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Month: July 2016

Grilled Watermelon, Feta & Basil Salad

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Fresh watermelon – so plentiful this time of year! Combine it’s juicy flavor with fresh feta cheese, basil straight from the garden, and balsamic glaze, and you have a delicious summer salad! Kick it up a notch by grilling the watermelon first – it brings out the sweetness of the melon, adding a new depth of flavor!

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Grilled Watermelon, Feta & Basil Salad from SimpleSolutionsDiva.com.

 

How To Grill Watermelon: Brush both sides of sliced watermelon with olive oil and grill on high heat until grill marks show up on the melon slices:

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Grilled Watermelon, Feta & Basil Salad
 
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Juicy Watermelon only gets better when grilled! Combine it with fresh feta, basil and balsamic to make a delicious summer-fresh salad!
Author:
Recipe type: Salad
Cuisine: American
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 6-7 watermelon slices, brushed with olive oil, then grilled.
  • Feta Cheese crumbles - approximately 3-5 ounces, depending on how much you like Feta!
  • Juice of ½ a lime
  • Fresh Basil, chopped (approx. 2-3 tablespoons
  • 2 pinches of kosher salt
  • On pic ground black pepper, or more, to taste
  • Balsamic Glaze from drizzling!
Instructions
  1. Slice off the rind of the grilled watermelon and cut into cubes.
  2. Add the lime, salt and pepper and toss.
  3. Add the feta cheese and drizzle with balsamic glaze.
  4. Serve Immediately (The watermelon will continue to release juice, so if you wait too long to serve, it will become soupy!)

Balsamic Glaze: You can quickly make a balsamic glaze by combining 1 cup balsamic vinegar with 1/4 cup brown sugar in a sauce pan. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly until it boils. Reduce the heat and simmer until it reduces by half. Glaze is done when it coats the back of a spoon. Cool and store in air-tight container in the fridge.

Enjoy!

Simple & Delicious: Chicken Souvlaki

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Summer is the perfect time to make that simple and delicious Greek dish, Chicken Souvlaki! Marinating chicken with the flavors of lemon and garlic – a perfect combination in my book! You can grill the chicken or bake it in the oven – whatever is convenient for you. I had plans to grill this, but with downpours all day, I decided to bake them instead – and they were delicious!

By the way – this goes perfectly served with my cool, Greek Tzatziki Sauce! Serve the sauce on the side for dipping, OR chop up the chicken, place in a Pita or a Stonefire Naan (individual size), add a hefty dollop of Tzatziki, and lettuce, Makes a VERY yummy sandwich!

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Chicken Souvlaki served up on a Stonefire Naan with my homemade Tzatziki Sauce!

Chicken Souvlaki
 
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Lemon, garlic and oregano blend together to marinate fresh chicken breast in this Greek tradition recipe!
Author:
Recipe type: Main Dish
Cuisine: Greek
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • Juice of one lemon
  • ½ teaspoon dried oregano (or 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh oregano)
  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil
  • ½ teaspoon salt (I used sea salt)
  • 2-4 cloves of fresh garlic, minced (I used three!)
  • 4 chicken breasts
Instructions
  1. In a large baggie, combine all the ingredients.
  2. Seal the baggie and shake to combine.
  3. Allow to rest for 30 minutes in the fridge, or until ready to grill or cook.
  4. Grill on medium high heat, turning once or twice, until instant read meat thermometer inserted into the chicken breast reads 165 degrees. (approximately 15-20 minutes)
  5. Alternative Cooking Method: Place on a greased baking sheet and cook for approximately 20-30 minutes in a 400 degree oven. They are done when instant read meat thermometer reads 165 degrees.

Enjoy this wonderful greek recipe! OPA!

Summer Cool Off – Greek Tzatziki Sauce

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“Can’t we just do something that a Greek person in TODAY’S world would do?”

And with that challenge, my 19 year old got me thinking out of the box for a family trip! A little backstory:

We decided to take the kids on a trip to Greece: Touring ALL the historical sites throughout Athens, seeing the beautiful, white buildings and blue waters of Greek Island – with two teenage girls, in the summer, taking them away from their friends for 10 days. A recipe for Family Awesomeness, right?! (Those of you with teenagers are probably laughing right now at my blessed ignorance!)

SIMPLE VACATION TIP: The trip WAS actually awesome because we included activities the girls wanted to do!

So back to the challenge my 19 year old gave me. My daughter wanted to experience something culturally relevant to the modern, Greek citizen. It was a brilliant idea! I suggested a cooking class, which was greeted with much enthusiasm. Working with our travel agent, we settled on a private cooking class with Teta, owner of Mykonian Spiti, on the island of Mykonos.

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The whole family in Teta’s beautiful, light-filled kitchen

Held in Teta’s kitchen in her traditional, Mykonian home, we had a FANTASTIC experience! We spent the whole day making Tzatziki Sauce, Spinach Pie, Stuffed Peppers & Tomatoes, and Beef With Orzo. The entire family was involved in the class.

