Here is an easy way for you to see at a glance what recipes are available on the blog and to access

them quickly. Soups

Avgolemono Soup Chickpea Soup (Revithia) Fasolada (Bean soup) Lentil Soup Pinto Beans (Handres) In The Oven Polisporo Soup Vegetarian Magiritsa

Appetizers, Side Dishes and Snacks

Beetroot and Yoghurt Salad Bouyourdi Butter Beans Plaki (Gigantes) Calamari Cheese Roll (Tirobooreki) Dolmades (Stuffed Vine Leaves) Easter Magiritsa Eggplant Dip (Melitzanosalata) Eggplant Dip with Walnuts and Mastic Eggplant Fritters (Melitzanokeftedes) Eggplant Rolls (Boorekakia) Fava Garlic Sauce (Skordalia) with Beetroot Gavros (Whiting) Meze Greek Pickles (Toursi) Greek Salad

Kastoria Butter Bean Salad (Gigantes Kastorias) Keftedakia (Small Meatballs) Keftedakia (Small Meatballs) with Feta Cheese Stuffing Leek And Cheese Rolls (Prasoboorekakia) Peppers with Feta Cheese and Tomato Sauce Prawn (Garides) Saganaki Saganaki Souvlaki Spicy Green Chilli Sauce Spinach Patties Stuffed Green Peppers with Feta Cheese Taramosalata Tirokafteri (Spicy Cheese Dip) Tomato Fritters (Domatokeftedes) Tzatziki Zucchini Fritters (Kolokithopites)

Meat and Seafood Dishes

Beef with Yellow Runner Beans 'Bianco' Fish Chicken Lemonato Chicken with Peppers, Olives and Hilopites Cod (Bakaliaros) with Garlic Sauce (Skordalia) Cuttlefish (Soupyes) with Potatoes or Rice Cuttlefish (Soupyes) with Spinach Eggplant and Beef Stew Fried Pork with Leeks Gavros (Whiting) with Peppers Keftedes (Meatballs) in Avgolemono Sauce Lamb Kleftiko Lamb Ribs on Vine Stalks Lamb Roast with Potatoes and Feta Cheese Lamb with Yoghurt Sauce Manestra with Beef

Mince Roll Octopus with Eggplants Octopus with Pasta Pastichio Pastitsada Rice with Fish (Psaropilafo tis Kivelis) Roast Turkey Chops Sea Bass (Lavraki) Sfougato Sofrito Soutzoukakia Spetsiotiko Fish Spetsofai Stuffed Cabbage Leaves (Lahanodolmades) Stuffed Squid (Kalamarakia Gemista) Youvarelakia Youvetsi with Lamb Artichokes a la Polita Artichokes with Broad Beans Artichokes with Fresh Peas Briam
Chickpea Balls (Revithokeftedes) with Bulgur (Pligouri)

Vegetarian Main Dishes

Eggplant Papoutsakia Fasolakia (Fresh Green Beans) Lahanorizo (Rice with Cabbage) Leek Rice (Prasorizo) Pinto Beans (Handres) with Chard (Seskoula) Politiko Briam Spanakorizo (Spinach with Rice) Stuffed Marrows Stuffed Vegetables (Gemista) Vegetarian Moussaka Vegetarian Pastichio

Savoury Pies

Artichoke Pie Cheese Pie (Tiropita) Cheese Pie (Tiropita) with Feta Cheese and Bechamel Cheese Pies (Tiropitakia) with Yoghurt Dough Eggplant Pie (Melitzanopita) Leek Pie (Prasopita) Leek Pie (Prasopita) (Open) Makaronopita (Pasta Pie) Meat Pie (Kreatopita) Meat Pie (Kreatopita) from Corfu Mince and Leek Pie Potato Pie (Patatopita) Skaltsounia with Onions Spinach Pie (Spanakopita) Spinach Pie (Round) Spinach Pie with Cornmeal (Plastos) Spinach Pies (Spanakopitakia) with Pine Kernels Zucchini Pie (Kolokithopita) Cheese Bread (Tiropsomo) Christmas Bread (Christopsomo) Lagana Olive Bread Olive Pitta Bread Peinirli Pitta Bread

Breads

Desserts and Sweets

Apple Pie (Milopita) Baclava Baked Quince with Yoghurt Bougatsa

Christmas Kourambiedes Christmas Melomakarona Easter Cake (Tsoureki) Easter Cookies Ek Mek Fanouropita Galaktoboureko Halva Halva Tis Rinas Loukoumades Milk Pie (Galatopita) Must Cookies (Moustokouloura) New Year Cake (Vassilopita) Orange Pie (Portokalopita) Panorama Triangles (Trigona) Pasta Flora Pumpkin Pie (Kolokithopita) Ravani Spoon Sweet - Apple Spoon Sweet - Orange Tiganites Walnut Cake (Karidopita) Yoghurt Cake (Yaourtopita)

