I love Greek food and Greek spices and herb combinations, never more than after our honeymoon to Santorini.  I now have this special emotional bond to the cuisine. Every time I cook something Greek I remember our golden week on that beautiful island, exploring the little villages and hidden bays and beaches on our bike, the wonderful grilled fish in a tavern in Ammoudi bay. Freaking out on the hair pin mountain roads and getting calf cramps on the never ending stairs.

It was such a perfect time. The only little hiccup was the airline losing my baggage, so instead of the baby-doll silk nightie I had purchased specifically I ended up sleeping in husbands T-shirt and swimming trunks the first night. Sexy. Luckily the suitcase arrived the next day.

I love feta cheese. I keep putting it in everything. It works so well in all kinds of salads, not just the traditional Greek salad. It works crumbled in omelettes, soups and sauces. Like Parmesan I think it can be used a bit like seasoning in almost anything.

Tonight’s dinner was going to be lemon-oregano chicken, asparagus, crispy roast new potatoes and some kind of a Greek inspired salad. I could have happily used feta in all of them, but realised it might be considered a bit of an overkill. So I decided to do a classic Santorini salad and leave the feta out of the other dishes.

Lemon Oregano chicken recipe (serves 4)

10 boneless chicken thigh fillets (or you can use breast)

¼ cup oil

Juice and zest of 1 lemon

2 tbsp runny honey

1 ½ tbsp chopped fresh oregano (or 2 tsp dried)

2 minced clove of garlic

Salt

Pepper

Mix the marinade ingredients, add chicken, cover and leave to marinade in the fridge for a few hours.

Bake in 200 C oven until chicken is done and juices run clear – abt. 40 minutes.

Roast Asparagus recipe

300 g asparagus tips

Oil

Lemon

Salt

Pepper

Prep asparagus by removing the hard part of the stalk, place on a oven dish, drizzle with oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and squeeze some lemon juice. Toss and bake for 10-15 minutes in 200 C oven until asparagus has softened but still has some bite to it.

Authentic Greek salad recipe

This time I remained true to the authentic Greek salad. I am easily tempted to add some ice-berg or gem lettuce and other things – like dill. I love dill with feta, but I know it’s kind of against the rules.


d

This time I obediently cubed cucumber, tomato and bell pepper, added thinly sliced red onion, a spoonful of capers and some amazing Santorini olives that we brought back from our honeymoon. On top a drizzle of olive oil, squeeze of lemon, salt and pepper. Beautiful.


3 tomatoes
1 green pepper
1 red onion
1 cucumber
200g Feta
1 tbsp of capers
handful of olives

Olive oil
Lemon
Salt and pepper


Thinly slice the red onion. Cut the pepper, tomatoes and cucumber in equal size chunks, add the capers and olives. Drizzle with olive oil, squeeze a bit of lemon juice on top, sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss. Place the feta on top of the salad and sprinkle with dried Greek herbs.

Greek roast new potatoes recipe

16-20 new potatoes

Oil

Greek dried herb mix (use a ready made mix or do your own)

2 garlic gloves

Salt

Pepper

Par-boil the potatoes until almost done, drain and leave to dry for a moment. Add a splash of oil in a oven tray. Peel and crush the garlic cloves and add on the tray, add the potatoes, press each with a fork until the potato break a little bit, sprinkle with salt and freshly ground black pepper and greek dried herb mix