olive oil

Greek Salad Dressing

This easy Greek salad dressing with olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, and dried herbs is one of my favorites to dress any salad and tastes so much better than store-bought.

Home cooks are too often conditioned to grabbing a bottle of store-bought dressing off the supermarket shelf. Where in reality, making a homemade vinaigrette truly couldn’t be easier, takes hardly any skill, and is more economical too.

This traditional Greek salad dressing is a multi-functioning super hero. It’s amazingly good on simple greens and sliced onions for an every day dinner salad. Or soaked into crisped veggies and tossed with feta in a Greek pasta salad. And it works wonders as a marinade for garbanzo beans, chicken, pork, or to drizzle on grilled vegetables or shrimp.

Honestly my husband’s favorite is simply drizzling it on slices of crisp cucumbers and I’m partial to marinating blocks of feta in it. Yum.

This is the salad dressing that’s about to become a secret weapon to always keep on hand.continue to the recipe… about Greek Salad Dressing

How to Make Easy Homemade Basil Pesto

Homemade pesto is one of the quickest ways to brighten any dish from caprese chicken to pizza and even to macaroni and cheese. This is my tried and true method to make the perfect basil pesto recipe every single time.

I’ve made homemade pesto many times and totally loved it. And just as many times I’ve totally screwed it up. Why? There are likely several reasons but mainly because I veered away from my perfected proportions and added too much garlic or not enough olive oil or didn’t season nearly enough.

I’m a big fan of the fact that pesto is one of those recipes you can sub in different ingredients for and get a distinct but familiar flavor, but where the secret sauce comes in is the proportions of those ingredients. Otherwise, things can quickly go afoul. Trust me on this.

Here’s what I’ve learned to make the best, easy, homemade pesto sauce you’ll be loving all year long.

continue to the recipe… about How to Make Easy Homemade Basil Pesto

Pork Souvlaki With Lemon Rice

An easy marinade with classic Greek flavors of fruity olive oil, lemon and oregano give a tangy, fresh and distinctly Greek taste to grilled pork skewers.

Today’s post is sponsored by Universal Pictures and the release of My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 coming to theaters on March 25, 2016.

“Let me tell you something, Toula. The man is the head, but the woman is the neck. And she can turn the head any way she wants.”

Just like every other female, that quote hooked me and still makes me laugh every time. And appreciate it’s truth. OPA!

Since it’s release 14 years ago (what? how did that happen??) quotes like that one made me love the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding. The overbearing parents, the constantly intervening family and the shy duck who becomes the beautiful swan and gets the guy…Swoon. This is the modern day fairy tale.

And finally. Finally. FINALLY! My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 is being released in theaters on March 25.

So when I was asked to create a Greek family recipe to celebrate the release of the sequel, FINALLY!, it was easy to say yes. I pulled out one of my favorite recipes that somehow hasn’t yet been showcased here on the bloggity blog: My marinated Pork Souvlaki with Tangy Lemon Rice. It’s totally movie star worthy.continue to the recipe… about Pork Souvlaki With Lemon Rice

How to Make Arugula Pesto

This twist on pesto subs arugula for traditional basil to make a bright, peppery addition to pasta, chicken, fish or steak.

I’m a basil fiend. In turn, my leafy herbed passion goes hand in hand with pesto. I mean, is it even summer without it?

But when I discovered a fresh crop of arugula at the farmers market, my basil obsession took a detour. And I happily followed.

This fresh, peppery switcharoo to the sweeter basil style variety makes a damn fine addition to countless dishes. Pasta? Naturally. Veggies? Load it on. Chicken? Lather it in the middle of a chicken breast with some melty cheese and a slice or two of prosciutto and bam! Dinner is served.

continue to the recipe… about How to Make Arugula Pesto

Simple Roasted Tomato Sauce

“Toast to the tomato roast!” Or in perhaps more trendy speak, “totes tomahhhto roast.” Either way, roasting tomatoes has a hold of my heart, and I’m not letting go any time soon.

I spent this past weekend rocking the nostalgic. It was my yearly girlfriend getaway of my college besties. I’m a sorority girl, and because of the amazing friends I made in it, I’m damn proud of it.

The trip is the same as it is every year. No boys. No kids. Just the girls with cocktails and jello shots, trashy magazines and corn hole and there always seems to be some sort of water in the form of an ocean, a river, a lake or even just a hot tub. This year it was the tropical pool that saved us from the beat of the Las Vegas heat. We are a group of girls that know way too much about one another’s past, and know one another well enough to help navigate the present in hopes of a fulfilling future. We’re nothing if not happy to share our opinions in helping one another grow.

It’s all in the name of love.

continue to the recipe… about Simple Roasted Tomato Sauce

Roasted Turkey Breast with Lemon and Oregano

This post is presented in partnership with Swanson. Thanks for supporting companies I believe in, which allows me to create more unique content and recipes for you.

This time of year always brings out the party bug in me and the holiday season and entertaining go hand in hand. Swinging their joyously clasped palms in unison as they skip along and infest everyone they see with a big dose of cheer.

Parties. Entertaining. Friends and family. When the party bug in me invites the cooking bug to the festivities, that’s when I get busy in the kitchen.

I’ve always been a holiday cook. As a kid I would bake for days, striving to create the best lemon bars on the planet while snacking on my Mom’s Best Homemade Fudge. As an adult, I’m now the hostess hoping to be the mostess for Thanksgiving dinners and Christmas brunches where without fail, we make this every single year.

But it wasn’t always that way.

As a kid, our family almost always did the same celebratory traipsing when it came to holiday time together. Christmas brunch was always at my mom and dad’s house and Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve were always at Grandma Mary Jane’s. It’s so funny to me that we all referred to it as “Grandma’s house” even though Grandpa was always there too. Maybe because she was the heartbeat of the family, adored by her husband, children and their children that the label just stuck.

Grandma was one of those women who just had the “it” factor. Call me biased, but it’s true. The woman possessed poise in the most genuine and accessible way possible, making everyone around her feel instantly part of the fun.