Greek beans - baked OR Baked Beans - Greek Style

This is for you Miria.
I tried to tell Miria how to make the Greek baked beans over the phone but somehow my instructions didn't translate and her beans didn't work out. So I took some pictures with my iPhone which has a great knack of making my food look cold, bland and seventies. Come on Apple get a decent camera on that phone of yours!

Ingredients
lima beans
olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
2 cans of crushed or peeled tomatoes (I use La Gina brand - the best)
1 tbs tomato paste
1 small carrot, thinly sliced
parsley or dill or both (fresh of course!)
2 bay leaves

Instructions
1. Boil the beans until they're nearly cooked. I just taste them. Unfortunately some beans cook faster than others - they don't behave like pasta. Some might turn into mush while others are not cooked yet. When some of them start to get mushy - stop cooking!

2. Drain the beans.

3. If the skins have separated from some of the beans, remove them. They don't taste so good! Sometimes the skins don't separate from the beans and sometimes they do and sometimes only half do. I dunno why.

4. Add some fresh olive oil (about 2 tablespoons) and some salt. Gently stir the beans. If you add some herbs and a little cheese (like goats or fetta) and maybe some freshly grated tomato - you already have a meal. But I will continue on with my baked beans recipe.

5. To make your napoli (tomato sauce) throw the onions and garlic into hot olive oil.
6. When cooked, add the carrots, beans, tomatoes, tomato paste and as much of the parsley or dill that you think will taste nice. (For me, that would be 1 to 5 tablespoons depending on my mood). Cook for about 20 minutes or until you think the napoli is edible.



7. Mix the beans with the napoli and place in an oven dish.
8. Bake until a lot of the liquid is absorbed. (30 minutes to 1 hour?) and the beans start to get crunchy/slightly burnt (see first picture).

The burnt/crunchy bits taste great. The beans are freeze-able but don't cook till crunchy if you plan on freezing them.

To serve add some crumbled fetta cheese. I didn't have any so I'm eating them straight. Very filling and tasty! No need to buy baked beans in a can, hey?

Ilana's Pie in Pictures sans ingredients

I really have to learn to fulfill promises sooner... I promised this over a year ago.

Here are the pics from Ilana's version of a greek pie. The ladies in Oakleigh showed her the best pastry to buy, how to roll it, what tin to bake it in. Me, they told me to sprinkle water on top to make the pastry crunchy. Who would have thought water would make it crisp? I'm sure there's some spooky quantum physics going on there - it just doesn't make sense!



















I think the pictures say it all really...

Vego Ceasar Salad

It's vegie and it's yummy.

This picture doesn't do it justice - it's my leftovers-try-to-poach-an-egg-at-work-and-fail version. Yes. The interweb told me to prick the yolk and wait until I hear a popping sound. Some popping sound - I think they meant "explosive sound". Naughty interweb! When you become self aware I have some serious reprimanding to do.

Ingredients:

1 x slice of bread

1 x egg

garlic clove

lettuce (lots o cos)

fakin bacon or tempeh bacon

mung bean sprouts (who knew they were baby bean shoots? Not me!)

olive Oil

Dressing:

yoghurt

mustard - dijonnaise

lime juice

Directions:

1. Rub the bread with a piece of garlic sliced in half.

2. Cut the bread and bacon into small pieces and throw into a pan with a little olive oil. Cut up the garlic and throw that in too. Meanwhile...

3. Wash and dry your lettuce. Asemble on a plate.

4. To make the dressing, mix about a tablespoon of yoghurt, a teaspoon of mustard and some lime juice together.

5. When the bread and bacon are almost crunchy, throw in the mung beans. How many? As many as you like. What a delicious accident the mung beans were. They start to go a little transparent, and they really add to the dish.

6. Throw your crispy bits onto your crunchy bits.

7. Poach an egg. Place that as the centrepiece on your salad arrangement.

8. Dollop the dressing all over.

Eat and be merry.