Roasted Greek Chicken over Asparagus and Red Onion

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
• juice of two lemons
• some dried oregano
• some dried rosemary
• 2 cloves of garlic
• some salt and pepper
• some cayenne pepper
• some paprika
• 1 red onion, sliced
• 1 pound asparagus
• olive oil

Method: Marinate chicken in spices, lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil. Zip-lock baggies are great marinating chicken receptacles.

Slice red onion and spread it in a single layer on a baking sheet or casserole pan.  Wash and trim asparagus and layer it on top of the onion.

Place chicken and its marinade on top of the onion and asparagus.

Roast at 400 degrees until chicken is done.

When the chicken is close to done, sprinkle feta cheese over the meat and vegetables and broil until bubbling and brown.

Serve with pasta, rice, or whatever inspires you. I made orzo with fresh tomatoes, parsley, lemon juice, lemon zest, feta, and olives.

Sunday Menu Planning

Jeff and I just got back from the grocery store.  We went without a real plan–I had some inkling of pot roast, but we ended up coming home with ingredients for clam chowder and Greek-inspired chicken.  I don’t plan to follow recipes for either, but here are a few that are similar to what I have in mind.

New England Clam Chowder

As for the Greek chicken–all I have planned is using oregano, lemon, feta, olives, and garlic.  It could look a little something like this, this, this, or this. I really haven’t made up my mind yet.

In other news, we went to the World Market yesterday to buy some wine.  Is it a sign of immaturity that we purchased the wine based solely on the awesomeness of the label?  Behold: Luchador and Red Lion

Melitzanes Papoutsakia

Melitzanes Papoutsakia

Sunday Menu Planning

Jeff and I have decided to cook around themes each weekend, in order to learn more about different cuisines and to cook and eat foods we might not otherwise try.  So, last weekend, everything I cooked was Mediterranean inspired and this week, I decided to narrow the focus a bit and cook Greek dishes.

All of the recipes on the menu this weekend come from the same website: Closet Cooking. I’ve blogged a little bit about this website and blogger before–and I can’t say enough about how much it inspires me to try something new each time I visit the site.

From this website I’ve chosen:

Spanakorizo

Baked Shrimp and Feta Pasta

Lemon Roasted Potatoes

Melitzanes Papoutsakia

I’ll post the process and progress either today or tomorrow.

Oh, one last thing:  As many of you know, I used to be a vegetarian.  Now, I’m not.  I haven’t really posted any sort of explanation or given much of you insight into this change.  I don’t intend to do that here and now, but I do have an idea for you to consider.  I have been reading Anthony Bourdain’s new book Medium Raw and Jeff and I religiously watch No Reservations on Netflix.  I love, love, LOVE Anthony Bourdain.  His opinion of vegetarianism is pretty clear.  He writes, in his book Kitchen Confidential:
“Vegetarians, and their Hezbollah-like splinter faction, the vegans … are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit.”

He later rants:

“To me, life without veal stock, pork fat, sausage, organ meat, demi-glace, or even stinky cheese is a life not worth living.

Vegetarians are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit, an affront to all I stand for, the pure enjoyment of food. The body, these waterheads imagine, is a temple that should not be polluted by animal protein. It’s healthier, they insist, though every vegetarian waiter I’ve worked with is brought down by any rumor of a cold.

Oh, I’ll accomodate them, I’ll rummage around for something to feed them, for a ‘vegetarian plate’, if called on to do so. Fourteen dollars for a few slices of grilled eggplant and zucchini suits my food cost fine.”

He has also said that choosing the path of vegetarianism is a “first world luxury.” This idea struck a chord with me.  I don’t know if I agree with his sentiments, but from a Marxist point of view, is he right? Are “first world” vegetarians classist? Imperialist, even?    Looking down upon their meat eating peers in their own country and abroad?

Most of the world’s population eats what they can afford and whatever is in season.  Period.  They eat what they have access to.  Most of the world cannot afford to be vegetarian.

So, if you can afford to, should you?

There isn’t enough hummus in your life

Hummus: The Rap

I never liked hummus until I made it myself.  Most brands of store-bought hummus are gritty, chemical-y, sour, or bitter.  But I bought it time and time again, slathered it on freshly toasted pita, hoping that one day, I would find a brand that didn’t taste terrible.

When we moved to Oregon, I noticed something strange.  At every potluck we have ever attended, there were multiple types of hummus brought to the party.  Multiple.  Some store-bought, some homemade.  Oregonians love their hummus.

With the intention of fitting into our new culinary culture and finding something easy, nourishing, and vegetarian to eat for dinner this summer, my husband and I ended up making and eating hummus homemade nearly every night of the week.

It became an obsession:  I began googling hummus recipes, always searching for the perfect recipe.  It was the ideal summer food: no cooking required, cool, creamy, easy.

I was so very diligent in my search. Some would say monomaniacal.  I never found the perfect recipe, but my husband created his own and it was our go-to recipe when we were too afraid to try the weird ones I had been unearthing.

His recipe included: 2 cans of beans (garbanzo, cannellini, red kidney, etc.), a rounded tsp. of sunflower seed butter, 1-2 cloves of garlic (crushed), salt and pepper to taste, the juice of one small lemon, and enough olive oil to lubricate the blending process.

We made so much hummus this summer that we broke our brand new blender.  We bought it in May and it was toast by August.

Here is a list of the strangest and most delicious recipes we came across:

red lentil hummus

 

cilantro lime hummus

 

yellow curry and butternut squash hummus

 

white bean and roasted eggplant hummus

 

beet hummus