Greek Salad + Dressing

Ingredients:

The dressings:

• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 clove garlic, minced

The salad:

• Romaine
• Cucumber
• Roma tomatoes
• Red onion
• Feta
• Kalamata olives

Directions:

1. Combine dressing ingredients and whisk vigorously. Store in the fridge.
2. Combine salad ingredients and pour a generous amount of dressing on top. 

Tzatziki

Ingredients:

• 3 cups Greek yogurt
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice (or about 1 lemon)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 large English cucumber, diced
• 1 tablespoon salt (for salting cucumbers)
• 1 tablespoon fresh dill (or both, depending on preference)
• salt & freshly ground black pepper

 

Directions:

1. Quarter cucumber and scrape out the seeds. 
2. Dice cucumber and sprinkle with salt.
3. Place diced cucumber on a plate with paper towels. Pressy down gently and let sit for a few minutes. You are pulling moisture out of the cucumber so it doesn't 'weep' too much into the tzatziki. 
4. Combine all ingredients and season with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Store in the fridge for up to a week. 

 

Falafel

Ingredients:

• 1 pound (about 2 cups) dry chickpeas/garbanzo beans
• 1 small onion, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 3-5 cloves garlic (I prefer roasted)
• 1 1/2 tbsp flour
• 1 3/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• Pinch of ground cardamom
• Vegetable oil for frying 

Directions:

1. Soak beans overnight
2. Drain and rise beans
3. Combine beans and all ingredients except oil in a food processor
4. Pulse all ingredients together until a rough, coarse meal forms. Scrape the sides of the processor periodically and push the mixture down the sides. 
5. Remove any large chickpea chunks that the processor missed.
6. Fill a skillet with vegetable oil to a depth of 1 ½ inches.
7. Heat the oil slowly over medium heat. Meanwhile, form falafel mixture into round balls  
8. Before frying my the batch of falafel, fry a test one in the center of the pan. If the oil is at the right temperature, it will take 2-3 minutes per side to brown (5-6 minutes total). If it browns faster than that, your oil is too hot and your falafels will not be fully cooked in the center.
9. Fry the falafels in batches of 5-6 at a time till golden brown on both sides.
10. I like to eat these in a pita with tomatoes, cucumber, romaine, red onion, and Tzatziki.