feta cheese

Greek Pasta Salad

August 16, 2018 by Dana

This Greek Pasta Salad Recipe is the perfect picnic or get together tag a long! With my secret ingredient, this salad brings the flavor and is easy to throw together at the last minute.

This Greek Pasta Salad is my favorite! My secret ingredient, the brine of the feta cheese, takes this recipe to the next level. I have tried Greek Pasta Salad with the brine and without the brine, and my WITH brine recipe is 100% my favorite of all time pasta salad. The saltiness of the feta paired with a hint of sweetness from the tomatoes and a delicious homemade dressing makes for the perfect pasta salad. If you aren’t familiar with what I am talking about, you can buy feta cheese in a brine, which will be a liquid substance that the cheese is in. I prefer Feta in brine because I feel like the crumbled feta can be a little dry and lacking flavor. In any recipe I am using Feta cheese I do prefer Feta in brine. Pasta salads are especially important because putting a little bit of the brine in with your dressing creates the perfect salty, delicious dressing to compliment the pasta, veggies, and feta cheese. If you are skeptical or just not feeling it, you can omit the brine but I’m telling you it is so good!

Generally, I buy my Feta cheese at Wegman’s, because they always carry feta cheese in brine. I have struggled at other stores to find it all the time, but if I don’t see it in the regular cheese section I will always check the specialty cheese section and it is usually there. The crumbled feta just doesn’t compare so keep looking until you find it! 🙂 I have made this recipe with several different pasta varieties, but I like the orecchiette pasta the best. If you are looking for a swap, I would suggest rotini, small shells, or cavatappi. All of those pasta varieties have worked great for me in the past. The orecchiette creates a nice balance and that is why I prefer it but the others can certainly work too. Print

Greek Pasta Salad

Author: Dana

Description

A delicious, refreshing pasta salad that is a perfect side dish for any occasion.

Ingredients

1 pound orechiette pasta (rotini and shells work great too!)

1 pint cherry tomatoes

1 seedless cucumber

1/2 red onion

8 ounces feta cheese

1/4 cup feta cheese brine

1/2 lemon, squeezed

1/4 cup white vinegar

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp dried oregano

salt + pepper to taste

Instructions

Cook pasta according to package directions. Don’t forget to salt your pasta water!

For the dressing: Add 1/4 cup feta cheese brine, 1/2 lemon squeezed, 1/4 cup white vinegar, 1 tsp dried oregano, and a dash of salt and pepper to a large bowl, blender, or food processor. Slowly drizzle in 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil. If you are using a bowl, whisk vigorously while you are drizzling in your olive oil. (I used my Vitamix.)

Chop cherry tomatoes, seedless cucumber, and 1/2 red onion and place in a large bowl with 8 ounces feta cheese, and cooked pasta. Pour dressing over ingredients and toss to coat evenly. Sprinkle with additional salt + pepper + oregano if desired.

Store in an air-tight container for up to 7 days in the refrigerator. Recipe is best if made 1 day ahead of time to allow flavors to come together.

Keywords: Greek Pasta Salad

Sundried Tomato Feta Baked Salmon

January 19, 2018 by Dana

Friends… this one is no joke. This Sundried Tomato Feta Baked Salmon is the best salmon I have ever made! Not only does it taste absolutely amazing, it is SO EASY to make. I repeat SO EASY.

I have mentioned, I am about to pop. About to pop as in numerous strangers have asked me if I am having twins. The conversation usually goes something like this:

Stranger: “Oh my, when are you due?”

Me: “March.”

Stranger: “Wow, I thought you were going to say next week! Are you sure there is only one in there?”

Me: “Yes, I’ve carried all of my kids like this.”

Stranger: “Your belly is really low! Thank goodness you are all belly! This must be your first child!”

Me: “No, I actually have 4 boys already.”

Stranger: *Now completely stunned. “My word you have your hands full.”

Me: “No shit.”

Ok so maybe I just smile and walk away, but seriously folks if one more person tells me I have my hands full. It is just a statement that has no answer. It is awkward. It is annoying. Find a more encouraging statement!

**Pregnant rant over. Just leave the preggo ladies alone from now on.

Moving on to this Sundried Tomato Feta Baked Salmon. It is really all of my pregnant dreams come true. PLUS it is healthy and provides little unnamed babe with lots of healthy fats and proteins. I can’t say my diet has been entirely healthy throughout my entire pregnancy, but this is a meal that I can feel good about. It doesn’t even hurt my back or the rest of my body to make because it literally takes minutes to throw all the ingredients on the salmon, wrap it up in the foil, and bake! Instant pregnancy cravings gratification!

