My Big Fat Greek Dinner

About author / Amy Powell

World traveler; gourmet 30 minute meals; lover of exotic ingredients; winner on FoodTV's Chefs vs City; graduate French Culinary Institute. Her recipes will tantalize your taste buds.

I've been eating a lot of Greek food lately. Maybe it's because I've recently discovered two fabulous Greek restaurants in my neighborhood on different ends of the Fancy Restaurant Spectrum. Maybe it's because the closest Greek restaurant is no longer the anonymous New York City diner on the corner that happens to serve gyro meat. And maybe it's because Greek food is somehow gluttonously filling while remaining somewhat . . . healthy?

It's true. Whether it be the nature of the culture or the food itself, it's easy to go from light meze dinner to full on Greek-gorging in the time it takes to say “Opa!” Meze is similar to Spanish tapas: lots of small plates with a variety of flavors and textures meant to give lappers of ouzo, the regional licorice-flavored liquor, something to line the stomach while drinking and to tide one over till dinner. Greek classics such as tzatziki and hummus fall under this category, as do dolmades and spanakopita. From here, especially if one is drinking ouzo, the descent down the Greek menu can be swift and furious. It is on the plunge through the menu that one finds a variety of meat and fish recipes along with many dishes featuring cheese, feta mostly, Greece’s most abundant protein source.

The meze menu can be expansive, but the bold flavors hold the cuisine together as a unifying theme that runs the length of the menu. Greece is an ancient country whose seasoning and primary cooking ingredients have changed little since the time of their first known cookbook, written in 330 B.C. Flavors of olive oil, oregano, garlic, mint, and lemon can be found in foods ranging from the simplest olive dish to the most gorgeous lamb stew. These common seasonings also turn up in the famous Greek dips made of every base imaginable, from potato (skordalia) to chickpea (hummus) puree. Meats and fish are mostly grilled and traditionally seasoned, but lamb especially will appear on Greek tables during holidays in whole roasted elegance. Often, it'll have a little fennel to make a tandem with the ouzo, which has a similar anise taste.

Although I feel I am gaining a hundred pounds just by daydreaming about Greek food, the truth is that Greek cuisine cooked the way it is meant to be cooked is a shining example of a heart-healthy diet. The "Mediterranean Diet" was first recognized in writing by the American doctor Ancel Keys in a piece composed in 1945 while he was stationed in Italy. Keys theorized on the influence of what he called the Mediterranean Diet on a lower incidence of cardiovascular disease. The Mediterranean Diet is characterized by foods low in saturated fat, high consumption of fruit and vegetables and legumes, a moderate featuring of lean meats, with red meat reserved only for special occasions. The liberal use of olive oil in Greece makes not just for savory eating, it also means that in place of animal fats one is consuming ample amounts of mono-unsaturated oils. These are high in healthful antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids and they lower cholesterol fighting free radicals.

Like an original Olympian, I can tackle a Greek restaurant menu or recreate it in my own kitchen and emerge a champion. It is nothing but blind determination that takes me from meze all the way through to the meat. Upon reaching that bittersweet finish with a bite of baklava, I can rest assured that, although dinner may have been big, it is unlikely I will have to move my belt out a notch. To that I raise my ouzo to toast: Opa!

Serves/Makes: 6

• olive oil
• 1/2 package frozen phyllo dough, thawed
• salt
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 pound fresh spinach
• salt and pepper
• 4 ounces feta cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 lemon
• 1/2 bunch dill
• 1 handful flat leaf parsley
• 4 ounces smoked salmon
• creme fraiche