Eggies in a basket revisited!

This is a version of the English recipe for eggs in the basket. Makes perfect breakfast or lunch at work :)

Time you'll need to make this: 15 minutes
Difficulty level: easy!



Ingredients (for 2 eggies):

- 2 eggs
- 2 slices of brown bread
- 2 slices of ham
- olive oil
- vegetable butter
- salt
- pepper
- oregano
- veggies of your choice as sides, here I picked baby spinach


How to cook it:

1. Cut out circular (or any other shape you prefer) holes in the middle of the bread slices.
2. Heat a bit of olive oil (enough to cover half the bottom of a small pan) and throw in the slices when the oil is hot to toast them a bit, for a minute.
3. Crash the eggs inside the holes. Season with salt and pepper. Let them fry on medium heat, and turn them to fry on the other side as well (this might get a bit messy, but it's okay, it all goes down the stomach! You're not going for a beauty contest, you're making a quick meal!). Don't forget to season the other side!
4. When the eggs are nearly ready, add a rich spoon of vegetable butter and fry them in the butter for another minute or two, flipping to both sides.
5. Remove your eggies in a basket, season with oregano and add the slices of ham in between the two breads. Keep the bread "lids" aside to dip in the egg yolk as you nom

Pasta with cream, bacon and mushrooms

The other day, we decided to make vegetarian pasta with Henrik. :) Sweden gives a lot of options when it comes to vegan and vegetarian food, and trying to replace animal products whenever possible for the sake of sustainability and animal welfare has become important to me. I use foods from four brands: Oatly, Hälsans Kök, Quorn and Astrid och Aporna. For this recipe, I used cooking "cream" from Oatly, which was incredibly delicious and tasted like a rich cooking cream. For bacon, I used Hälsans Kök bacon pieces, which feels more like ham, and has amazing texture and taste. I don't exaggerate, as I am quite demanding with the taste of what I eat! :D

If you want to cook it using animal products, use cooking cream and ham or bacon of your choice in the same manner used in the recipe :)

Time you'll need to make this: 30 minutes
Difficulty level: easy

Ingredients (for 2 portions):

- half a packet of pasta of your choice (we mixed gnocchi and penne, and I always prefer whole wheat)
- 2 packets of Oatly cooking cream
- 2 small cans of mushrooms, or fresh mushrooms, if you'd prefer
- 1 packet of Hälsans Kök bacon, or 500g ham or bacon of your preference
- olive oil
- half a big yellow onion
- one veggie broth
- salt
- black pepper
- oregano
- one glass of rosé wine

Layered salmon and veggies

Another version of salmon with veggies, for all the lovers of fish and vegetables out there! :D With dressing by Henrik :)

Time you'll need to make this: 40 minutes
Difficulty level: easy

Ingredients (for 2 portions):

- 4 salmon fillets
- 500g baby spinach
- 2 tomatoes
- 300g frozen veggies (I picked green peas and carrots)
- olive oil
- salt
- lemon pepper
- oregano
- some fresh dill
- mayo
- lemon juice

Fried rice

Mmmmmm, fried rice with chicken, tuna or plain veggies! Using just veggies, or canned tuna, you reduce the cooking time significantly, from 1,5h to 30 minutes :)

Time you'll need to make this: 1,5h
Difficulty level: easy

Ingredients (for 2-3 portions):

- 300g chicken leg fillets or 2 cans of tuna or a packet of wok veggies of your preference
- basmati rice (use the portions indicated on the box)
- one small bowl of frozen veggie mix with corn, green peas and red pepper
- 3 eggs
- olive oil
- 4 small yellow onions, or 1 big
- salt
- black pepper
- grill mix spices
- nutmeg, ground
- curry powder
- 1 broth cube, either chicken, veggie or fish, depending your main ingredient

Drunken chicken

I tried making chicken with a tomato and red wine sauce, and it turned out pretty darn tasty, so here you go :D You can use what you like for sides, in this case I added some quickly made mashed potatoes, green peas and carrots. Fits nicely also
with fried or baked potatoes or rice!

Time you'll need to make this: 1h & 15 minutes
Difficulty level: easy

Ingredients (for 2 portions):

- 2 chicken breast fillets
- olive oil
- dried thyme
- half a packet of tomato sauce
- powdered or fresh onion and garlic (depending how strong you want their flavor to be)
- salt
- black pepper
- powdered paprika mild
- 1 chicken broth cube
- 3-4 shots of red wine

Thyme lime chicken

Here's a simple and quick recipe for chicken with potatoes. Had some leftover lime juice and thought I should see how it mixes with chicken :)

Time you'll need to make this: 1h & 15 minutes
Difficulty level: easy

Ingredients (for 2 portions):

- 2 chicken breast fillets
- 10 medium-sized potatoes
- one cup lime juice
- salt
- black pepper
- dried thyme
- olive oil
- powdered garlic

Superfast pizza

I had spare ingredients at home so I said, what the hell? Let's combine them and and make a quick pizza! This is the result! :D