Recipe Tips

There isn’t much to say about this recipe because it is super simple. The main tip I would suggest is making sure you generously season your salmon before baking. I used coarse kosher salt.
I always look for sundried tomatoes that don’t contain sulfur dioxide. Mine came in a jar in oil and seasonings and were perfect because they weren’t super dry after being baked. I found the jarred ones in the healthy-ish section of the grocery store. The sulfur dioxide commonly added to the bagged ones is only there for color retention.
If you are feeling adventurous, a squirt of lemon over this salmon would probably be a delicious addition!

Grilled Greek Chicken

February 23, 2017 by Dana

Confession: It took me approximately 22 years to try feta cheese. As a matter of fact, I don’t remember my parents ever purchasing feta cheese, and I never even heard of it until the first time I tried it. Living under a big ol’ food rock, no?

The first time I tried it, I actually just tried a hunk of it plain. Like why?!?! Why didn’t I understand it needed to be paired with other delicious foods of either the salty or sweet caliber to live up to it’s full feta potential? Not a great first impression but thankfully it wasn’t my last.

Fast forward a bit, I started working at a Greek restaurant and quickly realized I needed to give feta cheese another chance. I have not looked back since! This Grilled Greek Chicken is a fabulous recipe that pairs feta with other savory, salty food to bring out how awesome it is! You take the salty feta, the perfectly seasoned chicken, and the crisp tomato to tone it down a bit and you have the perfect bite!

Speaking of crisp tomatoes, this Grilled Greek Chicken is such a versatile recipe in terms of how you can mix it up and make it your own! The first day I made the chicken I ate it with a ton of tomatoes drizzled with olive oil, salt, and feta cheese. The weather here has been super warm here, so getting out and grilling and eating a light and refreshing side made me dream of the summer nights that are just around the corner. The next day I used the same chicken in a Greek salad. It was the perfect protein to throw onto a bed of greens, add a few croutons, tomatoes, and dressing and have a quick and easy lunch.

Meal preppers.. This is a great one for you!

Grilling The Chicken

I know this sounds so much like a cooking 101 class but the first step to this recipe is preparing the chicken the right way. I’ve given everyone this run down over and over again, however I know I get new traffic from Pinterest every single day. So hello new readers and listen up… preparing your chicken correctly is the key to every chicken recipe! 🙂

I’ve talked extensively about this on my Fiesta Grilled Chicken recipe but here I go again because I’m super passionate about helping people understand how to cook delicious food at home! If your chicken breasts are super thick, you will want to filet them (cut them lengthwise in half). Your knife skills do not have to be perfect to do this and rest assured, some of my chicken breasts look very butchered up when I do it too! Just keep practicing!

After you filet your breasts you will want to pound flat any super thick parts with a meat tenderizer. This ensures that every bite will be seasoned correctly and your chicken will grill evenly! There is nothing I hate more then biting into thick chicken that tastes bland. This will solve that problem! Simply place a piece of plastic over your chicken breast and pound. I like to this it is stress therapy and cooking all in one! haha

The next step. Course. Kosher. Salt. I’ve also talked about this ingredient extensively, but again, it is important so I’m saying it again. When seasoning meat I always use course kosher salt. You certainly don’t have to go overboard because it is strong and totally possible to over season but it can take a piece of chicken from zero to hero in just a pinch!

I have a $100 grill from Amazon.So by all means it is nothing fancy but it gets the job done. I put one side on medium, and one size on low. I start each piece on the hotter side, get nice grill marks by moving each piece after a few minutes, then I flip the chicken breast to the lower side to finish it.

Greek Kale and Orzo Salad

January 13, 2015 by Dana

New Year, New You? Right? 🙂

Here we are… two weeks into the new year and I’m wondering who is still sticking to their “let’s get healthy” resolution? If you’ve fallen off the resolution train already, don’t worry! One calendar day means nothing, however a new attitude about food means everything! Forgetting about that mark on your calendar might be the best “should-have-been resolution” out there because every day is a new day to change how you eat. Every grocery store trip, every meal is a new chance to check ingredient lists and care about what you are putting into your body. Yes, there are times when I eat things that I know aren’t in the game plan, but I don’t dwell on it for too long because I have new meals coming up that can and will be healthy.

