As the weather cools I begin to search for my seasonal fall vegetable recipes in my crowded over-stuffed shoe-box. Believe me it almost takes the entire afternoon to do this. Someday, I promised my kids I’ll try and scan them into an organized file. Soups are my favorite to make, the fill the house with wonderful smells and frost up the windows. My go to is my Chickpea Soup with kale and barley, for a hearty meal.
This Chickpea Soup with Kale and Barley is quick and full of goodness.When it turns cold outside I begin to use up all my summer pantry ingredients and shop for more seasonal and more hearty vegetables. As your plan out your weekly meals, I have compiled a short list for you in preparation for a colder season ahead. If you decide to cook fresh chickpeas, check out my cooking techniques for chickpeas. I cook up a pound or two on the weekends and freeze the remaining beans for hummus and soups. You can find my homemade vegetable stock as well on my blog, for those of you who are interested in developing your own freshly made stock. For a last touch to your soup try and add a splash of lemon!
Fall pantry ingredients to stock up on:
Broths – boxed or canned (homemade is best!)
Hearty grains such as barley, farro, bulgur, wheat berries
Try adding this soup to your recipe box for a nice fall dish for your family. Replace what you have in your cupboard for the grains with pasta or rice.
Course
Soup
Cuisine
California Greek
Keyword
barley, chickpeas, kale, soup
Servings4
AuthorMary Papoulias-Platis
Ingredients
2tablespoonsextra virgin olive oil
1cupdiced onion
4garlic cloves, minced
3cupscooked chickpeas
1 14.5oz.can diced tomatoes
5cupsvegetable broth
1teaspoonfennel seeds
1/4teaspoonred pepper flakes
1tablespoonchopped fresh parsley
1tablespoonchopped rosemary
salt and pepper as needed
1/2cupof cooked barley
2cupsof chopped kale
Juice of one lemon
Instructions
Vegetable Stock
Make your vegetable stock and set aside. Or purchase boxed or canned stock .
Barley
Place 2 cups of of water on to boil and add the barley. Cook until tender. Drain.
In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and cook until vegetables are tender, 5-6 minutes.
Add the chickpeas, tomatoes, broth, fennel seeds, pepper flakes, parsley and rosemary.
Bring the soup to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer around 30 minutes.
Add the cooked barley and kale and cook until tender.
Add the lemon juice before serving.
Makes 2 quarts
Recipe Notes
Save the cooking water from the barley, pasta, or rice you are pre-cooking, for extra liquid you may need for the soup.
I’m so happy to share with you a weekly recipe my mother taught us growing up, Brown Butter Pasta. This method is often used often in many Greek dishes. Once you have mastered the 10 minute brown butter recipe below, you can easily move on to this delicious Brown Butter Pasta Dish with Shrimp. The nutty flavor of the butter adds a new dimension to the pasta, which can be eaten alone if you wish with a dash of salty cheese. This dish was made from shrimp flavored with wine and lemon juice. I store pasta and frozen shrimp at all times, so I may whip up dinner in a hurry. Change this recipe up using chicken or pork if you wish. However fresh vegetables slightly blanched can be a wonderful substitute for a meatless meal. The sprinkling of parsley adds the freshness you need to brighten this plate.
This brown butter pasta with shrimp will coat your taste buds with the nutty addition of browned butter. With a quick blanch of your favorite vegetables you can turn this meal into a quick meatless dish.
Course
Main Dish
Cuisine
California Greek
Keyword
brown butter, pasta, shrimp
Servings4
AuthorMary Papoulias-Platis
Ingredients
Brown Butter
See recipe on blog.
Pasta
1poundwhole wheat pasta
1poundlarge shrimp, cleaned and deveined
2tablespoonsof butter
2-3clovesgarlic
1/4- 1/2cupwhite wine
Salt and pepper
Parmesan cheese, grated for topping
fresh parsley, chopped finely
Instructions
Pasta
Place a large pot of water on high and bring to a boil.
Add the pasta and cook according to package instructions.
While the pasta is cooking add 2 tablespoons of butter to a skillet.
Add the minced garlic and saute for 2 minutes.
Add the wine, shrimp and salt and pepper. Cook shrimp until pink in color. Set aside.
Drain the pasta in a colander.
