Greek Grain Salad

This is a nice, light and refreshing salad.  It will keep nicely for a couple days in the fridge.  This recipe makes a good amount so if you don't want leftovers, you might want to halve it.  

2 medium cucumbers 
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes 
4 oz feta cheese 
+/- 0.25 cup red onion, finely minced 
1 cup barley (I used Bob’s Red Mill hull-less barley, but you can use regular or try another whole grain like farro or freekeh.) 
Greek style feta salad dressing from Trader Joe’s 
Olives if desired 
Salt, pepper, oregano, garlic to taste

Cook barley or other grain according to package directions. 
Seed and chop cucumbers. Cut tomatoes in half. Crumble feta. Mix cheese, tomatoes, cukes and onion (and olives if you like) together in a large bowl. 
After grain is cooked, drain and rinse with cold water. Shake as much water off as you can. Add to bowl. Pour a small amount of dressing (not much, maybe 1/4-1/3 of a cup). I use some dried Greek oregano from our garden. A little pepper. Salt only if needed, most feta is quite salty. Taste it and season as you like.

Yogurt marinated Greek Chicken

Used this marinade last night and let the chicken sit in it overnight and all day until I cooked it for dinner in the air fryer.  It was so flavorful and juicy!  I used this recipe on about 4 lbs of chicken drumsticks. I also added a little an extra bit of oregano from our garden!

1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
2 TBSP Penzey's Greek Seasoning
4 cloves of garlic, minced

Blend well.  Coat chicken and let sit as long as you can but not more than 24 hours.

Before cooking, wipe off excess marinade.  Sprinkle with extra seasoning, if desired (I didn't bother).

Air fryer:  360* for 20 minutes per 4 drums
Oven: Bake at 400* for 25 minutes, turn over, cook another 10 minutes.  Check for doneness with a meat thermometer - 180* internal temp is safe for dark meat chicken (legs & thighs), 170* for white meat (breasts).

Serve with: Greek salad, pita bread

Unstuffed cabbage casserole (Crock Pot)

Love stuffed cabbage but don't want to take the time or turn on the oven?  This gives you the flavor without all the work!

1/2 medium head of cabbage, chopped (1 bag of coleslaw mix will work if you are short on time!)
1 medium onion, diced
1 cup minute rice (I use minute brown rice)
1 lb ground beef, pork or turkey
28 oz can crushed tomatoes, tomato puree or sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons lemon juice 
1 Tablespoon worcestershire sauce
1 tsp each:  Salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, thyme (If you are using no salt added tomatoes, you might want to increase the salt a bit)

Mix sugar, lemon juice, worcestershire sauce, and seasonings into the tomatoes in a separate bowl.

Put about 1 cup of tomatoes on the bottom of the pot.  Add 1/2 the cabbage, 1/2 the onion, 1/2 cup rice, crumble half the raw meat on top, then cover with 1 cup of the tomato mixture. 
Repeat the layers, topping with what's left of the tomatoes. 

Cook on high 3-4 hours. Stir well before serving. 

Crock-Pot Corn or Clam Chowder

1 onion, chopped
3 large potatoes, about 1.5 lbs, diced
2 cups corn
2 cans creamed corn
5-6 slices of bacon, cooked and cut into pieces (or 5-6 oz of real bacon bits)
2 cups +/- water to just cover vegetables
Salt & pepper to taste

Cook on low for several hours.  About 30 minutes before serving, add 1 can of evaporated milk OR 2 cups of half and half (or if you really want to be decadent, use heavy cream.)  Add 1/4 cup of butter.  Stir and let heat up for 30 minutes and serve.

For clam chowder:
Omit the corn and creamed corn.  Add 2 cups chopped celery and increase potatoes to 2 lbs. Use clam juice or seafood stock instead of water.  Add 4 cans of chopped clams when you add the half and half & butter.

TIP - use yukon gold or red potatoes, not baking/russet potatoes.  They will hold their shape better.  Mash some of the potatoes if you want a thicker broth. 

Zucchini bread/muffins

Got lots of zucchini in the garden this summer?  This recipe on Allrecipes.com has 5 stars and over 7,000 reviews for a reason - it's good.

Mom's Zucchini Bread Recipe

Now of course I like to tweak things.  I use 2 cups of white whole wheat flour and only 1 cup of regular AP flour.  I use half a cup of oil and a half cup of unsweetened applesauce.  I reduce the sugar to 1.5 cups of brown sugar, and if I'm adding mini chocolate chips, I'll take it down to 1 cup.  You can add as much as 3 cups of zucchini, so if you have a little over the 2 cups don't sweat it.  I also find it needs a bit longer than the 55 minutes.

You can also make them as muffins.  Bake for 30 minutes instead of 60.

**Tip - Those little cups of applesauce like you send in your kid's lunch bag are great to keep in your pantry for baking.  They don't need refrigeration, and one of the little cups is exactly a half cup!