I have to start this with a story about my mom. She’s been on diet after diet after diet her whole life and I think she might be beginning to understand that she NEEDS to check ingredient lists for everything. It doesn’t matter if it says “light” or “natural” because chances are it probably isn’t. She was telling me all about her new eating plan, yet mentioned she was still using a bottled dressing. Now, don’t get me wrong, we are all going to fall short somewhere. If 95% of your diet consists of unprocessed foods, then you are doing really great! However, bottled dressings just make me want to throw something. They are so counterproductive it is just upsetting. Big pile of delicious veggies? Here, let’s pour some unhealthy GMO soybean oil and MSG on it! Unhealthy fats, gimmicky lies on the front of the bottles, addictive ingredients, tons of sodium, artificial colors, preservatives, I mean I could write a book about this crap.

At the end of the conversation I told my mom “Listen.. it is all about seasoning your food. Even if it is a salad it needs salt and pepper. Olive oil, vinegar, spices, salt, pepper. That’s all it takes to make your own dressing that you will love to eat. But the key ingredients are salt and pepper. Nobody wants to eat food that is bland, and this is the key to making your own dressing that actually tastes good. TRUTH! 🙂

Other then the obvious health benefits kale is an awesome green to use in make ahead salads because it doesn’t wilt. That’s right, you can dress this salad the night before and you will still have a crisp and fresh green to take for lunch or enjoy at home. Kale can be a little rougher then spinach/romaine so I’d suggest chopping you kale thinly.

Blanched Green Bean Salad

August 31, 2014 by Dana

Once upon a time I went to the Farmer’s Market and came home with a grocery bag FILLED with green and wax beans. I came home, washed those babies, blanched those babies, and made a delicious vinaigrette to toss them in to make them super happy. I thought that was enough, but no, the beans wanted more. They were already perfect but they insisted they were just too beautiful to leave with ONLY a vinaigrette. I just wanted to make the beans happy, so I gave them some feta cheese and raisins and they were elated. The beans lived happily ever after for only a few minutes until they were gobbled up by the evil witch.

Ok that was true until the evil witch part because we all know I’m no witch! 😉 And well, beans don’t talk so I guess the rest isn’t true either. Ok, I totally made the whole thing up but hey, it sounded like a good story, right? Of course it was a good story, because we all love a cute fairy tale! Maybe I should have come up with something clever about Jack and the Bean Stalk but that seemed way to obvious and these beans are far too tasty for a giant who merely stuffs food in his mouth and swallows without even chewing. At least I think that’s how giants eat but who knows, I’m only 5 feet tall so clearly I know nothing about them.

Now that we have all of that fairy tale crap I just made up out of the way let’s just talk about how delicious blanched green beans are. When I was younger I thought I hated green beans because the only green beans I had ever seen were canned. I have vivid memories of seeing ugly canned green beans being served in the school cafeteria, and thinking who would eat those? YUCK! Canned green beans are all puffy and water logged and well… I hate them. I prefer my veggies on the crunchier side so generally if I’m making green beans I blanch them. Blanching is just a fancy word for submerging into boiling water for just a few minutes, then quickly submerging into cold water to stop the cooking process. No soggy beans here!

Please excuse the vinaigrette dripping off the side of my bowl. You see, I thought it would be a good idea to pick green beans out and eat them while I was taking pictures. Obviously it wasn’t. Photography fail! Just an FYI, yes this is a cold salad. The feta and raisins are optional but I highly recommend them!

Mediterranean Orzo and White Bean Salad

August 12, 2014 by Dana

Truth be told, I learned something about myself today. I don’t know how to spell the word Mediterranean. I tried many times. Is it two d’s? Two t’s? Heck I have no clue, I still don’t think I could spell it right if I wanted to! I’m not even convinced Google knows how to spell it. Thank you auto-correct! Regardless, that doesn’t take away from how much I love this pasta salad! *Insert blogger sales pitch about how amazing this pasta salad is* The orzo, the feta, the veggies, the beans, the salty sweetness, I mean really it is just a party in a bowl all around. I searched high and low for whole wheat orzo because I wrongly assumed it was a thing. Why wouldn’t every grocery store carry it? We are living in 2014, you know… the future, where people have woken up to the fact that the bleaching and enriching process is poo-poo! Thankfully, my search ended at Wegman’s where I ran into a box of whole wheat orzo and the rest is history.

