Greek Orzo with Feta

I have a new favorite orzo recipe, and this is it.  Bonnie made it for our girls Greek Night dinner this month.  It is refreshing and seriously addicting.  It tasted wonderful warm the day it was made and I thoroughly enjoyed it the following day cold out of the fridge.  It would make a great potluck and a surefire family favorite.   

Greek Orzo with Feta 
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 ripe tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh oregano
1 (8 ounce) package crumbled feta cheese
1/2 pound dried orzo pasta
1 cup chopped fresh parsley

Stir together olive oil, lemon juice, olives, tomatoes, red pepper, red onion, garlic, oregano, and feta cheese in a large bowl. Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour.

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the orzo and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain and toss the tomato mixture. Sprinkle with chopped parsley to serve.

My Favorite Go-To Lunch: Quick and Easy Pasta (or Rice) for One- plus Homemade Montreal Steak Seasoning

This dish is my favorite quick and easy lunch.  If you happen to have some leftover pasta or rice, it comes together in seconds, and is easily adaptable depending on what else you may have in the fridge.  I make this for my family for dinner too, and they all love it.  But for some reason I generally enjoy this one solo.  I think because this recipe originated back in my college days when I was just beginning to really cook for myself. My roommate, Andrea and I would make various versions of this on an almost daily basis and somehow never tired of it.  I'm not sure if she still cooks it at home- but I sure do!  Honestly I really do need to make it more often for the family because it works great as a fast, weeknight meal.  It is fresh and light and just plain delicious.  

Quick and Easy Pasta (or Rice) for One

1 cup cooked pasta or rice (yay for leftovers!)
1 tomato, chopped (do not discard the seeds and juice, they help to sauce up the dish)
1 scallion, chopped
freshly grated parmesan or mozzarella cheese
garlic salt and fresh ground black pepper (I like to use the coarsely ground setting for this pasta), to taste
Montreal Steak Seasoning, McCormick's makes a good one or make your own (recipe follows)
a healthy drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

Combine all ingredients except tomatoes in a microwave safe bowl and toss.  Heat in the microwave for a minute and a half then add in the tomatoes, stir and heat an additional minute.  You can also heat this dish on the stove top over medium heat, but I generally use the microwave because it is nice and fast!  Once heated through, top with another light drizzle of olive oil and a good handful of extra parmesan cheese and enjoy!

This is the very basic recipe, which I love as is.  Give me a big bowl and I am a happy girl!  But depending on what I may have in the fridge, I will sometimes throw in other goodies.  Chicken or shrimp is yummy, roasted or grilled vegetables, shelled edamame, fresh herbs (don't bother chopping, we are just making this up quick, remember.  Just tear them up and throw them in, either before heating or after), Uncooked leafy spinach (just let it wilt in the heated pasta), sautéed mushrooms and onions....

Montreal Steak Seasoning
Makes 2/3 Cup

2 tablespoons cracked black pepper
2 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon granulated garlic
1 tablespoon granulated onion
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon dill seeds

Combine all ingredients and store in an airtight container.

Kolokithopita- Savory Greek Pumpkin Pie

At our last girls' night in, we decided on a Greek Theme for dinner.  I've made plenty of Souvlaki's, hummus and pitas, kabobs, and all your traditional fare in the past.  So tonight I thought I would try something a little different.  Being that it is fall and I love all things pumpkin this recipe really stood out to me.  It is a pie, like the famous Spanakopita; a spinach and cheese pie layered between flaky phyllo pastry.  Only instead of spinach it uses the festive pumpkin!  It is called a "pumpkin pie", but it tastes nothing like the American counterpart.  It has a slight sweetness thanks to the pumpkin, but otherwise it is a very savory dish with the salty feta and ricotta cheeses, sautéed onion, and rice.  It was a lovely recipe and I am so glad I gave it a whirl!  You should too.

Kolokithopita- Savory Greek Pumpkin Pie

adapted slightly from Healthy Greek Recipes

1 medium to small pumpkin OR one can of pumpkin
1 large onion, chopped
1 and ½ cups milk (I prefer evaporated because is creamier)
1 cup short grain rice
2 whole eggs (substitute is ok too)
2 cups different cheeses (you can use feta, which is typical, but any other cheese will do it as long as it is a salty one.  I used one cup of feta and one cup of ricotta)
pepper to taste
1 tsp cinnamon
Either ½ box of Phyllo (pictured) or 1 whole box puff pastry

If using a whole pumpkin, cut in half, clean out the seeds and grate the pumpkin into a bowl.  Set aside. 

In large skillet sauté the onion until it begins to caramelize and turn brown. Add the pumpkin stirring occasionally over medium heat for about 20-30 minutes until it looks like paste. Add the milk and rice and stir for about ten more minutes. Add the eggs, cheeses cinnamon and pepper and mix throughly. Taste and adjust seasoning according to your liking.  Remove from heat and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

If using puff pastry:
Brush olive oil at the bottom of a pan and roll out the first sheet of pastry on the bottom.  Spread the pumpkin and cheese mixture on top and layer with the second sheet of pastry. Brush the top with a little olive oil and put it in the oven. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the pastry becomes light gold. Allow to cool before you cut in squares.

If using phyllo dough:
Brush the pan with melted butter. Carefully layer the thin sheets of phyllo one on top of the other, brushing each sheet with the melted butter or olive oil before adding a new sheet of phyllo.  You want about half of the stack of phyllo layered on the bottom of the pan.  Spread the pumpkin and cheese mixture on top and repeat layering and buttering of the remaining sheets of phyllo dough until gone.  With a sharp knife carefully score the top few sheets of phyllo dough into squares where you will want to cut them apart.  This will keep the phyllo from shattering when you cut it after baking.  Bake for about 45 minutes to an hour or until the phyllo sheets are crisp and golden brown.


I linked up my recipe on Mom's Crazy Cooking!