Greek! Greek food is delicious on pretty much any given day, but it sure helps to get you through a Monday, don’t cha think? So you remember how last week how I said August was gonna be all about summer foods? And that I really wanted to spend the last full month of summer eating everything and anything that SCREAMS summer? Well, I really wasn’t kidding. I am going crazy with all the farm fresh produce that comes along with the month of August. It really excites me to come up with creative ways to make the most of it all.
Although I may have to throw in a few chocolate recipes here and there that have nothing to do with summer. For some reason over the weekend I could not stop thinking about chocolate. Probably because my chocolate lover mother is coming back for a few days, so I wanted to make something that was all about chocolate. You see, when it comes to my mom and her chocolate (and me too for that matter) the mixing in of fruit is forbidden. Unless it’s bananas or dates. Banana’s and dates are my only two exceptions. I also feel I should tell you that if you’ve ever seen any raspberries, cherries or strawberries on top of anything chocolate I’ve posted, you can pretty much guarantee that I put them there for the photos. This also means I probably picked the berries off and ate them separately. I am just not a fruit with my chocolate kind of girl. White chocolate, sure, but not chocolate chocolate. So, I am taking suggestions. Nothing’s been made yet.
Ok, sorry about my all too common diversion there, but I kind get serious about my chocolate. FYI – We all should be serious about our chocolate…no matter the season.
On to Greek food. I made us Greek Plates! Not bowls because I do bowl food all the time, so I went with plates. You COULD put this all in a bowl, but to me plates seem better with Greek food anyway. These plates? They have a little bit of everything. And when I say everything, I mean everything good. We are talking Greek chicken, marinated veggies, rice pilaf, Tzatziki, tomatoes, feta and homemade pita.
Have you ever had Greek Souvlaki? I made salmon souvlaki last summer and fell in love with the the flavors. So I used that recipe, but swapped chicken for the salmon. If you wanted to, you could use salmon, beef or even pork or lamb. I think pork is what the Greek’s traditionally use, but I bet lamb would be delicious too! Instead of skewering the chicken with skewers I used the stems of rosemary. I have seen this all over the internet this summer and have been wanting to try it. The stems are awesome because they work so perfectly as a skewer while the rosemary flavors the meat. And it’s nice because they bend. It makes fitting them on a plate actually do-able. Hooray!
I had the chicken souvlaki down but I needed some carbs to go with it. Every meal needs a little carbs. It does. So I made this really easy rice pilaf. It’s a mix of orzo pasta (I used whole wheat) and basmati rice. It’s super simple and perfect for scooping and eating with a little chicken + summer veggies.
Ah, the yummy grilled summer veggies. I marinated them in a little of the souvlaki marinade. The marinade keeps things quick and simple, but adds nice flavor to the vegetables. To top the dish off – Tzatziki. I do not think any proper Greek meal is complete with out a little Tzatziki sauce and feta cheese. Of course any Greek dish also needs to be paired with fresh homemade pita to be truly complete. Oh, and tons of fresh herbs. I used a lot of dill, basil and oregano. So good.
Now how healthy (and good) does that look? Told you, the perfect food for a Monday.