Time you'll need to make this: 15-20 minutes
Difficulty level: easy

Ingredients (for 1 pizza):
- 1 large slice of whole wheat pita bread (or 2 medium slices, you'll be making 2 small pizzas). I used Polarbröd Havretrippel, turned out very tasty, plus pre-sliced ;)
- half a carton of tomato sauce
- 2 cloves of garlic
- powdered onion
- mild paprika
- black pepper
- olive oil
- oregano
- half a veggie broth cube
- melting cheese of your preference (1 packet should be enough, depends how cheesy you want your pizza)
- topping of your preference - I used soy bacon, but you can add anything you like, peppers, mushrooms, bacon, ham, olives, anything you use on a regular pizza

Currrrrrry mustard chicken bites

Here's a chicken with curry version I came up with today! Very fast and easy to do. :) Serve preferably with fresh salad mix, or rice!

Time you'll need to make this: 50 minutes
Difficulty level: easy

Ingredients (for 2 portions):
- 2 chicken  breast fillets
- lemon juice (1 lemon)
- dijon mustard
- salt
- curry powder
- lemon pepper
- powdered onion or half a fresh onion (I use powdered cause it's softer for my stomach)
- whole cumin seeds
- olive oil
- fresh salad mix of your preference

Creamy salmon

Inspired by Maja's very tasty recipe for salmon, I tried to make something similar just with a different sauce, following an idea on the Knorr fish broth carton. Simple as hell, but I promise you it's tasty as hell too!

Time you'll need to make this: 45 minutes
Difficulty level: easy

Ingredients (for 2 portions):
- 2 pieces of salmon fillet
- 8-10 small potatoes
- half a packet of frozen veggie mix (I used corn, red pepper and peas)
- 1 carton (2,5dl) of cooking cream (I use 15% fat)
- 1 fish broth cube
- olive oil
- lemon juice (one lemon)

White tuna sauce

You can use this sauce to make some really yummy pasta! Fits nicely with pasta like penne or fusilli.

Time you'll need to make this: 20 minutes
Difficulty level: easy

Ingredients (for 2 portions):
- half a packet of pasta
- 1-2 cans of tuna
- olive oil
- lemon pepper (or plain pepper, if you don't have any)
- salt
- dried parsley (4-5 spoons)
- 2 big cloves of garlic
- lemon juice (half a lemon)
- cooking cream (1-2 cartons, depending how saucy you want your pasta to be)
- 1 veggie or fish broth cube

Saucy chicken and beans

I tried an adaptation from a recipe from http://www.kronfagel.se/ that I found on a bag of chicken leg fillets. Smells great, tastes great (for me) and it's kind of a protein bomb :) You can make a longer, more-homemade version if you don't want to use any canned products, which I refer to right after the recipe.

Time you'll need to make this: 60 minutes
Difficulty level: easy

Ingredients (for 2 portions):
- 400gr chicken leg fillet
- 1 can of white beans in tomato sauce
- 1 cup of crushed tomatoes
- 1 chicken broth cube
- olive oil
- grill spices mix
- salt
- pepper
- powdered garlic
- powdered onion
- dried thyme

Pita souvlaki

Before I moved to Sweden, I already knew that I would not be able to find a specific pita wrap we make in Greece, called "pita souvlaki", or "souvlaki", depending on where you live in Greece. Other countries seem to offer the alternatives of "gyro" and "gyro wraps" or "kebab" or plain souvlaki without the pita. As by request of all friends abroad who have visited Greece and loved pita souvlaki as much as Greeks do, and because I can't live without this, here is my recipe for pita souvlaki!

Time you'll need to make this: 90-120min
Difficulty level: easy


Ingredients (for 2 wraps):

-2 slices of pita bread - in Sweden, I buy something very similar called "Polarkaka Original". You will most certainly be able to find pita bread (or something very close to it) at a big store. I will post a recipe for homemade pita bread in the future, once I get to experiment on it.
- 2-3 chicken leg fillets. Alternatively, pork meat or soy meat (vegetarian version) can be used.
- one plate of any type of potatoes you fancy - for this time, I used frozen, chopped potatoes and had them done in the oven, because pita souvlaki is supposed to be a "fast food", and you shouldn't need to spend too much time preparing it, but I would recommend homemade potatoes, if you have the time to do it. You can use this recipe of baked potatoes, but remove the skin and cut them longer and thinner instead.
- salt
- pepper
- grill spices mix
- powdered garlic
- oregano
- olive oil
- mustard
- mayo (not light, just this once!)
- curry
- one tomato (optional)
- one onion (red or yellow, according to your preference, optional)
- baking sheets (4)

Tuna spread sandwich

Of all the fish spreads, I love tuna the most. Makes great sandwiches or wraps for lunch, light dinner or a snack during the day or at work. This is a really quick tuna spread, where you use canned tuna. I recommend the tuna in water, so that you can add your own, healthier oil in the mix instead. You can add veggies of your preference, but I think lettuce and cucumber are the best choices with tuna!

