Greeks attack

After having an amazing dinner at the Greek Islands in Indy, my hubby and I want more Greek food. So I went hunting. Going to try these tonight. Helps that there's 30mph winds today so won't be doing the steaks I bought on the grill.

Greek Salad (will of course omit things Chris won't eat)
Ingredients
Salad:
1 to 1-1/2 heads/bunches romaine lettuce, washed, cut in half down center rib, then cut across in 1/2" wide strips
1/2 small red onion sliced to 1/8" and left in rings or half rings
1 medium cucumber, peeled, quartered lengthwise, seeded and cut in 1" lengths
2 medium ripe vine tomatoes, cored, sliced into 8 wedges and seeded
1 small green bell pepper, sliced into thin (1/8") rings and seeded
Topping:
8 ounces crumbled feta cheese
20 pitted kalamata olives
Dressing:
1 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
5 tablespoons lemon juice
6 tablespoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon course ground black pepper
Combine dressing ingredients in glass jar, a small glass bowl or tall drinking glass and mix thoroughly
Toss salad ingredients into large salad serving bowl
When you are ready to serve, drizzle dressing over top of salad, lightly toss, then add cheese and olives to top of salad
 
Greek Steak
Ingredients
1 to 2 pound thin cut beef steaks, I've used rib eye so far
Marinade:
1 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced onion
1 tablespoon minced tomato (I am trying this ingredient for the first time, just for color, consider it very optional)
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon course ground black pepper
Frying:
2 additional tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Place meat in a gallon size Ziplock® bag or spread out over a large glass lasagna or cake pan
Combine all marinade ingredients together in a small glass bowl or tall drinking glass and mix thoroughly
Pour marinade into bag with meat or over meat in glass pan. Seal bag, removing air and work marinade into meat or spoon marinade over meat to cover well, if using glass pan. Marinate for at least 2 hours. If marinating more than 2 hours, do so in refrigerator
Preheat oven to 400º F and on the stove, heat a heavy (oven proof - optional) frying pan to medium high heat. When the pan is hot, add the 2 additional tablespoons of olive oil. When oil is hot, begin adding steaks in a single layer. If they won't all fit, cook them in batches
For the oven finishing method, quickly sear/brown steaks on both sides, pour in lemon juice, then place pan of seared steaks on top rack of 400º oven for about 10 to 15 minutes until steaks are heated through to desired doneness
For the stove finishing method, reduce heat to medium after searing, pour in lemon juice and continue to cook steaks until desired doneness
Serves 3-6, depending on whether you use 1 or 2 pounds of steak

And of course have to have these too :) Greek Potatoes

Next I need to find good recipes for Pastitsio and Souvlaki with Tzatziki (what we had at the restaurant). The ones I linked to above may work :)

New favorite salad.

I took my inspiration from this salad on allrecipes: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Strawberry-Spinach-Salad-I/Detail.aspx

But I added a whole bunch of stuff :)
(Mark it down folks, I actually have a picture of something)

Summer Spinach salad

Ingredients
dressing:
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon minced onion

salad:
10 ounces fresh spinach - rinsed, dried and torn into bite-size pieces
1 quart strawberries - cleaned, hulled and sliced
1 pint raspberries - cleaned, I cut the big ones in half
1 can mandarin oranges - drained and big ones cut in half
1 cup cooked chicken, diced (or dino nuggets cut up - yes I've done this)
1 cucumber, cleaned & diced
couple handfuls of matchstick carrots
1/3 cup almond accents butter toffee glazed almonds
crumbled Gorgonzola cheese, to taste

Directions
In a liquid shaker (like this Tupperware one I love), shake together the sesame seeds, poppy seeds, sugar, olive oil, vinegar, paprika, Worcestershire sauce and onion. Chill for one hour.

In a large bowl or gladware container, toss the salad ingredients.

If serving right away: toss dressing with salad
If making for multiple servings (what I do when Chris is out of town), just add the dressing with your portion. Hence that wonderful shaker with a spout.

Chicken Salad

HG's Sweet 'n Chunky Chicken Salad
Ingredients:
1 cup (about 4.5 oz.) cooked & roughly chopped skinless lean chicken breast
1/2 cup chopped Persian or Kirby cucumber
1/3 cup red seedless grapes, halved
1/3 cup chopped apple
1/4 cup plain fat-free yogurt
2 tbsp. fat-free mayonnaise
1 no-calorie sweetener packet (like Splenda)
1/4 tsp. lemon pepper seasoning
dash salt
Directions:
Mix together the yogurt, mayonnaise, sweetener, lemon pepper seasoning, and salt. Coat the chicken in this mixture, and then stir in the chopped cucumber, grape halves, and chopped apple. Then try not to pass out as you chow down on this insanely good chicken salad! MAKES 2 SERVINGS
Serving Size: half of recipe (about 1 cup)
Calories: 145 Fat: 1.5g Sodium: 332mg Carbs: 14g Fiber: 1g Sugars: 10g Protein: 21g
POINTS® value 3*

You get a two-fer

Some recent finds that are low fat and tasty:
Mann's broccoli slaw. Mom would be so proud I eat broccoli now, I was the kid who ran screaming from it. Made a salad with mandarin oranges, cooked chicken, water chestnuts, almonds, and my favorite Ken's lite Asian Sesame dressing. So yummy. Good recipes on their bags, on their site, and on hungry girl.