Drinks

Tzitzibira (Ginger Beer) from Corfu

16 Popular Greek Mezes And Side Dishes

A meze is a small dish - an appetizer or side dish - and it is very popular here for people to eat a selection of these as lunch or dinner. More often than not they are

accompanied by ouzo or tsipouro . There is something quite idyllic about sitting by the sea, listening to the waves lapping onto the shore and nibbling at your mezes whilst slowly sipping your drink! The word meze came from the same Turkish word, which in turn came from the Persian wordmaze, meaning 'taste, flavour, smack, relish'. Below you will find 16 popular Greek mezes and side dishes. Just click on the links to go to the recipes.

Eggplant Dip (Melitzanosalata)

Mmm!! One of my favourites! Smooth and tangy. This is traditionally made with Greek strained yoghurt but can also be made with mayonnaise instead. Try both ways and see which you prefer - with mayonnaise it has a slightly thicker, richer taste.

Tzatziki

This is a classic Greek side dish, which can be served with meat and vegetable dishes, as well as accompanying souvlaki or gyros.

Keftedakia

The classic Greek meatballs are called Keftedes and Keftedakia are a smaller version of them (akia at the end of a word in Greek means "small" in the plural). They can be eaten as a snack, as a meze with ouzo and/or beer or just as part of a buffet meal. Children love these! And they are easy and quick to prepare!

Tirokafteri (Spicy Cheese Dip)

This is a traditional spicy cheese dish, which can be served as a meze with ouzo or beer, or as a dip. It is quick and easy to make.

Butterbeans Plaki (Gigantes)

This delicious dish can be eaten at any time, but is especially associated with Clean Monday, when Lent begins before Easter.

Dolmades (Stuffed Vine Leaves)

Another "classic" Greek dish. Dolmades can be eaten as a meze with ouzo or as a side dish. It can also be accompanied by Greek strained yoghurt as a tasty little snack on its own. Ideally, the vine leaves you use should be the first tender leaves of spring.

Stuffed Green Peppers With Feta Cheese

These are different from the large, stuffed green peppers with rice - which is a main dish. These peppers are a delicious side dish and the filling is quite spicy - it has a nice tang to it! Once again, this recipe is quick and simple.

Saganaki

This is a delicious - and filling - side dish. It has to be a hard cheese and in Greece it is best made withKefalograviera, which is a little softer, or Kefalotiri, which is a little harder. So, if you can, you should try and use one of these cheeses.

Taramosalata

This is another dish that is traditionally eaten on Clean Monday at the beginning of Lent before Easter. It is also well-known worldwide. It is made from taramas, which is the fish roe from cod (most common) or carp. You may know Taramosalata as being bright pink in colour, but this is usually due to food colouring being added. It should be a colour varying from beige to light pink, depending on the fish roe.

Zucchini Fritters (Kolokithopita)

These tasty fritters are very easy to prepare and can be served as one of several side dishes - they go nicely with Tzatziki - or as a light snack on their own.

Eggplant Fritters (Melitzanokeftedes)

This is a delicious meze! You can have it as an accompaniment to a meal, as a meze which tastes wonderful with Tzatziki - or as part of a buffet.

Tomato Fritters (Domatokeftedes)

This is a delicious and easy-to-make Greek summer snack. This is a speciality from the island of Santorini and is especially tasty with Santorini tomatoes. However, I imagine it may be difficult to obtain them if living outside Greece, but the quality of the tomato definitely makes a difference to the taste. You can eat these as a side dish or a meze and are especially delightful with tzatziki and Greek salad.

Spinach Patties

These patties are really easy to make and are a tasty side dish or snack as well as being extremely nutritious.

Boorekakia (Eggplant Rolls)

These are delicious little rolls that you can have as a side dish or as part of a buffet. Ideally, the Greek cheese anthotiro is used, but if this is unavailable, riccota can be used. Likewise, the Greek hard cheese kefalograviera is used ideally, but if this is unavailable, parmesan can be used (the Italians have a few nice cheeses as well :) ) As stated in the recipe, you should get sun-dried tomatoes that have been preserved in olive oil.

Prassoboorekakia (Leek and Cheese Rolls)

These are easily prepared and tasty little rolls that you can have as a side dish on the table or as part of a buffet. The cheeses used are regatto and Greek anthotiro, which is quite widely available abroad. As I said, they can be prepared easily and quickly and are a tasty addition to any meal or simply a delicious snack.

