When so many of our favorite summer vegetables are finally in season, and are still young and flavorful, we naturally look for ways to use them and highlight them in all sorts of recipes.  This Delicious Vegetable & Ricotta Filo Tart is an example of a super easy, vegetable-forward dish that is surprisingly easy to put together. This dish is a much lighter kind of tart, with a base that consists of several layers of crispy filo pastry; each one brushed with olive oil and layered in a baking pan.  The filo base is topped with a wonderful mixture of three cheeses and delicio ..read more

Those of us who live in the United States, celebrate Independence Day on the 4th of July with a traditional backyard cookout and barbecue featuring grilled meats, all sorts of side dishes, and red, white & blue themed desserts.  These 4th of July Recipes with a Mediterranean Twist are recipes that we often make in my family, in addition to some of the more traditional American fair! Summertime is the perfect time to showcase the bounty of seasonal fruits and vegetables in simple, unfussy ways.  In today’s roundup, you will find: two favorite fritter recipes and a colorful ..read more

Baklava rarely needs any introductions.  It is perhaps one of the most famous and beloved of all Mediterranean sweets.  Its layers upon layers of crispy filo pastry, each one lightly brushed with butter,  filled with chopped nuts and spices, baked until golden brown, and then drizzled with a heavenly honey-and-orange infused syrup produce this truly memorable treat.  There are of course many versions of baklava, but this Delicious Homemade Pistachio Baklava has to be one of my favorites! No matter what its origin, or variation of the recipe, baklava is a delicious sweet th ..read more

This Mediterranean Grilled Chicken Salad is a delicious one-bowl meal that combines a hearty, colorful salad with a flavorful grilled chicken.  Each component of this dish is great on its own, but when combined it makes for a wonderful high-protein meal full of assertive Mediterranean flavors. What makes this recipe great is that almost every ingredient of the salad is interchangeable and it can be paired with any leftover grilled chicken, fish, or, steak that you might have on hand.  For this recipe, I serve the salad with some grilled chicken and my favorite marinade (the same on ..read more

Green salads are full of nutrients and a big part of a healthy diet which we all strive to follow.  Making a delicious salad, by using the freshest seasonal ingredients, is possible in every season, but clearly it is much more exciting during the warmer seasons of the year.  With the abundance of so many beautiful ingredients, this Crisp Spring Salad with a Refreshing Yogurt Dressing, is so easy to assemble! Each vegetable in this salad is at its very best at this time of the year; bright, crispy, tender – a great combination of flavors, colors and textures.  It all comes ..read more

These Cheesy Puff Pastry Bites with Pesto and Roasted Peppers are a great make-ahead appetizer that requires minimal effort to make.  Using just four ingredients, you can quickly make one of the easiest, crowd-pleasing appetizers in no time at all. These savory treats are bursting with flavor, they are highly addictive and will disappear very, very quickly! In this recipe, creamy pesto, grated Provolone cheese, and fire-roasted red peppers are layered onto a sheet of puff pastry to make a delicious crispy appetizer with bold Italian flavors.  All of these ingredients can be bou ..read more

May is the month of family gatherings and celebrations with Mother’s Day, College graduations and Memorial Day, to just name a few for those of us here in the United States.  If you are looking for some inspiration for Sweet Treats for All of Your May Celebrations, I put together a roundup of delicious and generally easy recipes you might want to make again, or, try out for the first time! I find that simple spring desserts and fresh berries go hand-in-hand.  So, you will notice that several of these recipes include fresh fruits along with filo, one of my favorite ingredients to wo ..read more

This recipe for Baked Greek Giant Beans (gigantes plaki) is a classic Greek recipe that highlights the famous Greek “giant beans” (gigantes) which are baked in a flavorful tomato sauce along with onions, garlic, potatoes, carrots, and plenty of fresh herbs.  After slowly baking in the oven, these buttery beans emerge soft, creamy, caramelized, and full of earthy flavors. This is a traditional vegetarian main dish.  It is hearty, filling, and extremely satisfying; especially when paired with some Greek Feta cheese and homemade crusty bread on the side!  Baked Greek Giant Be ..read more

If you love fish, and try to find more interesting ways to incorporate this healthy protein in your diet, then these Easy Fish Fillets Wrapped in Filo are for you!  Not only are they delicious and really simple to make, but they make for a very elegant dish as well. Fish baked inside filo is an easier and healthier alternative to the classic “en croûte” method; the French culinary term that describes the method of the pastry-wrapped fish (or other protein) which is then baked in the oven.  In this recipe, the tender, flaky, white fish is topped by asparagus before being wrapped in ..read more

If you have never made bread before, and think of it as a complicated process that takes too much time, then this easy recipe for Focaccia with Caramelized Onions and Thyme is the perfect recipe to start!  Not only does it not require any skill in forming and shaping the loaves, but this mouthwatering bread can easily be made without any special equipment.  The results always exceed expectations and this recipe will become a staple in your repertoire! Focaccia is a flat bread from northern Italy.  It is a versatile bread and it can be as simple as topped with just a sprinkle o ..read more