Greek

While diner-style Greek salads made with chopped romaine, crumbled feta and often grilled chicken have become ubiquitous in American restaurants, a traditional Greek salad, or horiatiki salata, is a simpler affair. An assembled salad of large-diced vegetables with Kalamata olives and sometimes capers, this salad has no greens at all, and the feta is served sliced on top of the salad rather than crumbled and tossed into it. A traditional Greek salad is dressed lightly with olive oil and red wine vinegar; this recipe adds garlic and oregano.

Popular in Greece, where it’s called bouyourdi, these slices of feta baked with tomatoes are popular as a little nibble before a meal. Serve with crusty bread. The recipe comes from Greece resident Aglaia Kremezi, who has written many volumes on the cuisine of her country. Wild oregano is collected on mountains in Greece and dried (it’s available at specialty markets). 

We can think of few examples where the unlikely combination of seafood and cheese marry as well as in Greece’s shrimp saganaki. In this dish, sweet, briny shrimp are covered with a garlic-and-herb accented tomato sauce and topped with crumbles of creamy, salty feta cheese. Ordering this dish at a restaurant, however, can be a gamble. The shrimp can be tough and rubbery, the tomato sauce can turn out dull or overwhelming, and the feta lackluster.

Lentil and rice pilaf with tomatoes makes a quick midweek dinner. The legume-grain combination has an earthy flavor and hearty texture, and provides high-quality, complete protein, ideal for vegetarians. On the side, serve feta, black olives, and steamed chard or kale.

Classic avgolemono, the Greek egg-lemon soup, typically contains a little rice and a few pieces of chicken. Add more chicken if you want to make the bowls substantial enough for a main course. This recipe begins with 3 chicken breast halves to give the broth lots of flavor, but you use only 1 1/2 of them for the soup. Make chicken salad from the rest or roll up shredded meat in warm pita with chopped cucumbers, lettuce, and salsa. Orzo is rice-shaped pasta.

This classic Greek bean soup is thick and creamy, though it contains no cream or other dairy products. The beans cook into a smooth, pleasing mixture. Use a fruity olive oil to saute the aromatic root vegetables to start the cooking process, then add white beans that have soaked overnight.

Quintessential Greek flavors—feta, lemon and dill—combine perfectly in this hearty salad. To complete the Mediterranean mood, try pairing it with a Greek Retsina or a Portuguese Vinho Verde. 

Mahi-mahi has a large, moist, and pleasantly firm flake. Topping it with briny feta, herbs, and lemon slices evokes the warm shores of Greece.

Best served at room temperature or lightly chilled, eggplant purees can fill many roles -- appetizer dip for toasted pita or fresh vegetables, anchor of a meze platter, relish to dress up simply cooked meat or fish, or hearty vegetable side dish.