foodessa

I had one big power lunch...
and a light guiltless supper in mind.

The creation behind a...
Turkish inspired Feta Bean Dip Delight.

Late, last Friday afternoon...

early summer was definitely in the air...

well at least in my mini part of the world...

my local flower and food market.

My favourite orange black-eyed Daisies...

were smiling at me as I promenaded by.

The vibrant Guinea Impatient were reminding
me to be patient enough to get all my food shopping
done and get myself home de-stressed from my hectic day.

The lovely and hardy red Begonia reminded me of the

strength I had re-captured in the last few months.

Ahh...and one of my hubby's favourite names for me: 'Petunia'.
Having it regally staring at me with

such stern loyalty reminded me how fortunate

I was to be in a solid, happy relationship.

This abundance of fresh garden flowers were

slowly erasing the worries of the day and

increasingly putting back the smile on my face.

By the time I came across this stunning
climbing Bougainvilla...all the great vacation

memories of Greece came flooding back.

As light as those petals fluttered in the air...

is as light hearted as I was realizing to have become in the moment.

I do miss my former garden...

...however, I had realized that all I needed to do was
take a mini trip to the flower market and...

"ecco ci qui tutto va bene addesso"

and I'm home in my luscious garden again.

Thankfully for the beautiful fragrances everywhere because fresh produce was in very slim sight.

There were just a few vendors peddling their still very tart early spring strawberries...extremely expensive to boot I might add. I could only wonder who in their right mind would be purchasing them. Sure and behold...the very desperate...probably the same people that used to open their in-ground pools at the very beginning of Spring because the waiting patiently game did not figure prominently in their human composition. Well, I had saved on labour and chlorine...and now I decided to do the same with the strawberries. I was going to wait until the berries would be sweet to my palate as well as my pocket book. Who says, I'm not the smart cookie?

Just as I was thinking berries...Ooops

... I ended up literally running into this

hanging planter of strawberries.

I sighed and then took a deep breath as I stood and admired the beauty of the...

tiny pink bloom which would later become a somewhat tiny strawberry.

Well, at this point...

any fresh strawberry was better than nothing.

What's that saying..."Beggars can't be choosers".

Oh, no...a quick look at my watch signaled that I'd better get a move on.

I still had no clue what I was making for supper.

I headed inside the stores to the produce vendors and quickly scooped up a

bunch of veggies, an aromatic bouquet of mint...and out the door I went.

Happily on the way towards my car...

I took the route of the pink Bougainville once more.

I just couldn't get enough of the vibrant fuchsia color.

Then, there it was...an idea for supper.

Something Mediterranean...

something with feta cheese, legumes, mint.

I knew that once I'd get home...

something was definitely going

to be whirled up for a light, unfussy,

albeit healthy snacking style supper.

Turkish inspired...

FETA and BEAN dip/spread Delight

yields about 4 cups (950ml) of dip

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INGREDIENTS:

(American / Metric measures)

. 2 cups (500ml) (~1 large can) Red Beans, well cooked
...
. 12 fresh, Mint leaves (or basil or parsley)
. 1/4 cup (60) mild Ajvar* spread
. 3/4 cup (175ml) plain 'Greek style' yogurt
. 3/4 cup (150g) Feta cheese (preferable from goat milk)
. 2 Tbsps. (30ml) capers
. 1 tsp. (5ml) granular garlic powder
. 3 Tbsps. (45ml) e.v.Olive oil

Tip: If your desire is to turn this dip more into a spread...only put 1/2 cup (125ml) of yogurt

* What is an AJVAR vegetable spread?

It is simply a blend of finely puréed roasted peppers, eggplants, vinegar, sunflower oil, garlic, a touch of sugar and a tinch of hot pepper...and the bonus...no additives or preservatives! I was incredibly fortunate to have discovered this gem of a product. It is imported from Turkey, hence, my inspiration for this dip. Ask your grocery merchant if they carry it. If not, ask if there's an equivalent of this product at the Arabic grocery store.

Note: Ajvar also has a cousin named 'Pindjur': This vegetable spread is more 'rustic'...and just happens to be my favourite of the two. I still always have them both in my fridge...ready to aromatize and flavour my next dish.

PREPARATION:

1. Place ONLY the beans into a blender and pulsate a few times at MEDIUM speed.

2. Add ALL the remaining ingredients and process until the smoothness desired.

. Either serve right away or cover and refrigerate for up to 5 days.
3. Before serving, bring the spread at slight room temperature before serving.

Note: There will probably be a bit left over if you are only 2 persons...so I refrigerated it for future short term use. Either pour as a possible pita sandwich condiment or salad dressing. You can also easily freeze it in a small mason jar.

Serve as shown with a variety of fresh veggies and organic corn tacos.

Add to that a...sparkling Rosé wine...and now you can say:

“Thank God it’s Friday”.

As they say in Turkey...

"afiyet olsun"

Flavourful wishes,

Foodessa

Comments or suggestions ... write me :o)

Claudia at: foodessa [at] gmail [dot] com

Go HERE for more SAVOURY creations.

Please take note on how I bake and cook...

Here’s a 101 of sorts to make sure that there are no disappointments when trying my creations.

Also...just so you know...feel free to increase the salt and sweet factor since I'm not high on either of them ;o)

. Use DRY cup measurements for...you guessed it...all DRY ingredients.

Anything DRY gets measured by spooning the overfilled ingredient (never shake the cup) and then level off with a flat edged tool. Exception...Brown sugar should be packed in and leveled.

