Cooking calamity or just Greek serendipity?

The other night as is usual I started to fix dinner.  I got my pork chops in the oven and then tried to decide on what to make as a side dish. I opened my cupboard and found I had red potatoes, green and yellow squash, onions and some frozen green beans.  It started to look like a very delicious medley to me so I cut up the potatoes and squash into chunks.  I chopped my onions and put the potatoes in the microwave to slightly cook before I added them to the large frying pan.

Now when I cook I don’t really measure anything out.  I toss in a dash of this, a pinch of that and call it a day.  Usually it all comes out pretty darn good and I’m not bragging when I say that most people consider me a pretty awesome cook, but occasionally when one cooks like that there are apt to be mistakes made.  Sometimes they work to an advantage.

I put some olive oil in my pan and heated it slightly, added the partially cooked potatoes, squash and onions and cooked on medium heat till the potatoes started to brown.  Then I added the frozen green beans and stirred.

So since I was in a hurry (I still haven’t got used to that darned DST) I reached in my spice cabinet for the seasoning salt and before I realized it I had added a good dash of cinnamon! 

Now how many of you know that the spice used in savory Greek cooking that you just can’t quite identify is, in actuality—cinnamon?  Since I’m Greek I just figured, yum!

Well, it turned out quite delicious, I did add a bit of seasoning salt as well.  Maybe I need to separate my spices a bit better because although this turned out pretty darned good, I can only imagine how awful cinnamon rolls might taste if I mistakenly used seasoning salt!!!!

Greek style veggie medley

Red potatoes, cut up in bite sized chunks

Green and yellow squash cut up in similar sized pieces

Chopped onion

Finely chopped garlic

Whole green beans

Light olive oil for cooking

Seasoning salt

Cinnamon

Black pepper to taste

Put the potatoes in a microwaveable bowl and microwave for about 5 minutes, until they are partially cooked.  Meanwhile put some olive in the pan and heat on medium heat.  Add the onions and garlic and cook till they are slightly transparent.  Add the partially cooked potatoes and cook until they start to brown. 

Add the squash and green beans and stir together.  Add about a teaspoon of cinnamon and a sprinkle of seasoning salt and cook for a bit longer till the squash and green beans are tender.  Add some freshly grown pepper and enjoy.

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Black-eyed peas, rice and tomatoes

Superstitions abound on New Year’s Day.  In my family I always make a big pot of Black-eyed peas with tomatoes and rice for luck, but why are they lucky? 

Well, in the south the story goes that when Sherman’s troops raided the south they took everything but the black-eyed peas, which they considered animal food.  So the southerners made it through the winter on black-eyed peas.  They were lucky and they credited the black-eyed peas.

Since I grew up in the south, that theory works for me, but my parents from whom I got this superstition were northerners and their parents came from Greece so none of my ancestors were around when the Southerners were eating those peas. 

While we are talking about my Greek ancestors I’ve always been told that a man has to be the first visitor on New Year’s Day.  My grandmother would not open the door unless it was a man.  My mother always a rule breaker, made my brothers go outside and come back in just to be safe.  They weren’t men but hey they had that Y Chromosome so it worked for her. 

So just to be safe I guess I will go soak those dried black-eyed peas now. I mean why push my luck right?

What about you, what do you do for New Year’s Day?

Black-eyed peas with tomatoes and rice recipe

Bag of dried black eyed peas, soaked overnight as per the package instructions

I cup of white rice

Two cans of diced tomatoes

Clove of garlic finely chopped

¼ cup of finely chopped onions

Soak the peas overnight. Add water to cover peas and bring to a boil.  Simmer till the peas are tender.  Meanwhile cook rice as package directs.  In a small saucepan add a bit of oil and cook onions and garlic till just tender.  Do not brown.  Add the rice, garlic, onion and two cans of diced tomatoes to the peas.  Add salt and pepper to taste, simmer till hot throughout.  The black-eyed peas get better with each heating as the flavors meld.

Q is for Quinoa.

ABC…and on to Q

You thought I forgot about the ABC book didn’t you?  Actually I’ve been having a bit of time with back issues and I have been a bit lax in keeping up with my blogs.  I’m a little better so on to Q!

What in the heck is Quinoa –which is pronounced keen-wah.  I love just saying it.  It’s such a cool word.  As for eating it well, I’ve had it and it’s not bad but I am married to a man who will not really try anything new so I haven’t had the opportunity to try many recipes with the stuff.

Quinoa is an extremely healthy protein rich grain (in actuality a seed) and it’s packed with so many essential nutrients that I won’t even begin to name them all here.  It’ resembles cous-cous (which my hubby also won’t eat) but is pretty versatile and is great for baking, side dishes, salads, and a substitute for rice.

Quinoa has a outer bitter coating to deter the birds and most likely if you buy it from the grocery store this coating will be removed, but check to be sure.  If not you will have to soak your quinoa.

Recipes are all over the Internet but here is a good one from the food channel…

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/quinoa-with-garlic-pine-nuts-and-raisins-recipe/index.html

Quinoa…it’s for Q.