I have been making pasta salads all summer because they are quick, easy, and able to pack protein and veggies. I love putting pasta salads over spinach or greens and eating it for lunch (no dressing required). My lunch is usually just shoving some food in my face because I’m too busy feeding hungry boys to even think about what I am eating. Even though I’m home with them I can relate to the people at day jobs who feel too busy to eat and a lunch like this is a great solution. You don’t have to fiddle around with those stupid plastic dressing containers, or a bunch of baggies. Throw some spinach and pasta salad in a container and you have a meal in a bowl. One bowl, one spoon/fork and there you have it!

The dressing for this salad is a mix of a few bold flavors, which is what makes is so good! Whole grain mustard, tomato paste, and red wine vinegar come together to create the perfect companion for olives and feta. My husband’s grandparents hooked us up with some yellow tomatoes and they were super sweet and complimented the saltiness of this salad perfectly. If you can’t find a sweeter tomato, I would suggest adding a few extra sun dried tomatoes, or even a handful of dried cranberries to give the salad a nice balance.

I struggled with what to call this flavor bomb, but I think Mediterranean White Bean and Orzo Salad about sums it up, right? Sheesh I really need to start getting more creative but it seemed better then “The Best EVER Pasta Salad Recipe!” agreed? 😉

Whole Wheat Greek Pasta Salad

June 14, 2014 by Dana

I have been eyeing the beautiful packs of multi-colored cherry tomatoes at the grocery store ALL summer long. Each time I go, I put the pack into my cart and walk away. My kids scream, we grab a few other things, and inevitably I always end up back in the produce section talking my little self out of my way kewl pack of multi-colored tomatoes. Until today… when I put them in my cart and told my colorful produce loving self that today was the day I was taking these babies home! *yessss*

Little did those colorful cherry tomatoes know they were going home with a Greek Pasta Salad loving food blogger, and in their near future they would be slathered with an amazingly delicious homemade vinaigrette and made to mingle with some feta cheese. After that they would be gobbled up for lunch, then again for an after school snack, and again for dinner. Yes, I ate this 3 times today! I shamelessly pulled that bowl out of the refrigerator and devoured those cherry tomatoes and all of their friends like it was going out of style… FAST! So fast I left 4 noodles for my son’s lunchbox tomorrow. *SMH* So now, due to my shameless lack of self control, I will be up earlier tomorrow to prepare something else for him. Might be time to break into that freezer stash of hot lunches… on the 2nd day of school. 😉

The pasta I use in this recipe is whole wheat, because if you’ve been following along you know we don’t mess with that refined stuff. I used a pasta that I could not find a link to on Amazon, Whole Wheat Gobbetti made by Bionaturae. I love their products, and highly recommend any of their varieties if you can’t find the Gobbetti. And seriously.. what the heck is Gobbetti anyways!?!?!

Summer Strawberry, Cucumber, and Feta Salad

June 11, 2014 by Dana

I have to say, I am loving strawberry season already! Nothing beats the fresh, local strawberries we get that are tiny, red, and sweet! I have been putting them in literally everything, including this awesome salad. This salad is a huge hit at summer picnics and parties because it is different and addictive. If you take this to any function this summer, don’t expect to bring any home. 🙂 The dressing of this salad is my homemade red wine vinaigrette. Click here to get that. I promise it is super simple and contains only a few ingredients. I don’t have a specific measurement for the dressing to go on the salad, but with any salad, just eyeball it and only add a little at a time. Remember, you can add more but can’t take dressing away once it is already on it.

Greek Pasta Bolognese- Simple and Delicious!

April 8, 2014 by Dana

Bolognese sauce is traditionally a red sauce with beef. It is simple and common in the Italian cooking world and surely a comfort food for many people. This recipe takes traditional Bolognese sauce to a whole new level by adding just a few simple ingredients. If your trying this for the first time don’t be put off by the clam juice! It makes the sauce. This is great for entertaining and will leave your guests trying to put their finger on what made the sauce so delicious. If you like it with beef you can also try it with shrimp as the recipe that inspired this was originally paired with Shrimp. I put this sauce over 100% whole wheat fettuccini or spinach pasta.

Greek Pasta Salad

This Greek Pasta Salad Recipe is the perfect picnic or get together tag a long! With my secret ingredient, this salad brings the flavor and is easy to throw together at the last minute.