Feta | I Can Cook That

Mediterranean Chickpea Burger with Ranch Tzatziki

I am so happy that it is finally grilling weather again! There is nothing better than hanging out with friends and family in the back yard, grilling up some burgers, and playing games. Last night I was able to go to my first barbecue of the season and I couldn’t be happier about it. I look forward to many more this summer!

I am an unapologetic lover of cheeseburgers. I never get sick of them. But eating a cheeseburger, oh, once a week all summer is not a good habit at all. I’ve stayed away from veggie burgers for the most part because I was never a fan of the texture. But when MorningStar Farms contacted me about their new Veggie Mediterranean Chickpea Burger I was intrigued. There is a vegan pizza place in Philadelphia called Blackbird Pizzeria that has Chickpea Parm that I’m kind of obsessed with, so I was really looking forward to trying a chickpea burger too!

The chickpea burgers also have spinach, Roma tomatoes, and Greek herbs and spices mixed in which deliver a ton of flavor without the fat and calories. These burgers are just 110 calories per burger and have 70% less fat than ground beef.

Morningstar Farms is also giving away a prize pack valued at over $80 to one reader! I’ll have more details below!

To highlight the Mediterranean flavors in the burger, I decided to make a Tzatziki style topping and finish it off with some feta cheese. Tzatziki is normally made with a strained yogurt, cucumber, lemon, and mint. I decided to make a topping that is in the style of tzatziki but uses tomatoes and dill with a touch of a ranch dressing dry packet to really amp up the flavor.

Ingredients:

4 Morningstar Farms Mediterranean Chickpea burgers
4 hamburger buns
2/3 cup 0% fat Greek yogurt
1 plum tomato, seeded and chopped
1 lemon
1 teaspoon of Ranch dressing dry packet
1/2 teaspoon dill, plus more for garnish
feta cheese, to taste

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Mediterranean Stuffed Mini Peppers

I am less than one month away from attending Eat Write Retreat in Philadelphia and am getting so excited for it! Not only is the lineup awesome, but I get to meet a ton of other bloggers, what could be better? As we get closer to the big weekend, the attendees were sent a secret ingredient and were asked to try to incorporate into an appetizer recipe. I received California raisins, which people tend to think of more for sweet foods, but play off savory dishes oh so well. It goes without saying that I haven’t been able to get California Raisins’ classic commercial out of my head since I received them! OXO generously also sent us a few spiffy tools to help create our recipe; I can never have enough of their products!

Raisins are a great addition to a meal to add some sweetness without any added sugar. The dried fruit is loaded with antioxidants and fiber while being fat free and cholesterol free. Did you know that one serving of raisins (just 1/4 cup) has more potassium than a banana?

I have a friend that absolutely raves about Mediterranean Stuffed Peppers that her grandmother used to make for her, with rice, nuts, spices, and golden raisins. I decided to make an appetizer version, using mini sweet peppers. My version of these Mediterranean Stuffed Mini Peppers are stuffed with a lamb-farro mixture that includes tomatoes, raisins, pine nuts, and a touch of lemon zest (using my new snazzy OXO zester (paid link)). The peppers are then topped with feta cheese and broiled to make this recipe for Mediterranean Stuffed Mini Peppers!

Ingredients (serves 8):

16 mini sweet peppers, seeded
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped (no more than ½ cup)
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ lb ground lamb
2/3 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 teaspoon cumin
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste
the zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons golden raisins
2 teaspoons raisins
2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
½ cup cooked farro – I used Tuscan Fields vegetable farro
¼ cup Feta, or to taste

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Watermelon Feta Salad

East Passyunk Avenue is hosting “Flavors of the Avenue” this Saturday, an event where 25 restaurants will be handing out samples from their menus. I was given the opportunity to go to a media tasting for this event a few weeks back and have been unable to think about anything else since! I am SO excited for this event!

