The weekend is here!! 🙂

Friday Menu

Greek Orzo Salad :Appetizer

Ingredients: 

• Orzo- 1 1/2 cups
• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• 1 cup of grape tomatoes diced
• 1 cup of cucumbers diced
• 1/2 cup of red onion diced
• 1/4 cup of kalamata olives diced
• 1/2 cup of feta cheese crumbled
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 1/4 tsp of fresh basil minced
• 1/4 tsp of fresh oregano minced
• sea salt and ground pepper to taste
• 1 tsp of cumin
• 1/2 lemon juiced
• *optional- crumbled bacon

1. In a large saucepan bring 3 quarts lightly salted water to boiling. You do not need to add cooking oil to the pasta water; adding oil prevents sauces and seasonings from adhering to the orzo.
2. Add 8 ounces (1-1/2 cups) dried orzo. Boil the orzo about 10 minutes or until it has a firm, chewy texture, stirring occasionally to prevent it from sticking together.
3. Drain orzo in a colander and set aside.
4. Place all of your vegetables, herbs and cheese in a medium size bowl. Add the orzo and mix well. Add in lemon juice, olive oil, cumin, and salt & pepper. You can serve it warm or cooled.

Avgolemeno Soup: Greek Lemon Soup: Main

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken, remove the excess fat.
• 12 cups water
• 2 carrots diced
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 1 large onion, peeled and diced
• 2 bay leaves
• 5 whole black peppercorns
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup orzo pasta, or rice – (I like both but orzo is one of my fav.)
• 3 eggs, at room temperature
• 2tsp. fresh lemon zest
• Juice of two lemons, strained
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pinch of cumin
• 1 pinch of oregano
• 1 pinch of dill

Directions:

1. Add first eight ingredients to a big pot. Bring the water to a boil and then lower heat to medium low and cover for about an hour or an hour half.
2. Remove the chicken and the vegetables to a bowl and strain the broth out. Return the broth to the pot and boil.
3. Add the rice or orzo to the pot and UN cover for about 10 minutes. Until the rice or orzo is soft. While the rice is cooking, start to prepare the sauce.
4. Using a whisk beat the eggs until frothy. Add the lemon zest and the lemon juice. I like to go crazy with lemon so I tend to add a bit more. Continue to whisk.
5. When the rice is ready, turn off the heat. Ladle about 2 cups of the broth into a small bowl. This is the tricky part so make sure you do this slowly. * Slowly add in the hot broth to your lemon- egg mixture while continuing to whisk. I like to do this pretty fast so the egg doesn’t curdle into the broth but if it is your first time, then please just do it slowly so that you take caution to not burn yourself.
6. Stir the egg- lemon mixture into the pot. Heat over Very low heat for approximately 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add salt and pepper to taste. I like to add a sprig of parsley or even a little bit of basil or dill on top.

Nutella Hot Chocolate With A Kick : Dessert Drink

Thought I would switch up the dessert a notch, and throw in a dessert drink. Thoughts?

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 Cup Milk
• 2 tablespoons of Nutella
• 2 oz. spiced bourbon
• marshmallows

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat one cup of milk in a pot until the milk starts to simmer.
2. Stir the nutella into the milk, and add the bourbon in.
3. Remove from heat.
4. Garnish with marshmallows and cinnamon powder.

Kali Orexi!