Chicken and beetroot salad with orange, fennel and feta

From the layer cake of my last post to a salad. Huge difference, right? But there needs to be some kind a balance to what we eat. So, salad it is, and my favorite type of salad at that. One that is a full meal, with chicken, to fill you up and make you happy.

This is the type of meal I like on these early spring days, when it’s getting warm and I don’t want heavy dishes but rather light and bright ones. Salads are my go-to dishes during this time of year.

Colorful beetroots—golden, white, chioggia—that make the salad even more appetizing, greens, because I like my salads with a bit of green, feta, because I’m a feta fiend, and chicken, my favorite kind of meat.

With fresh, liquoricy fennel and a citrus dressing with orange zest, lemon juice, honey and olive oil to tie everything together. With crunchy walnuts, because when we eat something it’s not only the flavor that counts but also the texture, and some juicy orange segments, because, yes, we may all have fallen head first into the seasonal strawberries, but there are some luscious and tasty oranges left for us to savor too. So grab them while you still can.

The play of flavors is quite interesting in this salad—refreshing, sweet, sharp, earthy—making it a salad ideal for my palate. I hope it suits yours too.

Chicken and beetroot salad with orange, fennel and feta

Feel free to substitute the types of beetroot I used for regular red beetroot. Just be aware of the fact that red beets stain any other ingredient that has the audacity to share the same plate with them, so if your salad takes on a pink hue, don’t say that I didn’t warn you. Adding it at the last minute and tossing the salad ever so slightly, will save the situation though.

Use a mandoline, if you have it, to achieve those paper-thin slices. A mandoline would also be ideal to cut very thin slices of the onion and fennel.

If you don’t like feta—you don’t like feta????—use any other creamy white cheese you like that is sharp, not sweet.

I used two boneless and skinless chicken breasts that I seasoned with salt, pepper and cayenne, and cooked them in a frying pan with a little olive oil. You can use, however, any leftover chicken you may have, from roast chicken to grilled chicken, and it can be any part of the chicken as long as you cut it into bite-sized pieces.

This salad can be eaten either for lunch or dinner as it is quite filling yet light.

Yield: 2 main-course or 4 salad servings

Ingredients
2 large oranges
350 g raw beetroots (golden, white, chioggia), peeled and very thinly sliced
2 Tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
2 Tbsp orange juice
Salt
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp white balsamic vinegar
1 tsp runny honey
Zest of 1 orange, finely grated
Freshly ground white pepper
150 g mixed baby leaves
½ large fennel bulb, trimmed and very thinly sliced, fronds reserved
1 medium red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
300 g cooked chicken, chopped into bite sized pieces
80-90 g feta, cubed
50 g walnuts, roughly chopped

Special equipment: mandoline (optional yet preferable), rasp grater


Preparation
Grate the zest of one of the oranges and place it in a small bowl.

The way to cut the 2 oranges is by using a sharp knife. First, cut off the peel, then the white pith all around the fruit, exposing the flesh, and finally, cut free the flesh of the fruit from the membranes that are in between the wedges. Squeeze the juice out of the membranes and into a large bowl. They should be about 2 Tbsp. Add the thinly sliced beetroot to the bowl along with 1 Tbsp lemon juice and ¼ tsp salt and mix well. Let stand for 15 minutes so the beetroot softens a bit.

Make the dressing. In the small bowl that you added the grated orange zest, add the olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, honey, the remaining 1 Tbsp lemon juice, a good pinch of salt and some white pepper, and using a wire whisk, blend well.

In a large bowl, mix gently with your hands the baby green leaves, fennel, red onion and the chicken. Add the oranges and the beetroot with its juices and mix gently with your hands. Scatter the feta and walnuts on top and finally pour over the dressing. Sprinkle with the reserved fennel fronds and again, using your hands, toss gently to combine all the ingredients.

Serve immediately with some fresh bread and a glass of dry white wine.

Wild asparagus, yoghurt and ricotta galette with whole-wheat pastry

Greek holidays are not for vegetarians. We celebrate with lots of food, mostly meat, and especially on Easter (Orthodox Easter is this Sunday), the food is for hard-core carnivores and not for the faint-hearted.

