by Sidonie Maroon , The Food Co-op Culinary Educator, abluedotkitchen.com

Follow Sidonie on The Food Co-op’s Facebook group Cooking with the Co-op

Iris, the Greek goddess of rainbows, lacked her usual vim and vigor. She’d put on a few pounds, so went on the trendy “Rainbow Diet”. It supplies lots of fiber, prebiotics, and nutrients. She likes it because she won’t have to cut out major food groups, count carbs, fat or calories — just eat thirty different vibrantly colored fruits and vegetables per week. It sounds difficult, but the benefits are fabulous, and she’s determined to keep her goddess curves, even at 2,500 years old.

Iris is old school Greek, so she’ll cook local vegetables and use the traditional methods of her fore-goddesses like — stewing, braising, stuffing vegetables, making fresh salads, vegetable pies, pickled foods, plus lots of beans and greens dishes.

She’ll use extra virgin olive oil. The average Greek eats about a ¼ of a cup a day per person. Iris already makes her own Greek yogurt using the Instant Pot. She forages for Horta (as in horticulture. Horta is the Greek term for wild greens). Now all she needs to do is plan what veggies to grow in her garden, buy at the Farmer’s Market, get in a C.S.A. or at her local markets.

Thirty-Three Different Veggies a Week and Greek!
Seven for Red
Greek cooks use red onions in everything from salads to pies. They grate beets into tzatziki and slice them onto potato salads. Tomatoes get stuffed, sun dried, stewed, and eaten fresh. Sweet red peppers — stuffed, sundried, and braised in olive oil. Hot red chilies find a home in Taverna dishes. They boil red potatoes for salads, stews and casseroles, and red chard is a favorite for pies and bean dishes.

Three for Orange
They blanch carrots for tzatziki. Use pumpkins and other winter squashes—dried, braised, and stuffed. Sweet potatoes are roasted, stewed, fried and added to pies.

Four for Yellow
They braise cauliflower with spices, roast parsnips and turn them into skordalia (a dip like hummus). They slice summer squashes into pies. Corn gets grilled with feta. Iris is adding lemons, although they’re a fruit, because lemons are so Greek.

Five for Blue/Indigo/Violet
They roast eggplants into dips, and stew purple potatoes, carrots, turnips, and cauliflower in a variety of delicious ways.

Eighteen for Green
They chop dill, parsley, wild fennel, and mint into pies and scatter them throughout the cuisine. Thyme, bay, and oregano flavor braises and meat dishes. Spinach, amaranth, chard, kale, cabbage, mustard greens, nettles and collards are pie favorites. Mezze — appetizers, feature green beans, artichokes, and cucumbers.

Iris is about diversity
There are so many ways to cook the rainbow, but let’s not forget garlic and mushrooms, two more Greek favorites. I plan to go into more depth on Greek techniques as Summer arrives.

If you’d like to explore Greek cuisine, whether or not you count colors, there are several ways to get involved. The Food Coop’s “Community Cooks Greek” begins July 1st. There’s a free pamphlet of recipes, all written and tested by me. Get together with your friends and family and cook up a feast. For more wonderful recipes, try any of Diane Kochila’s cookbooks, I especially love Ikaria — Lessons on Food, Life, and Longevity from the Greek Island where people forget to die.

Tzatziki Tsaht-ZEE-kee

Greek Cucumber and Yogurt Sauce

Makes 4 cups

Tzatziki is often served with grilled meats, but I think it goes well with roasted veggies, but I love it best on poached eggs with olives and sliced tomatoes!

Ingredients

2 medium cucumbers, 4 cups, seeded and grated
3 cups plain Greek yogurt
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup chopped dill
¼ cup chopped mint
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 teaspoon fine sea salt

Directions

Lay ½ of grated cucumbers in a small light tea towel or piece of cheesecloth, make a bundle, and lightly press and squeeze the excess water out. Repeat with the other half.
In a bowl, combine the drained cucumbers with the other ingredients, allowing the flavors to meld for 15 minutes. Serve right away or refrigerate. The sauce keeps well for up to 5 days.
Variation: Try with green tomatoes, zucchini, carrots or beets

Zucchini and Olive Salad

4 servings

Ingredients

3 medium zucchini, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds and halved
3 boiled eggs, sliced into rounds (yolks still moist not hard boiled)
1 bunch scallions chopped
½ cup dill, finely chopped
2 tablespoons mint, finely chopped
20 large green olives, sliced
Juice of 1 lemon
¼ cup olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a preheated 425 f oven, toss the zucchini with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast until tender, about 20 to 25 minutes.

2. Combine the roasted zucchini with the scallions, dill, mint, green olives and lemon juice. Taste and add more lemon, salt and pepper if needed. Lay the eggs decoratively over the top. Serve at room temperature or cold.
   

Greek Potato Salad

Patatosalata
4 servings

Ingredients

2 pounds new potatoes, boiled halved and sliced (or use fingerlings)
4 eggs, boiled and cut into quarters lengthwise
½ cup green country style olives, pitted and sliced
½ cup Italian parsley, chopped
1 bunch scallions, finely chopped include greens
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 teaspoon fresh marjoram, minced

Directions

In a serving bowl, combine potatoes, olives, parsley, scallions and marjoram.
In a small jar, shake lemon, olive oil, salt and pepper together. Mix into the salad and lay the eggs on top. Serve with fresh tomato slices.

Black-Eyed Pea Salad with Roasted Tomatoes and Wild Fennel

Serves 4
Roasted separately, the tomatoes and black-eyed peas come together in the salad. Yum.

Ingredients

For Black-Eyed Peas
2 large onions, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
5 cups cooked black-eyed peas
2 cups chopped wild fennel leaves or fennel bulb fronds (reserve ½ cup chopped fennel for serving)
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and pepper to taste
1-2 tablespoons white wine vinegar or to taste

For Roasted Tomatoes
8 Roma tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt to taste

Directions

1. Cook black-eyed peas. Either use an Instant Pot: 2 cups dried peas with water to cover by 2 inches, with 1 teaspoon sea salt, set on the bean cycle. Or, cook on the stovetop: soak beans for 8 hours. Strain the peas, add fresh water and 1 teaspoon sea salt. Bring to a boil, turn heat down and simmer until tender for about 45 minutes. Strain and rinse the cooked peas.

2. Preheat the oven to 425 f. Lay the onions and garlic onto a large piece of parchment paper, and massage in the olive oil, salt and pepper into them. Fold the surrounding parchment into a packet, and lay it folded side down onto a baking sheet. Roast for 30 to 45 minutes, or until the onions are soft and sweet.

3. Roast tomatoes in the same oven: Lay tomatoes out on a parchment paper lined baking sheet, and drizzle with olive oil and salt. Roast until cooked but still firm, about 25 minutes. Toss the drained peas, roasted onions and garlic, and chopped fennel together into a large low salad bowl. Add the vinegar and taste for salt and pepper. Lay the tomatoes over the top, garnish with more fennel and serve.