Teta and my oldest making spinach pie.
Teta and my oldest making spinach pie.

Here is Teta’s Recipe for Tzatziki Sauce – a sauce perfect for grilled meats, or as a dip for pita and fresh veggies. I am including a link to her recipes page of her website. (FYI –  I’ve translated the measurements into U.S. measurements. PLUS, she forgot to add dill to her written tzatziki sauce recipe – trust me, it is supposed to be in there!)

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Greek Tzatziki Sauce
 
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This versatile Greek sauce goes great as an accompaniment to grilled meats, or as a dip for veggies and pita bread!
Author:
Recipe type: Sauce/Dip/Appetizer
Cuisine: Greek
Serves: 1.5 cups
Ingredients
  • 1 Cup Greek Yogurt - I used Fage Greek Yogurt, recommended by my friend in Greece!
  • 1 large cucumber, grated, with water squeezed out as much as possible!
  • 1 Tablespoon fresh dill, finely chopped
  • 1 clove fresh garlic, finely minced
  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 Tablespoon white vinegar
  • Salt to taste
Instructions
  1. Mix all ingredients together and let sit for at least 30 minutes. Serve with grilled meats or as an appetizer served with pita and fresh veggies! Store, covered, in the fridge for up to one week.

Note About Mykonian Spiti: Teta is a one woman dynamo and I couldn’t be more impressed with her. Between her family’s two businesses, Teta and her husband employ about 35-45 Mykonians and house approximately 25 during the summer months. (Amazing, when you consider the economic upheaval Greece is currently experiencing!) Check out her website, Mykonian Spiti – there you can read all about her business, her efforts to give visitors a true cultural experience. PLUS, she has some of her recipes posted – you will love the way she writes in English!!

The tzatziki sauce "resting" for 30 minutes.
The tzatziki sauce “resting” for 30 minutes.
My husband "relaxing" his eyes for 30 minutes.
My husband “resting” his eyes for 30 minutes!

 

SSD Tzatziki Sauce

 

Teta's rooftop garden!
Teta’s rooftop garden!
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Even the vegetables are presented beautifully at Mykonian Spiti!

Simple Desserts To Celebrate July 4th!

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Independence Day is Monday, and that means we have a long weekend to celebrate with family and friends! i’m featuring a few simple desserts you can bring to that July 4th Party or Picnic that are sure to be a hit! Best of all you can get kids of all ages involved in making these!

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Patriotic Oreos – Red, white & blue make this simple dessert a winner.

Ingredients:

  • One package of Oreo cookies.
  • One container of Dolce Frusta White Shell, melted (or you can make your own white chocolate dip by following the melting directions on back of package of Nestle’s White Chocolate Chips)
  • Red and Blue Cookie Icing – To make it easy on myself, I used Betty Crocker Cookie Icing.
  • Optional: Edible, Patriotic decorations

Directions:

Dip the Oreos in melted white shell/white chocolate (cover 1/2 – 3/4 of cookie). Place on wax paper to cool and set.

Using the cookie frosting, drizzle the Oreos with red and blue, then sprinkle with patriotic decorations (If using!) Allow icing to set before serving.

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Fruit Flag Dessert – A healthy way to celebrate the holiday! And you don’t need to worry about it going bad in warm weather!

Ingredients:

Your favorite red & blue fruits! I used strawberries, raspberries, cherries, and blueberries.

Yogurt covered pretzels or yogurt covered raisins.

Assemble the fruits into the shape of a flag – pretty easy peasy!!

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Icebox Cake – Old Fashioned, not filled with sugar and so tasty! This one requires refrigeration until serving!

Ingredients:

  • Nabisco Chocolate Wafers
  • 2 cups whipping cream
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2-3 Tablespoons Chambourd Liqueur
  • 1/4 cup fresh raspberries, mashed
  • Patriotic Sprinkles

Directions:

TIP: Before starting, store your beaters and bowl in the refrigerator to chill. This will help with whipping the cream.

In a large bowl, mix the whipping cream at high speed until peaks form. Gently add in vanilla. Move 1/3 of the whipped cream into another chilled bowl and fold in the raspberries and Chambourd.

On a plate or small platter, arrange one layer of the chocolate wafers. Layer with the raspberry whipped cream. Add another layer of chocolate wafers. Layer with raspberry cream again. Add one last layer of chocolate wafers.

Taking the plain whipped cream and cover the entire cake. Sprinkle with patriotic sprinkles and refrigerate overnight. Serve and eat immediately.

Optional: Brush each layer of wafers with additional Chambourd – as much or as little as you like.

The cake at the end of the TV segment - devoured! But at least you can see what the cake looks like in the center!
The cake at the end of the TV segment – devoured! But at least you can see what the cake looks like in the center!

Thank you to WTLV-TV’s First Coast Living for inviting me on to share these recipes!

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