. Use LIQUID cup measurements for...all LIQUIDS that cannot be leveled like for example butter, yogurt...etc. Measure the liquids at eye level to avoid overdoing what the recipe truly needs.

. OVENS are unfortunately not created equal. Mine is so old that it has reached many degrees off it's norm. It's really worth investing a few dollars to test yours with an appropriate oven thermometer. You'd be surprised how many ovens I've heard about not being where they should have been. Before you lose any more ingredients and much time preparing a new recipe...run to the store...you'll thank me later.

The following ARTICLES and RECIPES may ALSO be of INTEREST:

. Feature Story: MEATLESS MONDAYS -- Montreal HEALTH FOOD Expo visit
. Recipe: medi Sweet Potato Yogu Chickpea Dip Spread
. Recipe: PARSLEY sun-dried TOMATO PESTO on PASTA
. Recipe: EDAMAME spread on VEGETABLE SHRIMP

I am dedicating this
Valentine's day period

to our endangered

PENGUINS all over the world.

Did you know that penguins
are the most faithfully

devoted species of
our Animal Kingdom?

One of the world's leading penguin expert

biologist Boersma, has studied them for over 30 years.

She has become the expert on explaining penguin ROMANCE.

photo taken by Yannick Hay

Yes, apparently they are the species that have a long standing

record of very endearing romantic practices.

They apparently have special mating rituals, stay loyal and

remain faithful to one another for a very long time.

Ahh...how sweetly endearing is that?

I already had a soft place in my heart for these charming little creatures...

now I have an even more tender spot for them ;)

My very first experience witnessing this special bond

with these charmers was when hubby and

I visited our Montreal center ' Biodome '.

photo taken by: Michel Tremblay

I remember standing their hand in hand with my great half...

thinking and appreciating how nicely and comically they moved.
The penguins' particular ways of playing
with each other was terribly amusing to us.

We just didn't really want to leave them.

I was thankful to have had a chance to witness this,

however, I admittedly was sad to realize their misfortune

of not living in their deserved natural habitat.
The second opportunity to witness penguins in action

was a few years ago while visiting a very big hotel in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Here are some photos and segmented excerpts about a

story reported by abc news on the unfortunate population decline

of ' magellanic ' penguins in

Argentina's Patagonia region.

"Maybe it's their endearing waddle. Maybe it's their seemingly analytical gaze.

Or maybe it's their absurd tuxedo like formality.

Whatever the explanation, there's no denying that penguins are one of the

most intriguing, enchanting species on earth.

"They're comical, they're endearing and this is a spectacle of nature...

The spectacular Punta Tombo Peninsula in Argentina's Patagonia

region is home this time of year to half-a-million Magellanic penguins,

the largest colony of these 2½-feet-tall penguins in the world."

Click here for the rest of the abc news story...

All right then...
that's it for my dedication on this Valentine's day event.

Now where's the part about the FOOD?

You're right...this site is based on culinary exploration.

Well, today, after running around all over the place to get different food supplies for the week...
we decided to treat ourselves to one of our favourite Greek restaurant in our area.

Yes, you see right...there was actually a Fig tree in the restaurant.

We have both grown to absolutely love
Greek food.
We've also been very fortunate to have visited some beautifully
typical Greek islands where we were spoiled with delicacies galore.

This is mostly where we've had a chance to
savour some truly authentic culinary treats.
However, disappointingly, we figured out that most

Greek preparations in our North American restaurants

have somewhat been revised and re-adapted

to accommodate a somewhat different palate.

Nonetheless...some dedicated eateries still manage

to capture some great flavours and aromas.

The restaurants that are little more typical than others...

are, as you can imagine...usually the out of the way places.

We have discoverd some by word of mouth, however,

this one in particular, was found by us several

years ago purely by accidental luck.

Over the years we have fallen on some very great food here.

We have our favourites...each one with their own special quality.

Today, we were both tantalizing for their specially made

fried 'Calamari'...very lightly battered...resulting in very tender bites.

As a side note:

Did you know that one of penguins' favourite delight is squid!

I knew all along that there was a special kinship between us ;0)

Alongside the plate of ' Calamari ' ...we just had to have an order of their
other specialty: an amazingly fresh and exquisitely tasty 'Pikilia' platter.
It is one of the few place I have frequented which actually
prepares the plate when ordered as opposed to having
pre-prepared and stored in the refrigerator hours in advance.

This platter also consisted of some typical Greek appetizers of:
'Spanakopita', 'Cheese pastry pies',
'Dolomades', 'Kalamata' olives ,
a few slices of 'Feta' cheese and of course our
favourites... 'Tzatziki' and 'Taramosalata' dips .
Unfortunately, the tomatoes and cucumbers were
a little less desirable at this time of the year.

Overall, most of everything was very appetizingly satisfying.

"Kali Orexi "

In my kitchen, I have over the years made some pretty
good versions of Greek food with a little of my Italian flare ;o)
I've also somewhat lightened the calories by tweaking some recipes.
I have pretty much re-vamped the very richly fattening
'Tzatziki'. with a 2% yogurt minus the very rich sour cream.

Our meal was so satisfying that for today we skipped on having
some of their sweets like: 'Baklava' or the custard
pastry 'Galactoboureko'...among so many others.

It will have to wait until our next visit.

It turned out that our very late lunch pretty much held over supper.

Oh well, our romantic Valentine's supper
will have to hold off for tomorrow after all.