We roast a whole lamb on a spit, we make kokoretsi (lamb’s liver and lungs wrapped with lamb’s intestines), kontosouvli (pork neck pieces on a spit), sausages, fried veal liver and so on and so forth, you get the picture. In case you don’t, check out this post in which I shared some photos from my Easter in Greece two years ago.

There’s always a need for something fresh on the table alongside all that meat, like salads, legume dishes and pites (Greek pies). You know I love making pites, small or large, but I also love making galettes, like this one I made the other day using the wild asparagus I raved on about in my last post.

It would make a perfect side dish for the Easter table or any other occasion really. It would also make a perfect light lunch or dinner to pair with a glass of wine and eat outside. Have you noticed how the days are getting warmer and warmer?

The pastry, which is partly made with whole wheat flour, is smeared with a mixture of Greek yoghurt and ricotta and then topped with wild asparagus that have been tossed with extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. After baking, the asparagus are drizzled with some more extra virgin olive oil that makes them glisten and even more irresistible than they already are.

The flavors of the fresh and mildly bitter wild asparagus mingle with the sweet and smooth creaminess of the ricotta-yoghurt and the short, crumbly and buttery base that melts in your mouth and that has an earthy quality which pairs beautifully with the wild asparagus. A knockout spring tart.

Kali Anastasi and Kalo Pascha (Happy Easter) to all my fellow Greeks and to all those who celebrate!

Wild asparagus, yoghurt and ricotta galette with whole-wheat pastry

If you’re in Greece, you can substitute the ricotta with anthotyro.
If you can't find wild asparagus, you can substitute them with slender green asparagus spears.

The pastry can be made one or two days in advance and kept in the fridge wrapped in plastic wrap.

Yield: 1 galette / 6 pieces

Ingredients

for the pastry dough
130 g whole-wheat flour
130 g all-purpose flour
170 g unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
60 ml (4 Tbsp) cold water

for the filling
150 g Greek yoghurt 2% fat
150 g ricotta cheese
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 + 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
200 g wild asparagus

1 small egg, beaten, for glazing

Special equipment: large food processor, plastic wrap, rolling pin, baking paper, baking sheet, pastry brush


Preparation

for the pastry dough
• with a food processor
In a large food processor, add the flours, cold cubed butter and salt and process for a few seconds until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Then add the vinegar and the cold water and process in order to bring together the mixture into a rough dough. Don’t over mix.

• by hand
In a large bowl, add the flour, cold cubed butter and salt and, using two knives, a pastry cutter or your fingertips, cut it into the flour, until you have a mixture that resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Then add the vinegar and the cold water and mix with your hands, working quickly, until you have a rough dough.

Empty the dough onto a clean surface and knead lightly to form a smooth dough. Don’t knead too much or vigorously. Shape it into a ball and then a flattened disk. Wrap it with a large piece of plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator to chill, for 2 hours.

for the filling
While the dough is chilling, prepare the filling.
Add yoghurt, ricotta, a little salt and pepper, and 1 Tbsp olive oil in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth. Taste and add more salt if needed.

Rinse the asparagus under cold running water and snap off the woody parts at the bottom end. In order to do that, take the end of the asparagus between your thumb and forefinger, holding the top half with your other hand, and bend it until it snaps. It will automatically snap at the part where the woody part ends and the tender part starts. This snapping point will be lower or higher depending on the spear.
Cut the asparagus in half if they are too long and place them in a bowl. Toss them with salt and pepper and 1 Tbsp olive oil.

Preheat your oven to 200°C.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator, unwrap and discard the plastic wrap and place dough between two large sheets of baking paper. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into an approximately 35cm round, with a 3mm thickness. The dough should be somewhat pliable yet it will be a little stiff. (If it tends to break apart when you roll it out, let it warm a bit before you try again). Remove the top baking paper and place the rolled out dough, along with the bottom baking paper, onto a baking sheet.
Smear ¾ of the yoghurt-ricotta filling evenly on top of the dough, leaving a space around the edges of the pastry, about 4cm. See photo for reference.
Top with the asparagus and fold the edges of the dough up and over the filling, making sure to seal any cracks. You can use the baking paper to pull and fold the dough over the filling.
Using a pastry brush, glaze the dough with the beaten egg.

