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Greek Rice and Cabbage

Ingredients:
¼ cup olive oil
1 medium onion diced (about 1 cup or 4 oz or 115 grams)
½ of a small cabbage (about 10 oz or 300 grams sliced, not too thin)
½ tablespoon tomato paste
salt/pepper
About ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ cup medium grain rice (uncooked)
Lemon and parsley for serving
 
Preparation:
We heat olive oil in a medium pot.  We add the onion and sauté until soft about 5-7 minutes.  We add the cabbage and mix until cabbage is coated with the olive oil.  We heat for 2-3 minutes (stirring) until cabbage has wilted somewhat.  Then we add about 1 cup hot water and simmer for 20-30 minutes until cabbage is soft (we can add more water if needed).  Once cabbage is soft, we add the tomato paste that has been dissolved in 2-3 tablespoons of water, and ½ teaspoon salt, freshly ground pepper and cayenne pepper and mix.  Following we add ½ cup (uncooked) medium grain rice and we stir so that rice is coated with the oil.  We add 1 ¼ cup hot water and simmer until rice is almost cooked (about 15 minutes).  We add more hot water in small amount if needed. Once rice is ready, but there is still a bit of water left in the pot, remove from heat and keep covered until rest of water is absorbed. Rice should be somewhat creamy.

Note1: We serve with plenty of lemon and sprinkle with parsley.
Note2: To reheat, we may add a bit more water to soften it.  We may serve with some feta.

Itadakimasu!

Dix Love,

Quick dinner rolls

Ingredients
2 cups self rising flour
4 tbsps mayonnaise
1 cup milk
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder

Preparation:
We mix all ingredients in a bowl about 2 minutes with a spoon.  We grease llightly the muffin tins.  We fill them by 2/3 full.  We bake in preheated oven in 220C for about 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

Itadakimasu!

Dix Love,

Red Lentils aromatic soup

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups red lentils
4 cups water
1 medium onion thinly sliced
3 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp dry powered ginger
3-4 tbsps olive oil
1 1/2 tsps powdered cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp hot paprika
2-3 garlic cloved thinly sliced
1 lemon juice
fresh coriander or parsley leaves

Preparation:
In a cooking pot we put the water, the onion, the garlic, the tomato paste, the cumin, the turmrmeric and the paprikas and the gingerl to boil.  When onion is cooked and soft we add the lentils and we let get a strong boil.  Then, we turn the heat to low and let the lentils cook.  They will be ready really quickly and they will be soft and mushy.  We take off the heat and add the olive oil and thee lemon juice.  We stir well and we serve sprinkled with coriander or parsley leaves.

Itadakimasu!

Dix Love,

Fried cabbage

Ingredients:
Cabbage, cut in relatively thick slices
Bacon, cut in small strips
A splash of olive oil.

Preparation:
We use the olive to heat the cooking pan or skillet and to fry the bacon strips. When bacon is done, we take it out and in the grease we add the cut cabbage.  We stir occasionally letting it fry to lose some water and brown a bit.  When done we add the bacon, we toss and we serve as main dish with fresh bread and ice cold beer or as side dish with grilled pork chops.

Itadakimasu!

Dix Love,

Pinto beans with meat

Ingredients:
1 kg meat (beef or pork cut in big chunks)
1 kg pinto beans
1 big onion thickly cut
3 medium peeled potatoes, cut in thick slices
2 tomatoes
100ml tomato juice
1/4 bunch parsley thinly cut
60 ml olive oil
Salt
Pepper
(cinnamon stick and bay leaf: optional)

Preparation:
We wash the meat and we let it dry.  In a deep pot we heat the olive oil and brown the meat from both sides.  We add the onion, the cinnamon stick and the bay leaf and saute for a few minutes.  We add salt to taste and hot water, we cover the pot and let the meat half cook in medium heat.  We open the lid and add the potatoes, the beans, the tomatoes peeled and crushed, the tomato juice and the parsley.  We salt lightly, lower the heat and allow cook till our food is done.  We take off the heat, we add pepper and let food absorb the liquid for about 15 minutes before we serve.  PS: I had some carrots so I just added them too.