Make the brown butter in the pot from the pasta. Recipe above.
Add pasta to the brown butter and stir gently.
Divide the pasta onto the plates and top with shrimp.
Sprinkle with fresh parsley and cheese.
Saute the shrimp in a skillet. They are ready once they for a “C” shape.
Ready for the Shrimp and Cheese!
Plate up your pasta and dinner is ready!
Make this your weekly meal,
Mary
You may also enjoy other pasta dishes from my blog:
I grew up with a mother who used brown butter for many of her egg dishes and quick family dinners. Today, it’s second-nature for me to pull out butter and make a quick brown butter dish for my family. In this post, I’m going to explain the cooking technique only. You may want to practice once or twice with a small amount ( 1/4 cup) before using this in your recipe. Watch for my upcoming brown butter recipes in the near future on my blog. This is a quick butter sauce, so you must give it your full 10 minutes of attention. Let’s get started.
Use a good quality butter, I used Kerrygold in this post. It’s the real thing!
Melt the necessary butter in a heavy saucepan, and cook gently on medium low.
After 2-3 minutes it will slowly begin to melt and continue to swirl the pan. Keep a watchful eye over the butter. Lower the heat to low.
At this point the butter is foaming and starting to sizzle, as the water boils off around 250 degrees. Watch it carefully as it begins to turn light brown as the molecules in the white residue, milk, sugar and proteins form brown pigments.
Continue stirring with a wooden spoon so you can observe the progress of the butter. You will start smelling a nutty – burnt odor coming from the butter.
Once you get this caramel look remove from the butter from the heat. You can set it aside while you make the rest of your meal and slowly reheat , or use it immediately.
Uses for brown butter:
Once the butter has cooled, add an acid to the butter; usually a vinegar or lemon juice.
Use in your baked goods.
Add to your cooked vegetables.
Use in your egg dishes.
Use in your pasta dishes.
Thank you for visiting!
Mary
I was not paid to write this article for Kerrygold. They did provide us with this amazing butter. My posts and opinions are my own.
Sunday was the first day of fall and a pear dessert crisp was the first thing that came to my mind. I love all pear desserts whether they are poached with wine or in a yummy pie. Being known as the “crisp” queen, among my kid’s friends I began making them many years ago for every season. They’re fast and delicious and they serve a large crowd. Recently, Melissa’s Produce sent me a box of Muscato grapes. I poached them in olive oil for the fig fest and they had the flavor of a rich glass of wine. I wanted to use them up so I added them to my pear crisp and oh my! What a treat. A tip: you can’t go wrong when you blend seasonal fall fruits together. I hope you enjoy my first fall crisp of the season.
Pears means fall and so are dessert crisps. I combined two fall ingredients, pears and muscato grapes, and they make perfect companions. Use any beautiful dark grape for a contrast and a deeper flavor to your dish.
Course
Fall
Cuisine
California Greek
Keyword
crisp, dessert, muscato grapes, pear
Servings8
AuthorMary Papoulias-Platis
Ingredients
Topping
1cupold fashion oats
1/2cupall-purpose flour
1/2cuppacked brown sugar
1/2teaspooncinnamon
1/4teaspoonsalt
1stick unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small cubes
Filling
6large ripe pears, peeled, cored, and cut into 1-inch pieces. (cups)
1tablespooncornstarch
1/4teaspoonnutmeg
2bunches of Muscato grapes - 4 cups
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Butter a 12 x 8 baking pan.
Topping
Mix the oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a food processor.
Pulse for 30 seconds to blend. Add the butter, and pulse until blended.
Crisp
Place the pears, grapes, sugar, cornstarch and nutmeg in a large bowl and gently stir to combine.
Spread in the buttered dish.
Add the topping.
Bake in the center of the oven until golden brown, about 35 minutes.
Let rest for 10 minutes.
Serve warm.
Muscato grapes are from California, and in season from July-September. They have a very complex flavor which is why I must use up every single grape that I was shipped. To learn more about them please visit Melissa’s page on Muscato Grapes.
I do love a warm gooey fruit dessert!