Place the baking sheet on the middle rack of the preheated oven and bake for 35-37 minutes until the pastry takes on a golden-brown color and the asparagus look a bit charred.
Take the galette out of the oven, leave to cool for 10 minutes and drizzle the filling with a little olive oil.
Optionally, you can top it with some freshly grated lemon zest or even a grating of parmesan.

Serve with the remaining yoghurt-ricotta filling on the side.

You can keep the galette for a day or two, covered, at room temperature, but it is best eaten the same day.

Wild asparagus tagliatelle with lemon, olive oil and garlic

It’s that time of the year, when you go to the market and it’s filled with all possible shades of green. Vegetables I have missed seeing and tasting are popping up left and right and it’s impossible to choose what to take home with me.

Artichokes and spinach, dandelions and nettles, chard and peas, they are all there, even the first rhubarb of the year with its seductive reddish color to break the green monotony.

When I caught a glimpse of some wild asparagus hiding in the corner of one of the market stalls, I was drawn to them like a moth to a flame. I jumped and grabbed them before anyone else could, put them in my bag and didn’t think twice about getting anything else. They were all I wanted.

I bought more than we could eat in one meal, so I used them in a couple of different recipes. One of them was this tagliatelle with garlic, olive oil and lemon. It couldn’t be simpler really, because when you have fresh, in-season and rare ingredients like wild asparagus, you must treat them with respect and great care. You definitely shouldn’t fuss around too much with them or pair them with ingredients that will mask their flavor, but with ingredients that will complement and highlight it.

This light, healthy and fresh pasta dish was perfect, with the slightly bitter flavor of the slender wild asparagus—bitter flavor gets a bad rap, we need more bitter foods!—with the lemon brightening the dish up and the parmesan adding umaminess and dairy acidity.

If you can find wild asparagus, this is the dish to try. Well, this and the one I will be sharing in a few days. Stay tuned.

Wild asparagus tagliatelle with lemon, olive oil and garlic

I am aware that wild asparagus are not widely available in every country, so if you like the idea of this asparagus pasta dish but you can’t find wild ones, simply substitute them with an equal amount of tender, young green asparagus spears. However, you will need to blanch the regular green asparagus for 2-3 minutes before using them in the dish as they are far tougher than the extremely thin wild ones. Wild asparagus have half the thickness of a pencil.

Yield: 2 servings

Ingredients
200 g dried tagliatelle
200 g wild asparagus
2 Tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
1 garlic clove, minced
2½ Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Parmesan, grated

Special equipment: colander, grater


Preparation
Rinse the asparagus under cold running water and snap off the woody parts at the bottom end. In order to do that, take the end of the asparagus between your thumb and forefinger, holding the top half with your other hand, and bend it until it snaps. It will automatically snap at the part where the woody part ends and the tender part starts. This snapping point will be lower or higher depending on the spear.
Cut the asparagus in half if they are too long.

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil over high heat and add the tagliatelle. Cook until al dente (firm but not very hard) or cook to your liking.

While the water is boiling and the pasta is cooking, prepare the asparagus “sauce”. You will need to add some of the pasta water to the asparagus so keep that in mind.

Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in a large, wide sauté pan (one that will fit the pasta as well) over medium heat and add the garlic. Sauté for a few seconds and add the asparagus. Season with salt and pepper and sauté for a couple of minutes, stirring gently and frequently. Add the lemon juice and keep sautéing the asparagus for one more minute. Add a little less than ¼ cup of the pasta water and cook asparagus until tender but not too soft. You want them to have texture and not turn into mush.

When the tagliatelle are ready, lift them from inside the pot using tongs, allowing the excess water to drain back into the pot, transfer them to the pan with the asparagus and toss gently to mix.

Serve immediately on individual plates, drizzle with some olive oil and grind some black pepper on top. Finally, grate some parmesan and sprinkle it over the top.

