• joel_8taluw on March 19, 2026

  Most of these recipies are classic Greek. They are timeless. We have more than 200 cookbooks and yet we have been coming back to this classic several times a years for 2 decades. We have made dozens of types of lentil soups and the lentil soup with chard is our hands down favorite lentil soup from any book.

• cerfercat on June 27, 2010

  A very good cookbook with several simple yet hearty meals. The first recipe we made out of this book was the Potatoes Stewed with Kalamata Olives -- an enchantingly tasty dish that remains a steadfast favorite.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Feta cheese spread with mint and garlic (Skordalia me feta kai dyosmo)

  • jenburkholder on April 22, 2026

    Very simple, but tasty. Feta is the key flavor so use a good one.

• Purslane and yogurt salad (Glistrida me yiaourti)

  • ccav on September 17, 2017

    This was very good; purslane was so lemony in taste that I used the red wine vinegar option instead of lemon juice. A nice accompaniment to a meze plate; I added in finely chopped radishes as well. Will definitely make again when purslane is available!

• Eggplant puree with walnuts (Makedonitiki melitzanosalata)

  • Ganga108 on August 20, 2024

    A nice spread and dip, easy to make if you pre-roast the eggplant. UPDATE: This morning I am slathering it on quinoa crackers (store-bought) and topping it with nasturtium pesto. Excellent!

• Fava with sun-dried tomatoes and capers (Fava me liasti tomata kai kapari)

  • jenburkholder on August 15, 2025

    Very good. Cut down the amount of sun-dried tomatoes and threw in a fresh one, as I find only sun-dried can taste musty. Otherwise made per instructions. Probably my favorite version of fava I’ve had.

• Diporto's Greek villager's salad (Horiatiki salata)

  • jenmacgregor18 on April 07, 2015

    perfect traditional greek salad. In the summer, when I've got lots of peppers and tomatoes from the garden--I'll go through periods where I'll eat it every day and not tire of it.

• Vassilis's cabbage salad (Lahanosalata tou Vassilis)

  • jenburkholder on January 19, 2023

    Very fresh, tasty salad. Shredded the cabbage in the food processor for a quick side.

• Grilled mushrooms with oregano and olive oil (Psita agria manitaria me rigani kai lathi)

  • jenmacgregor18 on January 23, 2015

    works well under the broiler too.

• Ziti with cranberry beans and celery (Makaronaki kofto me barbounia)

  • Stephenn31 on December 10, 2025

    Turned out really well. Comforting for a cold night. The Celery almost melted into the dish. It was almost creamy, from the starch in the pasta and beans. I soaked the beans overnight, then pressure cooked for 20 minutes plus natural release, then added the pasta and pressure cooked for 5 minutes. Will make again.

• Creamy orzo casserole with vegetables (Yuvetsi yia hortofagous)

  • Nancith on November 11, 2014

    Nice flavor. Only problem was that the orzo seemed overcooked rather than creamy. Not sure how to correct that problem. Would make a nice side dish for a crowd.

• Lentil soup with chard (Fakes me seskoula)

  • joel_8taluw on March 19, 2026

    Have been makign this soup for decades and it is our hands down favorite lentil soup. Recommend using brown Spanish Pardina lentils. If you do you, when you navigate the optional range of water to add, veer toward the middle to higher end as these lentils tend to need 4-1 ratio of water to cook completely ratther than 3-1 ratio of others. Also recommend adding up to 1 1/2 lbs chard rather than just 1. Cook for a minimum of an hour once lentils and greens added, as the soup starts to combine well in last 10-15 minutes and can benefit from even more time. As it thickens be careful to stir occasionaly and monitor the heat to avoid the danger of burning. It freezes well so we often double the batch.

• Lentil soup with spinach (Fakes me spanaki)

  • Stephenn31 on February 22, 2024

    Very easy one pot soup. Great for fall and winter. I served with pita bread

• Chick-pea soup (Ravithatha)

  • joel_8taluw on March 19, 2026

    Very simple, easy and enjoyed by our family.

• Vegetable soup (Hortosoupa)

  • Nancith on October 02, 2017

    Flavorful, filling soup with a slight lemony tang; I used a Meyer lemon, which probably toned down the tang a bit. Had no celery, and used baby arugula to help fill out my smallish amount of spinach. Canned tomatoes were a fine substitute for fresh. would have been nice to have the kefalotiri cheese, but Parmesan worked.

• Cauliflower with rosemary, onions, and tomatoes (Kounoupithi stifado)

  • jenburkholder on January 19, 2022

    This was fine but I won't bother making again. The onions get meltingly soft and very tasty, but the cauliflower just stays pretty bland (usually an issue with braised cauliflower, admittedly). The rosemary is also much too subtle to be in the title of the recipe - might be better if it got chopped up.

• Cranberry beans stewed with tomatoes and spices (Barbounia yiahni a la polita)

  • jenburkholder on January 19, 2023

    Quite enjoyable. I cooked the beans separately (cooking them in a tomato sauce seeming optimistic) and then added them to the sauce for about 30 minutes. Delicious with bread to soak up the tomato sauce.

• Giant beans baked with honey and dill (Gigantes sto fourno me meli kai anitho)

  • jenburkholder on March 11, 2025

    This was a nice way of doing gigandes. Very saucy, perfect to mop up with some bread or rice.

• Grape leaves stuffed with rice, onions, and herbs (Dolmades yialantzi)

  • jenburkholder on March 11, 2025

    Not the best dolmades I’ve made, but a very respectable rendition. Aromatic and hearty.

• Green olive and red pepper corn bread (Bobota almiri me elies kai kokkines piperies)

  • Stephenn31 on January 26, 2023

    I was really excited about this but the bread turned out hard. It looked pretty but I don’t think I’d make again unless I figure out the issue was the cornmeal I used