Spanikopita Meatballs with Tzatziki

Greek food is one of my favorite things to eat. I love the fresh flavors that are associated with Mediterranean cooking. I also really love meatballs :) So they are a natural combination! For this meal I just combined the meatballs with some tzatziki and roasted vegetables.

Meatball recipe:
1 lb. ground chicken breast
1 box frozen spinach (defrosted and squeezed dry)
8 oz feta cheese cubed
1 small onion finely diced
2 garlic cloves minced
salt and pepper
Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl and form into balls about the size of a golf ball. Place them on a greased baking pan and bake at 400 degrees for 8 minutes on each side. You can broil them for an extra 2 minutes at the end to get some browning on top.

Tzatziki recipe:
1 cup greek yogurt
1 cup shredded cucumber
2 garlic cloves minced
2 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp fresh dill chopped
pinch of salt
Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.

For the roasted vegetables I cut up a red bellpepper, mushrooms, onion, zuchini, and squash. I seasoned them with garlic salt, pepper, and EVOO. Then baked them in the oven with the meatballs for about 20 minutes

Shrimp Tacos

I love mexican food and Matt loves shrimp so I decided to make shrimp tacos. I just marinated the shrimp in olive oil and cajun seasoning for a few hours. Then cooked them in the oven for about 12 minutes. I like to cook them in the oven instead of grilling the shrimp because I think the grill can dry them out. Whereas in the oven they are able to steam in their own juices. I wanted to try a new topping instead of lettuce so I used red cabbage. The cabbage gave the taco a nice crunch. Then I finished it off with a pineapple salsa. For the salsa I just combined a bottle of salsa from the store and crushed pineapple. Then I used a little monterey jack cheese that is melted into the corn tortilla.

Portabello and Arugula Salad

Originally I had wanted to make this meal with steak but I thought using a portabello mushroom instead of steak would be a nice change. I like to avoid eating meat a couple days a week so this was an easy way to do that. Since portabello mushrooms are really meaty they make a good subsititute for steak. For this meal all I did was season the mushroom with EVOO, pepper, and garlic salt. Then I grilled it for about 10 minutes. The salad is pretty basic and consists of arugula, tomato, french fried onion strings, and a balsamic viniagrette. This is a nice healthy weeknight meal.

Reinstating the Blog

Now that I have finished school I have a little more time on my hands. I have decided to reinstate this blog but with a different purpose. I want to be more adventurous with my cooking. So hopefully this blog can give you ideas on new things to try. Enjoy!