The year is winding down, and I’m taking the chance to look back at some of my most popular Greek recipes of 2023. !
1. Whole Roasted Cauliflower with Feta and Greek Honey
I could not be more happy that the top recipe you all loved this year was plant-based and featured some classic Greek ingredients: feta and Greek honey! This recipe is utterly divine. And dramatic. And easy. This dish is a thoroughly modern take on an often misunderstood vegetable – I promise, it’ll have the whole family loving this controversial vegetable.
2. Skordostoumbi – Zakynthos Garlicky Eggplant
Some dishes turn out to be a favorite year after year – and deservedly so! This Greek recipe for garlicky baked eggplant is a traditional dish of the Ionian islands and a perfect example of great Mediterranean Diet vegetable cookery. The characteristic sweet-sour flavor imparted by the use of vinegar in the sauce is a local favorite on Zakynthos. It’s a wonderful plant-based Greek recipe, one of the most delicious and flavorful in the whole range of Greek vegetarian dishes.
3. Trahana Recipes
Trahana is one of the oldest foods in the Eastern Mediterranean, a tiny, pebble-shaped grain product that varies widely all over Greece. Trahana is made with either semolina, wheat flour, bulgur or cracked wheat, and milk, buttermilk, or yogurt are mixed into the flour or wheat to form a thick mass. It’s then dried out in the summer heat.
It’s an ingredient that you all loved in 2023, and it appears in some excellent recipes! I made this Simple Trahana Soup with Spiced Red Pepper Puree, Greek Feta and Olive Oil often this year for a healthy, filling breakfast, and I always love cooking this classic Ikarian Fisherman’s Soup with Trahana when I’m hungry for a taste of my island! And there are plenty of veggie ways to love trahana too: Tomatoes Stuffed with Trahana are a super satisfying plant-based option.
4. Kefalonitiki Kreatopita
This Greek recipe for a luscious meat-filled phyllo pie is one of the most beloved dishes of the Ionian island of Cephalonia, and certainly one of the most loved on my website this year. Three different ground meats, Greek cheese, and warm spices turn this phyllo classic into a rich, filling pie that can be served as easily as a Greek meze as it can a main course.
5. Classic Grilled Octopus
It would be hard to imagine the Greek meze table without a few slightly charred, smoky grilled octopus tentacles – in fact, it’s difficult to imagine a full Greek recipe repertoire without a grilled octopus. This classic Greek recipe is perfect if you’re looking for something beyond burgers to throw on the grill, and it’s a favorite for yet another year. A little extra virgin Greek olive oil, Greek oregano and Santorini capers finish the dish!
6. Ikaria Teas
Herbal teas are key to Ikarian longevity, and I’m thrilled that people are stocking up on these healthy herbal secrets! Dried herbs form the backbone of Ikaria’s folk pharmacopoeia, with therapeutic effects – and the knowledge thereof –that have been passed down from generation to generation. This iced tea recipe is a wonderful summery take on the classic mountain and sage tea!
7. Phyllo Pie With Zucchini, Feta & Mint
This is one of my favorite pies, and it’s one that you all loved too! The mint and zucchini makes it a little fresh and zingy, with comforting feta and flaky phyllo to bring it all together. It can be everything from breakfast and brunch to lunch and a lain course at dinner. It’s the perfect way to enjoy the Mediterranean diet on the go. I cooked it for a group of young artists and gallerists in Athens, during an episode of My Greek Table in which we explored the art scene in the Greek capital, but I’ve made it so many times since then – it’s a favorite for a reason!
8. Spinach & Chickpeas Baked with Greek Feta
Spinach and chickpeas baked with Greek feta is a perfect example of a plant-based Greek recipe that speaks the language of the Mediterranean diet. This is one of many Greek vegetarian recipes that are robust, delicious, and really healthy – and I love that it’s one of the recipes you all have been cooking the most this year! It’s also been a constant in my recipe rotation, since it comes together in a snap. There’s a generous amount of extra virgin Greek olive oil in this Greek spinach-chickpea recipe, but it’s the feta that closes the deal, especially when it’s melted and swirled into the casserole.
9. Vegan Moussaka
One of the things I love to do is to find ways to make Greek classics more accessible to everyone, and my vegan moussaka was the perfect way to do this. Moussaka is quite possibly the most iconic Greek recipe in the world. It features a rich mixture of spiced ground meat sauce, eggplant (and sometimes potatoes and/or zucchini), and bechamel. But my delicious vegan moussaka recipe will delight the most diehard traditionalists! It is an excellent combination of classic Mediterranean diet ingredients, such as vegetables and beans, all the wonderful robust flavors associated with Greek cooking, and a few new techniques that will surprise you.
10. Messinia Style Giant Beans Baked (Gigantes) with Spinach & Feta
Beans were big in 2023! Giant beans, aka gigantes (GHEE-ghan-tez), are a classic Greek ingredient and popular in Greek recipes from every part of the country. This Greek bean recipe is inspired by the delicious traditions of Messinia, in the Peloponnese, where beans and greens are often cooked together with a generous amount of local extra virgin Greek olive oil, in healthy Greek recipes everyone loves.
