A Taste of Greece at Home (2024)

When I left Greece last fall, I came home with a suitcase full of Greek ingredients. What better way to put them to use than to cook for my travel partner on that trip Cheryl and her life partner Joseph who is from Athens? No pressure at all!

I remembered my cooking class that we took in Santorini at the fabulous winery Artemis Karamolegos and knew I wanted to include the fava dish on my menu. Although Americans would immediately think fava beans are the main ingredient, this dish is actually yellow split peas that are pureed. It works great as either a starter served with pita or crostini or a side dish.

Santorini Fava is what’s known as a ‘Protected Designation of Origin’ or PDO. That’s because the particular beans grown on the island in the rich volcanic soil and have been grown there exclusively for 3,500 years! In order to have the designation, the beans must come from the island. They have a velvety texture, and they taste slightly sweeter than other fava beans. I fell in love with this dish during our cooking class, so I made sure to purchase a bag before leaving that winery.

Here's how to prepare the dish. I first sautéed some onion and carrots in olive oil.

You then add the rinsed split peas and toast for a couple of minutes.

Add the water and bay leaves and simmer for about an hour.

Once done, remove the bay leaf and puree with an immersion blender.

I garnished with caper leaves, also brought back from Greece, plus a healthy drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

The other dish I recreated from our cooking class was a simple Santorini Salad of feta cheese (not just Athenos Feta but sheep and goat's milk feta which I describe in my other blog about Greece), cherry tomatoes, cucumber, capers, caper leaves, olives, oregano and a red wine vinaigrette. The one addition I made to the recipe was barley rusk which are essentially croutons but made with whole grain barley flour (also transported home from Greece). You put them in the salad bowl first with a drizzle of olive oil and allow them to soak it up.

The rest of the salad is added and tossed, and the barley rusk become flavorful, crunchy bites.

For the main course, I went with a simple Chicken Souvlaki. I diced boneless skinless chicken breasts and marinated them with garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, dried oregano, honey, salt and pepper for about three hours.

I skewered the chicken and grilled the kebabs.

I made a Tzatziki sauce of shredded cucumber, garlic, olive oil, Greek yogurt, lemon juice and dill to serve with the Souvlaki.

Next up were the giant beans I brought home. Called Gigantes Plaki, this super healthy recipe is "giant" beans baked in a tomato sauce with fresh herbs. If you can't find gigantes from Greece at your local ethnic market, you can substitute large lima beans, elephant beans or butter beans. This dish takes some time to cook, but this method is very "hands off" so you can stick it in the oven and forget about it while you prepare the rest of your dinner.

Gigantes Plaki

Scroll down for a printable version of this recipe

Adapted from My Greek Dish

Serves: 8

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 3 hours, 15 minutes

Inactive time: 12 hours

1 pound gigantes beans

1/2 cup olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 large onion, diced

1/2 cup parsley, chopped

1 stalk celery, diced

1/2 cup hot water

28 oz. canned crushed tomatoes

1 teaspoon dried oregano

Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Soak the beans in water overnight. Drain and rinse with water.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

3. Place the beans in a large pan with enough water to cover them and bring to a boil.

4. Boil for 15 minutes.

5. Drain and place into a large baking dish. Add remaining ingredients.

6. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for approximately two and a half hours.

7. Remove the foil and bake for another 30 minutes.

8. Adjust seasoning and serve.

This dish happens to be one of Joseph's favorites from home, and he said I got it right!

I finished the meal with dessert of a Greek honey cake called Melopita. I used this recipe from My Greek Dish which is basically a crustless ricotta cheesecake. It couldn't be simpler to make! You just mix all of the ingredients together, pour into a prepared springform pan and bake for about a half hour.

I topped it with some strawberries macerated in more honey, but you could top with whipped cream, Greek yogurt with honey or just a sprinkle of cinnamon.

The meal was a huge success and the perfect way to honor the ingredients that traveled all the way from Greece to Florida. The highlight for me was when Joseph said, "Look at what you learned in 10 days. Think about what you could do if you spent a month in Greece!" Maybe one day...

If you want to be introduced to new ingredients and ethnic cuisines, The Chopping Block is the place to start and no passport is required! Here are just a few of the classes we have coming up that will help you feed your curiosity.

• Virtual Chicken Piccata Friday, April 21 6:30pm CST
• Hands-On Vegetarian Mexican Tuesday, April 25 6pm
• Hands-On Gluten-Free Italian Night Out Wednesday, April 26 6pm
• Virtual Sweet and Savory Crepes Friday, April 28 6pm CST
• Hands-On April in Paris Saturday, April 29 6pm

Topics: fava beans, beans, Greece, Travel, Recipes, Greek, gigantes plaki