Tag Archives: feta

Beetroot Soup with Feta

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If you have already-cooked beetroot to hand, this ruby-coloured soup is quick and easy to make. You can also make it with ready-cooked beetroot that comes in vacuum packs.

Make sure you look at the pack in case it’s preserved in vinegar. I once made that mistake, thinking that pickled beetroot always comes in a jar. It doesn’t!

Beetroot Soup with Feta

  • 1 tbsp oil
  • 1 medium onion, peeled and diced
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed
  • ½ tsp ground allspice
  • 1 medium potato, peeled and diced
  • 1 medium carrot, peeled and diced
  • 500 grams cooked beetroot, diced
  • Juice and zest of 1 small lemon
  • 1 litre vegetable stock
  • Feta cheese
  1. Heat the oil in a large pan and gently fry the onion and garlic until the onion is soft.
  2. Add the allspice and fry for 1 minute.
  3. Add the potato and the carrot and fry for 2-3 mins.
  4. Add the beetroot, the lemon juice and the stock and bring to the boil.
  5. Cover and reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.
  6. Remove from the heat and leave to stand for a few minutes.
  7. Ladle into a liquidiser in batches and liquidise until smooth.
  8. Return to the pan and add the lemon rind.
  9. Serve in bowls with feta crumbled over the top.

 

 

 

Orange, Celery and Beetroot Salad with Feta, Olives and Red Onion

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Photograph by Moira BeatonThe sun is shining, for the third day in a row.  You may think I harp on about the weather but in Scotland, the sun shining and the temperature rising above 15C degrees is cause for celebration.

What do we think of when someone mentions salad? When I was growing up ‘salad’ meant soft lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber and perhaps a few slices of ham or cheese. No dressing apart from salt. It was probably healthy but it was tasteless.

 I like salads that are almost meals in themselves. 

This one includes celery. If you don’t like celery, don’t be put off.  Something wonderful happens to it when it is combined with slices of orange. You can’t taste it!

The original (as far as I know) orange and celery salad was a simple affair of small pieces of celery and quarters of orange with a dressing of oil and lemon ‘especially good to accompany a terrine of hare or rabbit’ (Elizabeth David in French Country Cooking). It’s refreshing but after peeling the oranges, removing the white pith, I cut them into small pieces about the same size as the celery slices, instead of quartering them. The I dress the salad with a sprinkling of salt, a drizzle of oil and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall takes this salad one step further and adds smoked mackerel and although I haven’t tried it yet, it’s on my list.  I may also add either slices of red onion or spring onions.

In the Middle East, you can make a refreshing salad with peeled and sliced oranges, black olives and thin slices of red onion (no celery). Dressed with oil and lemon, it’s also quick and easy to make.

But today I needed something more substantial for lunch. So, after rooting around in the fridge to see what I have, here is what I came up with – Orange, Celery and Beetroot Salad with Feta and Black Olives. The combination of the tangy orange with the earthy beetroot and saltiness of the feta and olives works well. The celery adds freshness and crunch. I have tried to give amounts as a guide but you may find, as you go along, that you want to add more or less of one or two of the ingredients.

Orange, Celery and Beetroot Salad with Feta, Olives and Red Onion (serves 2 as an accompaniment)

  • 1 large orange
  • 2-3 sticks of celery
  • ½ red onion
  • 1 small cooked beetroot, preferably roasted but boiled will do just as well
  • 6-8 black olives
  • Cubes of feta
  • Lemon juice
  • Olive oil 
  1. Peel the orange and remove the white pith with a sharp knife. Cut into small pieces.
  2. Slice the celery into lengths of about half an inch.
  3. Peel and thinly slice the red onion.
  4. Cut the beetroot into eighths.

 Assemble the salad just before serving.

  1. Place the pieces of orange in the bottom of a shallow bowl or flat serving dish, then, layer by layer, add the celery the olives, red onion and feta. Don’t mix.
  2. Add the beetroot being careful not to place it near the feta or it will bleed into it.
  3. Finish with a squeeze of lemon juice and a drizzle of oil. Because of the saltiness of the feta and the olives, the salad should not need any salt.

 This will serve two as an accompaniment or one for lunch.

 Do you like or loathe celery?

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Strapatsada and Greek Omelette

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This very colourful omelette was served to me in Cyprus as the Greek dish strapatsada. Not knowing any better, I cooked it and called it by that name for years until I discovered that the only ingredients they both have in common are tomatoes, eggs and olive oil. 

I have given the recipe for traditional strapatsada which is quick and simple to make and the recipe for the Greek Cypriot version which I rechristened Greek Omelette. The  red pepper, courgette, mushrooms, chives and eggs I used are from the organic box. 

Strapatsada (traditional)

Chop as many tomatoes as you like and fry them in olive oil until they are cooked and almost form a sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Add beaten eggs (again, as many as you like) and scramble them until cooked. If you have any feta cheese, crumble some into the pan with the eggs then stir until the eggs are scrambled. Serve immediately for breakfast or for lunch with bread and salad.

Greek Omelette (serves 4)

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1 red pepper, de-seeded and finely chopped
  • 1 courgette, de-seeded and finely chopped
  • 6 brown mushrooms, wiped and chopped 
  • 6 eggs, beaten with 2 tbsp cream
  • 2 tomatoes, de-seeded and finely chopped OR 6 cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 125gr halloumi cheese, cut into cubes
  • black olives (optional)
  • chopped chives (optional)
  • salt and pepper
  1. Before you begin to cook the omelette, oil a round, ovenproof dish (I used a fluted Pyrex pie dish 26cm in diameter).
  2. Pre-heat the oven to 180C (160C fan, 350F, Gas mark 4) 
  3. Heat the oil in a large frying pan.
  4. Add the onions and garlic and cook over a medium heat stirring until soft and the onion is  slightly golden - about 5 minutes.
  5. Next, add the peppers and courgettes to the pan and stir fry for 10 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked but still have some bite.
  6. Pour in the eggs.
  7. Remove from the heat and add the tomatoes and the halloumi, olives and chives, if using.
  8. Season with salt and pepper.
  9. Pour everything into the prepared dish making sure that the cheese and the olives are evenly distributed.
  10. Place the dish in the oven and cook for about 15 minutes or until the top is puffed up and golden. 
  11. Remove from the oven, let it rest for a few minutes.
  12. Cut into wedges and serve with fresh bread or saute potatoes and salad.