Here are a few more fruit favorites in my collection:
Phyllo pies can be fairly easy to make, but also a nice way to use up all your garden vegetables. My eggplants are overflowing this time of year, so I wanted to feature my eggplant potato phyllo pie this week. This recipe feeds many, and with my busy schedule it’s perfect for any drop-by guest or for snacking. Adding cooked potato slices makes this meal a little more hearty for your big eaters. Plan an afternoon to assemble this pie, because it has many parts that need to be assembled – but it’s worth all your effort. I suggest you make the tomato sauce the night before if you can. The white sauce called Bechamel can be made in advance but must be reheated very slowly in a double boiler. For a large crowd, I suggest you make this eggplant phyllo pie, the day before and reheat it in the oven just before guests arrive. Don’t forget to buy your phyllo dough several days in advance and defrost it in the refrigerator overnight.
Eggplants come in many sizes and varieties. I like to use the globe eggplant, due to it’s meatiness and size. You can find many varieties at Melissa’s Produce. Also, look for them at your local farmer’s market. They should be firm with a nice glossy color.
Greeks have a way of stuffing everything! Feta Friday rolls around every week and I’m always in need of a new idea – well this week Melissa’s Produce surprised me with a box of goodies. I chose to use the Kapia Red Peepers for my dish. I took out my bucket of cheese and started to use everyday ingredients for a quick appetizer. And believe it or not they were so sweet and delicious combined with the briny taste of the feta cheese. Use as an appetizer, or add them to your fresh salads for a punch of flavor.
Start with cutting off the tops and carefully removing the seeds in the inside. Blanch the peppers, garlic cloves, and lemon strips in boiling water for 15 minutes.
Remove everything and place on paper towels until cool to the touch. Stuff the peppers with one feta strip, one garlic clove, one sprig each of parsley and oregano, one lemon peel and a dash of pepper.
Cut the feta into 1/2 inch x2-inch pieces. Snap off the feta strip if too long and stuff the extra back in the pepper. Place the remaining ingredients into the pepper. Brush with olive oil and broil on low for 15 minutes, turning until charred on all sides.
Remove from oven and let sit, for further cooking and cheese melts completely. Sprinkle with olive oil and fresh lemon!
Enjoy!
Looking for that muffin recipe that you can make over and over again? These fall Buttermilk Muffins with figs, are moist from the addition of the buttermilk and topped with fresh sliced figs. Master this buttermilk muffin recipe and you can begin to vary it with seasonal fruit of your own liking. It’s fig season here, so I added dried figs to the batter, but you can substitute, apples, pears, or blueberries. I added a halved fresh fig on top for presentation. For my family, I wanted them larger (I have big eaters) than a regular muffin, so I used a pop-over tin which made 6 jumbo muffins. You can use a regular size pan, and make even more for leftovers. Don’t pass up these Buttermilk Muffins with Figs, you can use this recipe throughout the year.
Figs are a staple in the Greek diet. I have two small trees in my garden that bare fruit once a year. If you plan of planting one, make sure to purchase a large net to throw over your trees to protect your fruit from the birds.
Figs have many health benefits:
Figs help your digestive system, from their fiber level.
Figs, especially ripe ones, are rich in protective plant compounds called polyphenols.
Figs are a good source of bone-friendly minerals including calcium, magnesium and phosphorus. Figs are especially rich in calcium.
Want a recipe that will hold up all season? Then try this basic buttermilk recipe and change out the fruit all year long. Don't forget to tuck it away in your recipe box , its a keeper.
1cupdried figs and six fresh figs or use fresh fruit
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Lightly butter 12 muffins cups.
Sift the flour, 3/4 cup sugar, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl.
In a medium bowl whisk the buttermilk, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla together.
Add to the dry ingredients. Slowly just to combine.
Gently stir in the fruit.
Pour the batter in the 12 muffin tins.
Place a half fig on top and press in lightly.
Place in the middle of the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes.
Transfer to a cooling rack and cool for 5 minutes.
Serve warm or room temperature.
Recipe Notes
Note: You can substitute fresh pears, apples, or blueberries.
I chose not to use the cinnamon topping when I added a slice of the fresh fig on top.
I chose to add the fresh figs on top of the muffin to make them look prettier! For an everyday use for my family, I would use an average size muffin-tin, which makes 12.
