It's Greek To Me

So....we celebrated the Lost Premiere this past Tuesday night!  For those of you who watch it, I know you shared in my excitement!  Once again our mind is swamped with unanswered questions, but it was well worth it because it gave us a chance to sit down together (yes, in front of the t.v.) and have a quiet meal together.  Our moto around this house is to make an ordinary day a special day and try to do this through cooking of course.  So in honor of the big premiere we were Greek for a night.  I know, I know that show takes place in Hawaii, but it felt like a Greek night to me.   I  set up a little "Pita Bar" in our family room.  It was kinda like a taco bar, but instead of filling up our tacos with Mexican ingredients we filled up our pitas with Greek flavors.  I got the idea from my August 09 - Bon Appetit.  They had what was called a Greek Meze Platter.  They described it as " ....a fun assortment of flavorful nibbles...".  I decided to use their idea, but come up with some of my own recipes. Here is what was on the menu:  Oregano & Lemon Shrimp (with feta), Cucumber Salad, Marinated Kalamata Olives, Artichoke Hearts, Wedges of Lemons, Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, Chopped Tomatoes and fresh pita wedges.  You can either eat all the fixin's on their own or you can pile them up all together in your pita.   We cozied up on the couch for the three hour premiere, watched our show and made some pitas! It was pretty fun...and something different.

GREEK OREGANO & LEMON SHRIMP 

We love shrimp around here, but if you don't flavor them well they are just so bland and un-exciting!  In this recipe I add just the right amount of spices and fresh lemon juice to "bling" it up a bit!  Also, all the goodies create and awesome "dip" for your pita bread once the shrimp is all gone.

• 1 pound shrimp - peeled, deveined and tail removed
• 1 tsp. salt (plus more to taste)
• 1 tsp. dried crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 TB. olive oil (divided)
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 2 garlic cloves - finely chopped
• 1 TB. dried oregano
• juice of 1 fresh lemon
• 1/2 cup of fresh crumbled feta
• italian parsley to garnish

1. In a large bowl toss the shrimp, salt and red pepper flakes.
2. In a large heavy fry pan heat 1 TB. of olive oil over a medium high heat.  Add the shrimp and saute until just cooked, about 2 - 3 minutes flipping them half way through.
3. Remove shrimp from pan and set aside.
4. In the same pan add the last 1 TB. of olive oil.  Add the garlic and saute for about 1 -2 minutes.
5. Add the white wine, oregano and juice of the lemon.  Turn heat up to medium high and cook for about 5 minutes or until slightly reduced. 
6. Add the shrimp and quickly toss the shrimp into the hot juice so that they are coated and warmed.
7. Remove from heat, stir in feta cheese, sprinkle with parsley  - spoon into a bowl and serve.

GREEK CUCUMBER SALAD 

* I wanted to create a fresh cucumber salad with all the flavorings of the sauce you put on a gyros.  We are watching our "figures" over here so used fat free sour cream, but you can use regular sour cream or Greek yogurt instead.  I also am not a big fan of the "too much onion" taste in a gyros sauce, so I toned down the onion flavor a bit as well.

• 1/2 cucumber sliced thin (peel on)
• 1/2 cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
• 2 TB. red onion sliced super thin
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• salt & fresh ground pepper to taste
• Sprinkle of dill or fresh chopped dill to garnish

1. Slice cucumbers and place in a medium sized bowl.
2. In a seperate small bowl add the sour cream or greek yogurt, onion, garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Mix well.
3. Pour sauce over cucumbers and mix well to coat all the cucumbers well.  Cover and place in fridge for at least one hour so flavors can blend.
4. When ready to serve, remove from fridge, take off cover and garnish with dill.