Itadakimasu!

Dix Love,

Spaghetti stuffed garlic bread

Ingredients:
Ιtalian bread loaf
garlic powder
butter
ground beef
ground sausage
tomato sauce & paste
spaghetti
Mozzarella & Parmesan cheese
onion
minced garlic
Italian seasoning
salt & pepper

Preparation:
We preheat the oven to 375° Fahrenheit.  In a large sauce pan, we boil spaghetti until al dente. Remove from heat and drain.  While pasta is cooking, brown beef & sausage in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion while browning meat. When brown, drain off any excess fat and return to skillet. Add tomato sauce, paste, Italian seasoning, garlic, salt & pepper. Mix well. Simmer for 5-8 minutes.  Add cooked pasta. Mix well again and remove from heat.  While meat sauce is simmering, cut the Italian bread loaf in half using a bread knife. Carve out the middle of each half of the loaf. Remove any remaining bread to create a large hollow in each half. Brush insides of the hollows and sides of the halves with butter. Sprinkle with garlic powder. Toast in oven.  When bread is toasted, spoon the prepared spaghetti & meat sauce into the hollow of each half, filling the hollows completely. (wE will have spaghetti & meat sauce left over). Top with cheeses- 1 of the divided halves of the cheeses for one loaf and one for the other.  We bake at 375° for 15-20 or until cheese is melted and golden. Remove from oven and gently cut with a bread knife to serve.

Recipe Notes: You will have spaghetti and meat sauce left over. You can freeze this and a have a small spaghetti meal later or make a 3rd garlic bread boat using a half of another Italian loaf.

Itadakimasu!

Dix Love,

Norwegian grandma's pot roast

Ingredients:
One chuck roast
One can of Onion soup
A handful of instant coffee

Preparation:
We mix the coffee and the soup and cover the roast with the mixture making sure our baking dish has a cover.  We bake it for around 7 hours in a 225F oven.  Coffee cannot be tasted but it enriches the beef flavor.  We strain the onion soup and we use the drippings for a nice gravy.  We can serve with boiled carrots, potatoes, etc.

Itadakimasu!

Dix Love,

KFC secret recipe

Dix Love,

Tiffany mimosas

Ingredients:
1 slice lemon
2 tbsp. sugar
1/4 cup Blue Curacao, divided
1 bottle Champagne or Prosecco
2 cups lemonade, divided

Preparation:
Place sugar on a small shallow plate. Rim each champagne flute with lemon wedge and dip in sugar.  Divide blue curacao evenly between each glass. Fill halfway with champagne or prosecco and top with lemonade.

Itadakimasu!

Dix Love,

Cold pasta salad

Ingredients:
500 grams penne or elbow macaroni
salt to taste
300 grams cream cheese
2 tbsps mustard
1 tbsp honey
pepper to taste
1-2 tbsps olive oil
1 green pepper cut in cubes
1 red pepper cut in cubes
1/2 cucumber cut in halved thin slices
2 spring onions thinly cut
100 grams sweet corn
200 grams cheddar cheese, grated
100 grams sundried tomatoes cut in small cubes
Juice of 2 limes
2 tbsps spearint finely cut
For the dressing:
1 tbsp spearmint finely cut
1 tbsp olive oil

Preparation:
We boil the pasta in water with salt for 8 minutes.  In a big bowl, we add the cream cheese, the mustard, the honey, salt, pepper and the olive oil and we mix well.  We add 2 tbsps water from the pasta cooking and we mix well till the sauce has thickened.  We add the green pepper cubes, the red pepper cubes , the cucumber slices and the spring onions.  Then, we add the corn, the cheddar, the sundried tomatoes and the lime juice.  We drain the pasta and rinse with cold water so they stop boiling.  We add them in the spearmint sauce and we mix well.  Before serving we add the extra spearmint and the olive oil.

Itadakimasu!

Dix Love,