I must not be alone, pre-sale tickets are completely sold out, although some limited tickets will be available at the entrance to the tent on Saturday. During the media tasting, I was able to sample food from 7 of the participating restaurants.

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Vegetable Couscous Salad

The weather in Philadelphia decided to take a break from the cold and give us two days of summer! We hit temperatures above 80 degrees so I wanted to prepare a light meal that didn’t involve much time over a stove. This Vegetable Couscous Salad from Cooking Light is perfect for summer dinners. It also travels well, so it would be a great addition to a barbecue, just make it ahead of time and bring it with you!

Ingredients:

Dressing:

1/3 cup water
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 (.6 ounce envelope Italian dressing mix) or Italian spice blend

Salad:

1 1/2 cups water
1 cup uncooked couscous
2 cups chopped red bell pepper (I used two peppers)
2 cups chopped tomato (I used two beefsteak tomatoes)
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup finely chopped green onions
1/4 cup chopped pitted kalamata olives
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

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Artichoke, Spinach, and Feta Stuffed Shells

I have been making a bunch of freezer-friendly meals lately. You never know when you will come home and just be too exhausted to cook, and frozen meals can really save the night. This one also happens to be vegetarian. I found this recipe in an old Cooking Light. I absolutely love artichokes and spinach so I knew I’d like this!

Ingredients:

(makes 5 servings. serving size 4 shells)

1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 cup chopped pepperoncini peppers (they come in a jar)
1 (28-ounce) can fire-roasted crushed tomatoes, undrained
1 (8-ounce) can no-salt-added tomato sauce
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded provolone/mozzarella cheese, divided
1 cup (4 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup (4 ounces) fat-free cream cheese, softened
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (9-ounce) can artichoke hearts, chopped
1/2 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry
2 garlic cloves, minced
20 cooked jumbo shell pasta (about 8 ounces uncooked pasta)
Cooking spray

Cook the shell pasta according to directions on the box. Drain and set aside on a cookie sheet lined with tin foil so they don’t stick together. Take a 13×9 cooking dish and spray it with cooking spray.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Add the oregano, pepperoncini peppers, crushed tomatoes, and tomato sauce to a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook for 12 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine 1/2 cup provolone/mozzarella (I used “pizza” cheese) and the feta, cream cheese, black pepper, artichokes, spinach, and garlic.

To make it easier to fill the shells, add the mixture to a ziplock bag. Close the bag, and snip off one of the bottom corners.

Pipe the mixture into the shells. (Note: some of the artichokes might get stuck a bit while doing this so be careful you don’t end up with more mixture than you want coming out!) Add the stuffed shells to a 13×9 baking dish coated with cooking spray.

Spoon the tomato mixture over the shells.

Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup shredded cheese. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes or until thoroughly heated and cheese melts.

You can freeze them after stuffing the shells, freezing the tomato mixture separately and doing the last few steps later. I personally prefer frozen meals that can just be popped into the microwave or oven and the only additional step is that I have to consume the meal.

This is really an awesome recipe. I usually only have plain stuffed shells with tomato sauce and cheese so I liked the addition of the spinach and artichokes. The peppers added a little bit of pizazz to the dish without making them really spicy. (You can leave them out if you don’t want a little heat).

I did, however, crave a little bit of extra sauce (I love love sauce), so I’d suggest adding another can of puree to the mix. Past that, a good solid recipe!

Couscous-Stuffed Chicken

I haven’t posted a chicken recipe on here since September! I figured it was definitely time to change that. I really don’t eat much chicken so I guess I’ve gone a long time without even making it without realizing. I have been on a couscous kick so when I came across Cooking Light‘s recipe for Couscous Stuffed Chicken I was pretty pumped. However, I apparently do not possess the skill to create pinwheels with chicken. What they lack in beauty though they most certainly make up for in flavor!

