I was raised in Cyprus at a time when people grew a lot of their food. My family grew their own olives, oranges, tangerines, lemons, plums, almonds, walnuts, herbs, chickens, my grandma had a donkey and a goat(we never ate the donkey, we rode him and grandma milked the goat). They baked their own breads, made their own halloumi cheese (you haven't lived until you eat freshly made, still warm hallouni cheese.)
They also preserved a lot of their crops. We gathered the olives, loaded them on dad's VW beetle and took them to the mill for olive oil. Mom made walnut preserves, orange rind preserves, orangeade, lemonade, watermelon rind preserves, cherry preserves. She dried her herbs and kept them in jars for the winter. What can I say? I grew up eating a lot of preserves and olive oil and I love them!
But, I don't live in a Mediterranean climate so I only have a few things growing in my garden. Yet, those formative early years have made me a person who loves to garden and bake.
This week, it's lunch with salad greens from my garden:. I picked them, double washed them, dried them and ate them!
Serves 2
1 can garbanzo(chickpeas)beans drained
1 tablespoon chopped onion
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
juice of one lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups mesclun greens
1 orange peeled and cut into 8 pieces
4 tablespoons sautéed wild mushrooms
4 anchovy fillets
Place the garbanzo beans in a bowl. Add the onion, parsley, lemon juice and olive oil. Mix.
Divide the mesclun greens between two plates.
Top with half each garbanzo mixture. To that add half each of the sautéed mushrooms. Divide orange pieces between the two plates. Place two anchovies on each plate on top.
Grind some fresh pepper and sea salt, drizzle with good Greek extra virgin olive oil (I use Kalamata from Trader Joe's) and serve with some hearty multigrain bread.
Kali Orexi as they say in Greece and Cyprus!
Enjoy!
Maria
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