Turnip greens and halloumi salad with tahini and turmeric dressing

As with so many of the meals I cook, it all starts with a single ingredient, the inspiration if you will that’ll form the base of a complete dish. Sometimes it’s an intricate dish that may take hours to prepare and cook, and other times it’s a simple and quick one.

This time, it all started a few days ago when I bought a bunch of young turnip greens from the market. I didn’t know exactly what to do with them so they stayed in the fridge, almost neglected, until yesterday, when it suddenly hit me; I would make a meal out of a salad. I do this often, I love turning salads into main dishes. And so it happened.

I had halloumi in the fridge, cucumber that was leftover from a tzatziki I made the previous day and red onion, and then I began thinking about the dressing. I wanted something a bit different, more fragrant and earthy to counterbalance and complement the fresh flavors of the greens and cucumber. Tahini came to mind, an ingredient that is never absent from my kitchen, and turmeric. That was it.

I finely sliced the cucumber and the onion with my trusted mandoline, I whisked the ingredients for the dressing and grilled the halloumi in a hot pan until it was deliciously golden. The ingredients were tossed together, the deep orange-colored dressing was drizzled on top and a handful of toasted sesame seeds were sprinkled to decorate and add more flavor and texture to the salad.

That was yesterday’s dinner.

Young turnip greens, cucumber and red onion salad with grilled halloumi and a tahini and turmeric dressing

The classic turnip greens (turnip tops) are large, much like beetroot leaves. The ones I used in this recipe are young, small turnip greens from turnips grown specifically for their leaves.
Their flavor is slightly spicy and their stalks are tender. If you can’t find them where you live, you can substitute with baby spinach, rocket or tender beetroot leaves.
For those of you reading from Holland, they are called raapstelen.

This dressing is perfect on top of a grilled or baked piece of fish, on top of roast chicken, or mixed with simply boiled legumes like beans or chickpeas to give them flavor.

Yield: 2 main servings or 4 salad servings

Ingredients

for the tahini-turmeric dressing
60 ml (¼ cup) tahini
3½ Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
¾ tsp ground turmeric
¼ tsp cayenne pepper powder
Salt
Freshly ground white pepper

for the salad
150 g young turnip greens
120 g cucumber, with skin on, thinly sliced
Half red onion, very thinly sliced
250 g halloumi cheese
A handful of toasted sesame seeds

Special equipment: mandoline (optional)


Preparation

for the tahini-turmeric dressing
Add the tahini, lemon juice, olive oil, turmeric, cayenne, a little salt and white pepper in a small bowl and mix well using a wire whisk. Taste and add more salt if needed.

for the salad
Cut the halloumi into medium-thick slices and lightly oil them on both sides with olive oil. Heat a skillet or non-stick pan on medium heat and add the slices in one layer. Cook them for about 3 minutes on either side until golden.

Rinse well the turnip greens under cold running water, cut off the roots and drain in paper towels. In a large bowl, mix the turnip greens, cucumber and onion. Arrange on a plate and add the halloumi. Drizzle generously with the dressing and finish with the sesame seeds.
Serve immediately with fresh bread.

You can keep the tahini-turmeric dressing in the fridge for a couple of days. It will thicken in the fridge so leave it out on the counter for half an hour before you want to use it.
Also, the dressing may split. It is only natural because it contains tahini, which always splits. Don’t worry about it, just give it a good whisk before using.

Tortiglioni with purple broccolini, ricotta and lemon zest

I used to write a diary, where I kept all my inner thoughts and deepest secrets that I didn’t want anyone to know about and it has been that way sometimes here too; I have written things here that I haven’t even talked about with actual people. Blogging does that to you. It fools you into thinking that you are writing your personal journal intended for your own eyes only.

There have been times when I have written long blog posts that after reading them a second time, they felt too personal, too much information given that I wasn’t sure I wanted to share with the world and so were kept unpublished. And then there are other times when words are so difficult to come out of me that I can hardly formulate a single sentence worth publishing. It is tricky this blogging thing, still after five years, perhaps because of these five years. Finding a balance between what you want or don’t want to say is complicated.

