello mushrooms
• 6 tbsps balsamic vinegar
• 6 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
• freshly ground pepper and sea salt to taste

In an oven safe dish, season each mushroom with one tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, one tablespoon extra virgin olive oil and pepper. Placing the mushrooms such that the stems are facing up, bake in a preheated oven at 350º for 15 minutes. Season with salt when finished.

Six portobello mushrooms in a baking dish.

Portobello mushrooms seasoned with balsamic vinegar, olive oil and freshly ground pepper.

Mushrooms finished baking.

Greek Salad (Olives Optional)

Tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and onions with a balsamic dressing topped with feta.

• 4 to 6 tomatoes depending on the size, cut into bite-size pieces
• one bell pepper, sliced
• half an onion, thinly sliced
• one english cucumber, diced
• 1 cup of feta, roughly crumbled
• balsamic vinegar
• extra virgin olive oil
• sea salt
• dried oregano
• olives (optional)

In a large salad bowl, toss together the tomatoes, cucumber, onions and bell peppers.  Splash a generous amount of balsamic vinegar and olive oil over the vegetables. Sprinkle a light layer of salt and oregano over the vegetables. Mix well. Top with feta. Feel free to include olives. I just don’t like olives but wish I did! The salad is now finished.

Diced Tomato Cucumber Salad

A refreshing diced tomato cucumber salad.

• 6 small delicious tomatoes, finely diced (use good quality, fresh, vibrant tomatoes since they are one of the main ingredients of the salad; the tomatoes pictured above are kumato (brown) tomatoes from Canada).
• 1 english cucumber,  diced into a similar size as the tomato
• juice of one lime, roll the lime before cutting in order to release more of lime’s juice
• a generous sprinkle of sea salt
• a light drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

Kumato variety tomatoes, english cucumber, lime and olive oil.

Combine together all the above ingredients and serve immediately. I like to use this salad more as a topping rather than a side to a main course.  For example, as a cool, refreshing veggie garnish on tacos or on top of some warm fluffy plain brown rice.  This is also an ideal salad to serve during the holidays because of the red and green colour combination.

Crunchy beef tacos garnished with a plain yogurt and a homemade diced tomato english salad.