Figs chips are like candy! But fresh figs are another story. Once you start eating them fresh from a tree, they melt in your mouth with a sun-kissed flavor. I do grow my own figs in my backyard, but I do visit my local famer’s market for additional varieties to eat and cook with. Add these fig chips to your dish, and your yogurt becomes a meal you’ll never forget! This homemade Greek yogurt recipe is very dear to me because, I grew up with a mother who made us her very own yogurt. In the early morning, as we stumbled out of bed, we had it freshly prepared and packed in small jars, ready for our busy schedule. A dollop of honey or fresh berries and we were on our way to start our school day.
With those fond memories growing up and with such a caring mom, today I try and incorporate yogurt into every meal if I can. Use fresh yogurt as a topping for your baked potatoes, as a dressing for your salad, and a nice refreshing dessert. But for those of you who know me, my creative juices led me to my recipe of baking figs into chips! Simple fast and ready to top any dish or alone as a snack. Enjoy!
Fig Facts to Devour:
Just 3-5 dried figs (1/4 cup) or fresh (1/2 cup) California Figs count as one fruit serving.
They are rich in antioxidants and rank higher in antioxidants than red wine and ta, well known for their polyphenols.
Figs are fat, sodium, and cholesterol-free.
Dried figs have 110 calories in (1/4) serving and fresh figs 120 calories (1/2 cup) serving.
This quick method of roasting thinly sliced figs brings you a quick crispy fragrant treat, especially over homemade Greek yogurt. Add a touch of honey for sweetness.
Course
Breakfast or Dessert, Dessert
Cuisine
California Greek
Keyword
figs, yogurt
Servings24
AuthorMary Papoulias-Platis
Ingredients
Figs
4medium figs - I used 1/2 green and 1/2 black
Homemade Yogurt
1quart4 cups of whole, low fat or fat -free milk
2tablespoonsof plain full fat yogurt with active and live cultures
2/3cupfat-free powdered milk, use only if not using whole milk
Honey for topping
Instructions
Prepare the yogurt and have it ready for the figs.
Yogurt
In a heavy-bottom saucepan, bring the milk and powdered milk to a slow boil, constantly whisking until it reaches 180-190 for about 10 minutes.
Remove from the heat and allow to cool to 115-120 degrees.
Place 2 tablespoons of yogurt in a small bowl and add 2 tablespoons of milk and stir until well blended.
Add the starter to the milk and stir until well incorporated.
Reserve one cup for your next batch. Refrigerate.
Place in a large canning jar, container, or insulated bottle.
Cover tightly and leave out in a warm place for 4-6 hours or until yogurt has thickened.
Once thickened you can place it in individual cups and refrigerate.
For thicker Greek yogurt: Strain the yogurt using cheesecloth over a bowl to catch excess water.
Fig Chips
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Using a chef's knife, thinly slice the figs about 1/8 -1/4 inch thick.
Place the figs on a lined sheet tray.
Bake until figs are dry, about 5-10 minutes. Let figs cool on tray.
Every time I see fresh fish in the market, I remember my mom’s Greek fish soup she would make for us on Sundays. I don’t have her recipe; I guess it was so simple it didn’t require one. As a child to eat a fish soup was probably unheard of – but all my cousins ate and loved it and would ask for seconds. All I remember is how delicious the clear broth was and all the soft-billowy potatoes floating in the warm soup. With summer here I decided to jump in and try and reproduce the recipe. I poured over many recipes in my magazines and books, but nothing came close.
I was recently given a copy of our local church cookbook, Lemons, Loaves and Honey a collection from the Saint Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church Community of San Diego. And as I was pouring through it, I came across this fish soup recipe by Eleni Merziotis. Her recipe was so close I made it for my family last week and it was a hit! So, I dedicate this post to Eleni and her terrific fish soup!
Hello from California Greek Girl. I’m the owner of Ethos Culinary located in the beautiful city of Carlsbad. Join me as we explore California’s bounty of foods, farmlands, and culinary experts. I’m looking forward to bringing you Greek, Mediterranean and Plant-Forward Cuisines. OPA!
Hello from California Greek Girl. I’m the owner of Ethos Culinary located in the beautiful city of Carlsbad. Join me as we explore California’s bounty of foods, farmlands, and culinary experts. I’m looking forward to bringing you Greek, Mediterranean and Plant-Forward Cuisines. OPA!