Ingredients:

1/3 cup fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup uncooked couscous
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, divided
3 tablespoons chopped plum tomato
2 tablespoons kalamata olives, chopped
2 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1 minced garlic clove
2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
Cooking spray

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. First make the couscous. Add the broth to a small pot and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in the couscous. Cover and let stand for 4 minutes.

Add the couscous to a small bowl and fluff with a fork. Allow to cool. Add the chopped tomato, olives, feta, olive oil, parsley, lemon zest, and garlic. Season with salt and pepper.

Place chicken between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound to 1/4 inch thickness. (I failed at this step. My pounding brought it by no means close to 1/4 inch thickness. Next time I make this, I think I’ll try it with chicken tenderloins instead).

Add the couscous mixture on top of each piece of chicken.

Roll up and secure with wooden picks. Pretty sure this should have looked prettier than mine ended up.

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat a large oven proof saute pan over medium-high heat. Coat with cooking spray and add the chicken rolls. Cook for six minutes until the chicken is browned. Turn over and bake at 400 degrees.

The original recipe said 5 minutes. Because my pieces were so thick it took closer to 20 minutes.

So yeah. My presentation isn’t going to win me any awards. BUT this dish tastes so good! The chicken remained really moist and flavorful.

The couscous mixture was fantastic. I am not the biggest fan of olives so I included fewer in my rolled up chicken (which meant my olive-loving boyfriend got more in his mixture. No complaints from him).

I think thin chicken tenderloins would work much better with these if you are big on presentation.

Roasted Eggplant & Feta Dip

I am at a bit of a loss for what to do with eggplant. Eggplant Parmesan and Baba Ghannouj are the only two recipes I really know that use eggplant. However, I found a tasty sounding recipe from Eating Well that includes a bunch of other ingredients from this week’s CSA.

Ingredients:

1 medium eggplant

The juice and zest of 1 lemon

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

1/2 cup finely chopped red onion

1 small green bell pepper, finely chopped

1 small jalapeño pepper, seeded and mince

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste

1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat your broiler. Line a pan with foil and place the eggplant on it. Poke a few holes within the eggplant so that it can let out steam while broiling. Broil for 14 to 18 minutes, turning the eggplant every 5 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when the skin is charred a little and a knife goes easily into the part right near the stem. Transfer to a cutting board until it’s cool enough to handle.

Prepare your onion, pepper, jalapeño, basil and parsley.

Add lemon juice to a medium sized bowl. Cut the eggplant in half lengthwise.

Scoop out the inside of the eggplant into the bowl and toss with the lemon juice.

Add olive oil and stir with a fork until the oil is absorbed.

Add feta, onion, pepper, jalapeño, basil, parsley, cayenne and salt.

Taste and adjust as needed.

If covered, this recipe can be made up to two days ahead of time. The original recipe included a red bell pepper instead of a green one (I only had a green pepper), and that color would have really popped in this dish.

Serve with toasted pita. This would be a great addition to any mezze platter: tomatoes, hummus, grape leaves, etc.

Pesto Pasta Salad

I am in a pasta salad making mood, so I decided to make one more batch for this weekend. I already made one pasta salad for this weekend, but I have a bunch of these ingredients on hand from other recipes and I don’t want them to go bad over the long weekend. I used a recipe from My Recipes as a base and substituted ingredients I already had, and ended up with this Pesto Pasta Salad!

Ingredients for the pesto:

1 or 2 bunches of packed fresh basil

1 bunch of packed fresh parsley

4 garlic cloves, minced

Juice and zest from 1 lemon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/3 cup walnuts (or toasted pine nuts)

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Ingredients for the salad:

1 box gemelli or other short pasta

1 small container plain 2 percent Greek yogurt

1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved

3 small cucumbers, sliced

1 red onion, chopped

1/2 cup feta cheese

Cook the pasta according to the “al dente” directions on the package. Drain and run under cold water. Set aside.