I made a spicy peanut chicken from that low fat crock pot cook book I posted about awhile ago, the healthy slowcooker and it was tasty.

Grilled 'tater salad

This Grilled Potato Salad from Southern Living was OMG amazing the other night (make sure you do the rub and the dressing) :) oh and put the bacon on LAST not while stirring the potatoes and onions in the bacon grease. Oh yes, it involves bacon grease. Baaaaad for you but tastes so yummy.

edited to add recipe, in case the interwebs eat it ;)

Grilled Potato Salad

Yield
Makes 4 to 5 servings

Ingredients
8 bacon slices
4 medium-size red potatoes, cut into 3/4-inch cubes (about 5 cups cubed)
1 large white onion, cut into 1/2-inch-thick strips
Potato Salad Dry Rub
Potato Salad Dressing
Garnish: chopped fresh parsley
Preparation
1. Preheat grill to 350° to 400° (medium-high) heat. Cook bacon, in batches, in a large skillet over medium-high heat 8 to 10 minutes or until crisp; remove bacon, and drain on paper towels, reserving drippings in skillet. Crumble bacon.

2. Add potatoes, onion, and Potato Salad Dry Rub to hot drippings in skillet, tossing to coat. Remove potato mixture with a slotted spoon.

3. Grill potato mixture, covered with grill lid, over 350° to 400° (medium-high) heat in a grill wok or metal basket 30 minutes or until tender, stirring every 5 minutes. Transfer mixture to a large bowl. Add Potato Salad Dressing, and toss to coat. Stir in bacon. Garnish, if desired. Serve warm.


Potato Salad Dry Rub

Yield
Makes about 2 Tbsp.

Ingredients
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/4 teaspoons pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried crushed rosemary
1/8 teaspoon celery seeds
Preparation
1. Stir together all ingredients. Store in an airtight container up to 1 month.


Potato Salad Dressing

Yield
Makes about 1/2 cup

Ingredients
5 1/2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
Preparation
1. Stir together all ingredients. Store in an airtight container in refrigerator up to 2 weeks.

Purdue Strawberry Pretzel Salad

I clipped this out of our alumni magazine awhile ago, I love this stuff and lived on it in college on weeks where the food was scary but this was in the salad bar ;)

Yes I realize "salad" is not really how one would describe this, but its so good, lets pretend its a good for you salad.

Purdue University Residences Pretzel Salad

9-oz bag of pretzel sticks, broken into ¼ inch pieces
½ cup margarine, melted
3 Tbsp granulated sugar
8-oz package of cream cheese, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
8-oz container whipped topping (thawed)
.6-oz package strawberry gelatin
2 cups boiling water
16-oz package strawberries, frozen and sliced

Mix pretzels, margarine, and first amount of sugar. Press into a 9x13 pan. Bake 10 minutes in a 350 oven. Let cool.
Mix cream cheese and second amount of sugar until smooth. Fold in whipped topping. Spread over crust. Refrigerate.
Combine water and gelatin until dissolved. Add strawberries (do not drain) and refrigerate until partially set.
Gently pour strawberry mixture over cream cheese layer and chill until set, about 4-6 hours.

Marshall Fields Chicken Salad

I got the Marshall Fields cookbook for Christmas, Macy's was apparently almost giving them away. Since they don't exist anymore, I figured I was safe to post this recipe. I made some on Tuesday night and it was still good for lunch today :)

Marshall Fields Chicken Salad

2lbs cooked white meat chicken, cubed
1 1/2 cups diced celery
1 1/4 cups mayo
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
salt & pepper to taste

Combine in a large bowl, enjoy :)

To poach the chicken in the oven place in a large pan (i.e. 9x13) and fill at least 1/4 inch with water. Cover with foil and bake @ 350 for at least 30 minutes or until done. I used the frozen breasts that come in a bag (like from Tyson) and did it for 45.

Variations:
peach bowl: Place a scoop on lettuce, top with sliced almonds and surround with fresh peaches.

sandwich: I like to toast wheat bread and eat it as a sammich :)

Texas Country Potato Salad

my Mom's cousin gave me this recipe. It is *so good* and so easy, but is not a healthy recipe by any stretch of the imagination. Is easy to triple since potatoes come in a 3lb bag ;)

Texas Country Potato Salad

4 strips bacon
1 pound small red potatoes, unpeeled
1 green onion, sliced
1 boiled egg, chopped
1/4 c mayonnaise
1 t Dijon mustard
salt and pepper

Cook bacon until crispy. Drain, reserving a few tablespoons of the grease, and crumble. Set aside.Place the potatoes in a large saucepan. Cover with cold water. Add a tablespoon of the bacon grease and some salt and place over medium-high heat. (I have omitted the grease before and it turns out okay, just not quite so good) Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 15-20 minutes. Drain and let the potatoes cool and then cut into bite-size pieces.In a separate bowl, mix mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, salt and pepper for dressing.Toss potatoes, onion and egg in dressing Add bacon. Serve chilled. Even better if you make it the day before you serve it.