Saturday

Greek Orzo Salad

One of my favorite summer salads! The dressing is also great on a traditional greek salad with tomato and cucumber.

Ingredients:
1/2c red wine vinegar
2 Tbs Dijon mustard
2 cloves garlic, chopped or pressed
1 tsp black pepper
approx 3/4c olive oil
1/2c chopped fresh basil
1/2c chopped Italian parsley
8oz dried orzo, prepared in salted boiling water to al dente
1 can of artichoke hearts
1/2c pitted kalamata olives, cut in half
4-6oz crumbled feta
3-4 green onions chopped

Preparation:
Mix the first 5 ingredients to make a dressing.
Cook the orzo, drain and transfer to bowl. Immediately mix in about half the dressing while pasta is still warm and transfer to fridge. Once the orzo is cooled, mix in the artichoke hearts, basil, parsley, olives, green onion and feta and a bit more dressing. After 30-45 minutes taste for seasoning and add the remaining dressing or salt, if needed.

(Dressing adapted from The New Basics Cookbook recipe for red wine basil vinaigrette.)

Rhubarb Ginger Jam

Holy cow, this is delicious. My favorite on warm crumpets or english muffins. The original recipe called for frozen rhubarb, I had no problem using fresh.

Ingredients:
1 pound rhubarb, sliced about 1/4" thick
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 ounce chopped crystallized ginger (about 3 tablespoons, if you don't have a scale)
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel - a splash of lemon juice will do in a pinch

Preparation:
Combine all ingredients in heavy medium saucepan. Stir over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until jam thickens and mounds on spoon, stirring often to prevent scorching, about 20 minutes.

Without canning, it can be kept chilled in the refrigerator for a week or two. With this much rhubarb, guess I need to learn how to can.

Sunday

Greek Burgers

So I broke my own best practice - I can't remember where I found this recipe initially. I've made it multiple times since then without any recipe, but wanted to capture it to share.

1# ground lamb (ground turkey works too, but I season it more aggressively)
finely diced red onion - 1/4c or so
crumbled feta cheese - 6-8oz
2 cloves of garlic, pressed
fresh mint leaves snipped with scissors - maybe 2 Tbs
oregano - either dried or fresh - 1-2 tsp
salt and pepper
lemon zest, if you're courageous
Hand mix your meat and seasonings, form patties to broil or BBQ

Put on hamburger buns

Top with:
baby spinach tossed in balsamic vinagrette
lemon aioli sauce = mayo, lemon juice, garlic, paprika
also consider using hummus or tzatziki
also tasty, grilled red onion rings that have been carmelized

To try - I read a recipe that included cinnamon in the meat mixture. Haven't tried that yet.