Someone told me the other day that it’s not important if anyone reads my blog as long as I enjoy writing it. I had a different opinion but I didn’t share it with her because firstly, I am convinced she has never read my blog and secondly, because I believe she wouldn’t get it. If I did it just for myself, I wouldn’t be writing a blog, but said diary. I believe this applies to all bloggers.

Truth is, I enjoy the feeling that someone out there is reading what I have to say, makes a recipe I have shared, enjoys looking at my photographs, feels something because of what they find here. When I started this blog, I realized there were things to be said, things to be shared, not necessarily heavy stuff but everyday realities and stories about food and life in general. Before starting this blog I never thought anyone would want to read what I had to say. Some people do, though, and I want to thank them. Thank you.

I myself rarely follow a food blog whose author I can’t relate to or am unable to get to know them through their blog. I don’t follow blogs just for recipes but for the person behind those recipes. I want to know them a little, know what they are like as human beings, get a glimpse into their lives a bit. Not every blog post has to be a bearing of their soul, I'm not implying that, but they have to be able to give something. That’s why I never understood why any blogger would leave a comment on my blog without leaving their names too. It’s not about simply leaving a comment but trying to connect in some way, and you can’t do that without being open. Perhaps I’m being romantic but that’s how I see it.

So this food blogger cooked something and finally had time to photograph it. A simple pasta dish yet extremely tasty and satisfying. I found purple broccolini at the market and I couldn’t help but put a bunch in my basket. The idea of this pasta dish was born right then and there.

The broccolini were blanched and then quickly sautéed in olive oil and garlic, the tortiglioni were cooked al dente and gently dropped into the same pan. Ricotta was added to create a smooth “sauce” along with some of the pasta water, lemon zest for freshness and sharpness, and a good grating of Grana Padano for the salty and oumami flavor. It was a delicate pasta dish that smelled of spring.

Tortiglioni with purple broccolini, ricotta and lemon zest

You can also use rigatoni or penne rigate instead of tortiglioni. Also, if you’re in Greece, you can use anthotyro insetad of ricotta.

Broccolini (or bimi in Dutch) is a hybrid of broccoli and Chinese broccoli. It is extremely popular in The Netherlands and has become one of my favorite vegetables. There is a green and purple variety and their flavor is similar to that of broccoli but sweeter, milder and more tender.
You can substitute with purple sprouting broccoli (scheutjesbroccoli in Dutch) or green asparagus. Now is also the season in Greece and all the Mediterranean of wild asparagus, so if you can find it use it! Also, you can cut the small florets of a regular broccoli and use it in this recipe instead of the broccolini.

Update 22.03.2015: My mom found broccolini at one of Athens' open markets, so they can be found in Greece!

Yield: 2 generous servings

Ingredients
200 g (12-13) purple broccolini
250 g tortiglioni pasta
5 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, mashed or grated
200 g fresh ricotta cheese
Zest of 1 lemon
Salt
Freshly ground white pepper
Grana Padano (or Parmesan), freshly grated

Special equipment: grater, colander


Preparation
Fill a large pot with water, add salt and place it over high heat. When the water starts to boil, add the broccolini and blanch for 2-3 minutes, until the stems are almost tender. Remove the broccolini with a slotted spoon and into a colander to drain and cool a bit. Don’t discard the water! When cool, cut the broccolini in half if they are too long.

Place the pot back on the heat and bring the water you used to blanch the broccolini to the boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente or to your liking.

In the meantime, in a large, wide sauté pan (one that will fit the pasta as well) add 4 Tbsp of the olive oil and heat over medium heat. Add the garlic and sauté for a few seconds, being careful not to burn it. Add the broccolini and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Do not toss the broccolini too much or the florets will break up. Season with a little salt and white pepper.

At this point, the pasta should be cooked. Take a cupful of pasta water and reserve it. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the pasta to the broccolini. Add the ricotta to the pan and a little of the pasta water, grate the lemon zest directly over the pan so that the oils of the lemon fall in the pan, and mix gently all the ingredients together, being careful not to break up the broccolini. Check the consistency and add more pasta water in order to have a creamy “sauce”.
Drizzle with 1 Tbsp olive oil and serve immediately in plates.
Grate as much Grana Padano on the top and enjoy!