Time you'll need to make this: 10 minutes
Difficulty level: easy

Ingredients (for 2 sandwiches):

-2 whole wheat, flat pita breads
- 1 can of tuna in water
- 2-3 spoons of olive oil
- salt
- pepper
- oregano
- powdered garlic
- 2 big spoons of mayo light
- 3-4 lettuce leaves
- 1 cucumber, sliced
- 1 boiled egg (optional)

Lentilballs - revised!

Recipe updated after I tried a different mix! Also, reduced cooking time by 30 minutes, and requires no frying!

If you're looking for another way to cook the very nutritious lentils, are vegetarian or simply want to try a healthy alternative to meatballs, then you've reached the right recipe :D I had seen mentions of "lentil meatballs" on the Internet, but never tried them. As usual, I don't follow recipes as they are, so I made my own version, which turned out very good (for my tastes, at least). This needs some time to make, so make it on a day that you have spare time. I promise it's worth the try!

Time you'll need to make this: 1 hour
Difficulty level: medium

Ingredients (for 16 lentilballs):

- brown lentils (half a packet)
- salt
- 3 laurel leaves
- 3 cloves of garlic
- olive oil
- tomato juice (half a packet)
- black pepper
- veggie broth (1 cube)
- oregano
- breadcrumbs (2-3 spoons)
- ground parmesan (optional)
- melting cheese (optional - I use gouda light) - 4 slices, cut in pieces of 4 each
- water

Oven omelet

I love eggs and I love omelet. I have been trying to find a healthier alternative for it (like it is with poached and fried eggs), so I experimented with making an oven omelet. It turned out delicious and extra puffy! I have used turkey in this version, but you can remove that for a vegetarian alternative, without missing anything much in the taste.

Time you'll need to make this: 30 minutes
Difficulty level: easy!

Ingredients (for 2 portions):

- 8 eggs
- 3 cherry tomatoes
- 1-2 light green peppers
- 2 slices of turkey (optional)
- 5 spoons of melting cheese mix (I use ground parmesan and gouda)
- salt
- pepper
- oregano
- powdered onion
- rosemary

Modified Pasta a la Creme

This was one of the days that I only had pasta and some tomatoes at home, so I tried a bit of a modified version of Kostas' easy and delicious Spaghetti a la Creme. This version is lighter, with cooking cream, mustard, tomato and spices (good for vegetarians too). The sauce leaves a stronger taste depending on the amount of spices you will use.

I am using a form of Greek traditional pasta called "chylopites" - they are made of flour, eggs, milk and salt. If you don't have these, you can use tagliatelle as an alternative.

Time you'll need to make this: 20 mins
Difficulty level: easy!

Yahni Potatoes

Yahni (γιαχνί) is a specific way of cooking used in many countries in the Balkans and South Asia, involving boiling with a tomato sauce. In Greece, potatoes are often made this way, whether alone or with meat/fish. This is a recipe to make solely with potatoes, that you can use as a meal or sides to dishes. :) Depending on the potato variety and quality, they can be anything from soft to super-awesome-soft-melting-in-your-mouth after you're done cooking. Slow and long cooking will ensure that your potatoes are as soft and awesome as possible, so patience and checking on your food often is required!

Time you'll need to make this: 1-1,5h
Difficulty level: easy!

Red saucy shrimps

This is my first time trying to cook shrimps, and I tried them with an easy red sauce, and rice and pita bread as sides. :)

Time you'll need to make this: 30-40 minutes
Difficulty level: easy!

Ingredients (for 2 plates):

- 500gr of cleaned shrimps (you can buy these at the frozen products - they must be peeled and "deveined", or you can do it at home)
- a glass of whole grain rice
- pita bread
- 8 cherry tomatoes
- 2 cloves of garlic
- mustard
- tomato sauce
- salt
- black pepper
- paprika
- oregano
- a broth cube (preferably veggie)
- butter
- olive oil
- 2 shots of white wine

Penne with veggies

I retried my pasta with veggies recipe and it turned out more interesting this time, so I am updating it here, for all the veggie lovers that want ways to introduce greenies in their pasta sauces. This recipe is done with whole-wheat pasta and cooking cream light, so it's a good option for keeping weight control :)

Time you'll need to make this: 30 minutes
Difficulty level: easy!


Ingredients (for 2 plates):

- half a packet of whole-wheat penne
- 14 cherry tomatoes
- 2 green peppers
- 2 long, sweet, red peppers
- 2 cloves of garlic
- salt
- black pepper
- oregano
- olive oil
- a packet of cooking cream light
- a shot of white wine (optional)
- a whole bottle of white wine (also optional :P)

All time classic fried eggs with potatoes

Because, when you have nothing else at home, eggs and potatoes can always save the day!

Time you'll need to make this: 30 minutes
Difficulty level: easy!


Ingredients (for 1 plate):

- 2 slices of pita bread
- 1-2 eggs
- 3 medium sized potatoes
- olive oil
- 6 cherry tomatoes
- 1 clove of garlic
- salt
- pepper
- sweet paprika
- chili flakes