Hemp Horta

Horta is a traditional side dish that you can find in almost every taverna [tavern/restaurant] is Greece. Horta is basically boiled or steamed leafy greens. There is one specific kind of weed that is used to make this dish called ‘vlita’ [vleetah]. Vlita is a weed that pops up everywhere in Greece, and can also be cultivated. It is delicious boiled, with the stems on with the addition of extra virgin olive oil and lemon.
If you say you are vegan around here old and uninformed people ask :’ So what DO you eat??Only horta??’ Which is misunderstood by the word ‘hortofagos’ [weed-eater]that means vegetarian in Greek. I just think that it is hilarious, so I am proud to say that YES, I DO EAT HORTA and I love it. [ but I also eat a million other things].
So I present you, Horta!! [I did make a small change, I added hemp oil instead of olive oil] I’m sure you can make this with spinach, kale and other greens mixed together, but obviously it wont taste the same.

-1kg vlita
-3 lemons
-3tbsp hemp oil

Wash your greens with water and either steam or boil them, WITH their stems [its the best part] for about 20 minutes, until tender become tender and wilted. Set aside to coll them off and juice the lemons. Mix with raw hemp oil and pour on the horta. Toss well and eat either at room temp or chilled.
Enjoy!!

Grilled Vegetables Spelt Couscous

I always like to eat as healthier as I can, so plain old couscous is not a whole food option. First I tracked down a package of wholegrain couscous that I used up without posting anything, and then I found Wholegrain spelt couscous! Oh my goodness… I couldnt believe it! So here is an old favorite, grilled vegetables, chopped up and mixed with spelt couscous!

You need :
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
2 zucchini
20 cherry tomatoes
2tbsp grapeseed oil
1 garlic clove
1 lemon
1tsp veggie powder seasoning
salt&pepper to taste
4tbsp balsamic glaze [sweetened with grape juice NOT sugar]
1 cup dry whole grain spelt couscous

First chop veggies and mix with oil. Grill until tender, about 10 minutes [not the cherry tomatoes]. Set aside to cool and prepare couscous. Mix dry couscous with veggie powder, and add 2 cups boiling water. Cover an leave for 5 minutes. Chop grilled vegetables and tomatoes in small pieces and mix with the couscous. Add the juice of 1 lemon, 1 crushed garlic clove, salt, pepper and 4 tbsp balsamic glaze [or more-adjust to your taste]

Enjoy at room temperature or chilled ! Serves 4.

No-Cook Bulgur Salad

Bulgur is basically cracked wheat, and its really nice in salads. They are two ways of preparing it. You can either boil it, or- which is the no-cook part, soak it in water for about 3 hours. Which is very nice and simple and now with the heat makes things a lot easier! Let’s face it, who wants to cook with this heat? I m getting lazy and do nothing…So, its not even a recipe!
Just be careful because cracked wheat triples in volume when soaked i water. 3/4 DRY will make you around 2 cups!

-3/4 cup cracked wheat
-water
-1 onion
-1 tomato
-half lemon
-1 garlic clove
-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Soak the wheat in about 2 cups water until it becomes soft. If the is any water left, drain. Dice tomatoes and onion and mix with wheat. Crush garlic and mix with lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper. Toss everything together and place in the fridge for 15 minutes!
-salt&pepper to taste

Teese Caprese

Now I have been seeing a lot of Teese cheese on vegan food blogs, and I have been dying to try it. For anyone that STILL doesnt know what Teese is ( shame on you ), its the newest vegan cheese around the block that everyone is going crazy about. Not only it melts really good, but wait for it, it actually tastes REALLY good. And thats coming from a cheese lover. Teese tastes how mozzarella di buffala should taste! Thats all I will say. Its made in Chicago by Chicago Soy Dairy.

I thought I would never get to try it, since I am located in Athens, Greece ( a long way from Chicago haha ) and as I have tried a million times to order vegan cheeses from the web, my order always got cancelled because they cant be shipped that far. But last week I ordered Teese ( and other vegan essentials) from vegan essentials, and not only they shipped my Teese, but it got here ( safe and sound ) really fast for Greek standars. Of course I am overly excited! So if anyone around the globe wants to order Teese, do it from www.veganessentials.com and when the weather is not too hot. Be careful though with the weight of your order…You dont want to pay a fortune…or at least try to avoid it!

So here is a Teese recipe, in its simplest form :

-Teese , sliced ( as much as you like)

-Fresh tomato, sliced

-Balsamic vinegar ( 2 tbsp for the portion you see on the pictures)

-Olive oil (1 tsp for the portion you see on the pictures)

-Salt

Arrange Teese slices and fresh tomato slices and pour over balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Then sprinkle with salt and serve chilled as a starter. You can also sprinkle with some fresh basil!

Summer’s Here Pasta Salad

 

Hey! This pasta salad is the first proper food I learned to ‘cook’ when I was 14.Its a delicious pasta salad with avocado, cherry tomatoes and green fresh onions. It has a very refreshing taste, its vegan and though it looks fancy, its very easy to make! So here it is:

You need

200gr wholewheat pasta ( penne)

1 avocado

10-15 cherry tomatoes

6 fresh onions

2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

zest of 3 lemons

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp Tabasco (or more if you like it spicy!)

Boil pasta and while you are waiting chop up cherry tomatoes in quarters, avocado in strips and fresh onions in thin circles.  Combine the veggies with lemon zest, tabasco and olive oil. Drain pasta and allow to cool. Now mix pasta with everything else and chill in the fridge for about an hour. Serve! ( makes 3 servings)