To make the pesto, combine the basil, parsley, garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, pepper and walnuts in a food processor. (I ended up being just short of 1/3 cup walnuts, so I also added in a few toasted pine nuts.) Blend until smooth. Pour in olive oil and blend until there is a thick paste. Add the Parmesan and combine until blended. Add more salt and pepper, to taste.

Prepare all of your vegetables. After chopping the red onion, run it under cold water to remove some of the bite. Slice your cucumbers and halve your tomatoes.

Combine the pesto and Greek yogurt in a large bowl.

Add the pasta and vegetables and toss to coat.

Because I am making this for the weekend, I only made a tiny batch fully mixed so I could taste it. The pesto mixture is so so creamy that you honestly might not even need the feta. The tomatoes and red onions add a wonderful contrast to the pesto and the cucumbers add a nice crunch to the salad. I will try to take some photos this weekend of the fully assembled salad, but if it is anything close to what I just sampled, I think my friends will be happy.

Yum

Pesto Pasta Salad

Total Time: 15 minutes

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

Pesto:

1 or 2 bunches of packed fresh basil
1 bunch of packed fresh parsley
4 garlic cloves, minced
Juice and zest from 1 lemon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/3 cup walnuts (or toasted pine nuts)
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Salad:

1 box gemelli or other short pasta
1 small container plain 2 percent Greek yogurt
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
3 small cucumbers, sliced
1 red onion, chopped
1/2 cup feta cheese

Instructions

Cook the pasta according to the “al dente” directions on the package. Drain and run under cold water. Set aside.
To make the pesto, combine the basil, parsley, garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, pepper and walnuts in a food processor. (I ended up being just short of 1/3 cup walnuts, so I also added in a few toasted pine nuts.) Blend until smooth. Pour in olive oil and blend until there is a thick paste. Add the Parmesan and combine until blended. Add more salt and pepper, to taste.
Prepare all of your vegetables. After chopping the red onion, run it under cold water to remove some of the bite. Slice your cucumbers and halve your tomatoes.
Combine the pesto and Greek yogurt in a large bowl.
Add the pasta and vegetables and toss to coat.

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Cucumber Salad with Radish and Dill

I Signed up for a CSA vegetable half share through the Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative. Once a week, I pick up a box of local, organic and (obviously) in-season vegetables. This week my bundle included pink radishes. I have never tried to make anything with radishes so I was excited to see what kind of recipes were out there for this ingredient. I decided to try a salad recipe from Martha Stewart.

Ingredients:
1 English cucumber (or 3 Kirby cucumbers) halved lengthwise, seeded, thinly sliced
4 radishes, thinly sliced
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
A handful of feta cheese, crumbled
2 tablespoons white-wine vinegar
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh dill
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 garlic clove, crushed with the flat side of a cutting knife
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 cup olive oil

Begin by prepping your vegetables. Cut the cucumber in half lengthwise, and use a spoon to remove all seeds.

Once seeded, thinly slice the cucumber.

The radishes I had were tiny, and I was afraid to try to thinly slice them without losing a finger. I used a mandolin slicer to slice the radishes as thin as possible. Be very careful not to get your fingers!

Add the sliced cucumber and radishes to a bowl. Zest the lemon into the same bowl.

Add the feta cheese and set aside.

In another bowl, combine the lemon juice, vinegar, dill, sugar, and garlic. Whisk until the sugar has dissolved. Season with salt and pepper.

Whisk in the oil in a slow, steady stream until emulsified.

That just means mixed so the vinegar/oil don’t separate

Add the vinaigrette to the cucumber mixture, tossing to coat. Make sure to discard the garlic before serving.

Even if this turned out to be the most offensive salad I’ve ever eaten, I’d still probably post it just so you could see how beautiful the salad is. Thankfully, the flavors worked really well together. The lemon soaked into the cucumbers and radishes adding a hint of citrus, the dill added a little earthiness to the dish, and the feta was a nice balance to the fresh vegetables. I am pleasantly surprised to say that I hope to make radishes a part of my normal ingredients during the spring!