Gavros (Whiting) Meze

This is a simple Greek meze, usually accompanied by the Greek drink ouzo. The fish gavros (whiting) is very popular in Greece. This meze can also be a side dish at a meal or as part of a buffet.

Greek Food And Drink Glossary

Now, when you entertain people to a Greek meal, you can impress them with your knowledge of Greek! The letters in bold italics show where the accent should go when you pronounce it. almond - ameegdalo (soft d) aniseed - anitho apple - meelo apricot - vereekoko artichoke - aggeenara (hard g) asparagus - sparangee (hard g) aubergine - mellitzana banana - banana (!!) barley - kritharri basil - vassiliko (from the Greek word for royal) bean - fassolli beetroot - batzarri berry - mooro biscuit - biskotto blackberry - vatomooro brandy - conniak bread - psommee broccoli - broccolo bun - psommakee cabbage - lahano

carp - kipreenos carrot - karrotto cauliflower - koonoopeedee (soft d) celery - selleeno cereal - deemeetreeaka (soft d) cheese - teeree chicken - kottopoolo chick peas - reveethia chocolate - sokolatta cinnamon - kannella cod - bakkaliaros coffee - kaffe cook (verb) - mayeerevo cook (person) - mayeeras cookery - mayeereekee corn - kalambokki courgette - kollokeethee crab - kavooras cream (whipped) - santigee (soft g) cucumber - angooree currant - staffeeda (soft d) cuttlefish - soopya dessert - epidorpio (soft d) dill - aneetho dough - zeemaree

drink (verb) - peeno drink (alcoholic) - potto drink (other) - roffima (usually used for hot drinks, such as cofee, tea etc) duck - pappya eat - traw egg - avgaw (soft g) eggplant - melitzana feast - fagopotti (soft g) feed - ta - eezo fennel - maratho fenugreek - treegonella (soft g) fig - seeko fish - psarree flour - allevree food - fa-ee (common); troffima (general) fowl - pooleriko fried - teeganito (soft g) fruit - frooto fry - teeganeezo (soft g) gastronomy - gastronomeea (the English word came from the Greek) ginger - piperoreeza grain - siteera grape - stafeelee gravy - zomos

grill (n) - schara grill (v) - pseeno haddock - bakaliaros ham - zambon hazelnut - foondooki herb - vottano herring - renga honey - melli hors-d'oeuvre - orektiko horseradish - hranno ice cream - pagotto (soft g) jam - marmelada (soft d) jelly - zelle juice - heemos kidney - nefro kipper - renga lamb - arnee leek - prassa lemon - lemoni lettuce - marroolee lime - gleekolemonno liver - seekotti loaf - frantzola mackerel - skoobree margarine - margareenee

marjoram - mantzooranna marrow - kollokeethee mastic - masteeha meal - yevma meat - kreas melon - pepponi milk - galla (soft g) mince - keemas mint - deeosmos (soft d) mullet (red) - barbooni mushrooms - manitaria mussels - meedia (soft d) mustard - moostarda (soft d) nectarine - nektareenee nuts - xeeroos karpoos nutmeg - mos-hokarido (soft d) oats - vromi octopus - htapodi (soft d) oil - ladee (soft d) olive - elya olive oil - elyolado (soft d) onion - kremeedi (soft d) orange - portokali oregano - reegani (soft g)

oyster - streedi (soft d) pancake - teeganeeta (soft g) parsley - mydanos pastry - zeemee peas - bizelia peach - rodakeeno (soft d) pear - ahladee (soft d) pepper - piperi pie - peeta plaice - glossa (soft g) plum - damaskeeno (soft d) pomegranate - rodee (soft d) pork - heereeno potato - patata poultry - poolerika prawn - gareeda (soft g & d) pumpkin - kollokeetha radish - repanaki raisin - staffeeda (soft d) raspberry - smeooro recipe - seentagee (soft g) rice - reezee rosemary - thendrolivano salmon - solomos salt - alati

sardine - sardella (soft d) sauce - saltsa sausage - lookaniko seafood - thalassina sesame - soosami shrimp - garida (soft g) skate - salahi snapper - leethreeni soup - soopa spice - bahariko spicy - peekantiko spinach - spanaki squash - kollokeetha squid - kalamari starter - orektiko sugar - zahari sweet - gleeko tarragon - trahoori tea - tsaee thyme - theemaree tomato - domata tripe - patsas trout - pestrofo truffle - troofa

tuna - tonno turkey - gallopoola (soft g) turnip - gogilli (soft g) veal - moscharee vegetable - lahaniko venison - kreas elafioo vinegar - xeedee walnut - kareedee water - nerro wheat - starri whiting - merloongios wine - krassee yeast - maya yoghurt - yaoortee zucchini - kolokeethaki