Green beans with feta and pine nuts

 I can't believe I have never posted this recipe! It's a staple for us during the summer months when the green beans are abundant. 

• Green beans, trimmed and cut into one-inch lengths
• Feta cheese 
• Toasted pine nuts 

I blanch the green beans, maybe for 15-20 seconds.  After draining the green beans, I wrap them in a paper towel and put them in a bowl to dry.  

I toast the pine nuts and set them aside.  

When we are close to serving dinner, I put the green beans in a frying pan to warm them up and toast them a little. I sprinkle the green beans with feta cheese and let the cheese melt.  I sprinkle the beans and cheese with the toasted pine nuts, toss and serve.  

It is an easy and delicious recipe! 

Greek Tomato, Olive, and Feta Salad

Ingredients
- Greek salad dressing (homemade in our home!)
- 1/2 cup feta cheese (broken into small pieces, do not crumble finely)
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
- 2-3 roma tomatoes, chopped
- 1/2 small cucumber (peeled, seeds removed and chopped)
- 1 small can (2.25 oz.) sliced black olives
- 1 small red onion, thinly sliced (optional)
- fresh ground black pepper and salt (to taste)




Directions
In a bowl, combine the feta cheese, parsely, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives and red onion.  Pour the Greek dressing over the mixture, and season with salt an pepper to taste.



Cook's Notes
This was a incredibly easy to make and it was nothing short of delicious.  This salad will be a staple in the Cafe this summer.

Lamb Meatballs with Couscous and Feta

We are slowly finishing up the lamb we bought last year. Deirdre found this recipe and we both thought it would be yummy. We were right.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground lamb
• 1/4 cup dried apricots, finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander
• 1 small red onion, half finely chopped and half thinly sliced
• Kosher salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup couscous
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 plum tomatoes, sliced
• 1/2 cucumber, halved and thinly sliced
• 4 ounces Feta cheese, crumbled

Pre-heat a broiler. In a bowl, combine the lamb, apricots, coriander, chopped red onion and salt and pepper to taste. Form the mixture into meatballs, approximate 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Place the meatballs on a broiling pan. Broil until cooked through, 8-10 minutes.

While the meatballs are cooking, prepare the couscous per the directions on the box.

Again while the meatballs are cooking, mix the lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.

When the meatballs are done, spoon the couscous onto a plate, serve the meatballs on the couscous, sliced tomatoes, sliced cucumbers and Feta cheese. Drizzle with the dressing.

Cook's Notes:

This was an incredibly easy meal to make. I used my food processor to chop the apricots and the red onions. It was nothing short of delicious. Here are a few images of the preparation and the meal.

Here are the lamb meatballs on the broiler pan:

From 8-28-2011

The sliced plum tomatoes:

From 8-28-2011

More meatballs:

From 8-28-2011

Placing the meatballs on the couscous:

From 8-28-2011

Drizzling the dressing on the meatballs, tomatoes, couscous, onions and cucumbers:

From 8-28-2011

We will definitely make this meal again. However, next time, I might add some Feta cheese to the ground lamb. Updates to follow as conditions warrant.