Pickled onion & smoked salmon breakfast platter

in Breakfast, Taste -

This breakfast platter with pickled onions and smoked salmon is one of my favourite things to wake up to on a lazy weekend. 

Pickled onion & smoked salmon brakfast platter

I love breakfast every day of the week; I usually wake up quite early, between 7 and 7.30, and after painstakingly following my morning routine, I start preparing breakfast. It may be just yogurt with homemade granola or honeyed fruit, overnight oats or pipping hot oatmeal; oftentimes it’s eggs on toast, alongside the obligatory avocado slices, almost buried under crunchy dukkah or sumac. Or it can be slices of seeded bread, with thick tahini, fruit and sweet Greek honey. Whatever it is, it’s never the same and I devour it with enthusiasm almost without fail. [READ MORE]

Earl Grey breakfast quinoa with tahini & jam

in Breakfast, Taste -

A delicious, warming and filling Earl Grey breakfast quinoa with tahini & jam for those sunny yet cold last days of winter.

Earl grey breakfast quinoa with tahini & jam

The last few days have been somewhat hard, somewhat dragging more than I would have liked. I love winter- and even when I don’t, I’ve learned to at least (pretend to) keep my cool and tolerate it as best as I can. Yet these last weeks before the official arrival of spring almost always get me. Temperatures are still low and the days are still a little gloomy, a little dark, with the occasional deceiving blasts of sunlight, which only intensify the longing for spring. And early mornings, dark and quiet, that’s when I may get blue the most. And yet, those are the best promise for the day about to start. And mine almost always starts with a great breakfast. [READ MORE]

Super green avocado, kale & ginger smoothie

in Breakfast, Taste -

Rise and shine! A super pretty, super tasty, super green avocado, kale & ginger smoothie with chia seeds and fragrant lime.

In the winter, when early morning as usually dark, quiet and cold,  I long for comforting, warming oats with stewed fruit, nut butters and fragrant spices; or hearty, saucy eggs served with thickly sliced bread. And then, there are also those days when all I crave are bright smoothies, filled with all the goodness and freshness, served in big round glasses. Sometimes they are dark pink or pale yellow, most often though they are green: pale and smooth or deep emerald, thick and frothy. [READ MORE]

Honeyed kumquats, yogurt & thyme

in Breakfast, Desserts, Taste -

Honeyed kumquats are a real treat, especially for breakfast, served with thick yogurt & fragrant thyme over crunchy toast. 

I’ve gone back and forth before deciding what to do with the heaps of kumquats from my parents minuscule trees. While your suggestions inspired both research and tremendous appetite, I found it almost impossible to settle on a recipe. While I was trying to make up my mind, I must have eaten a third of them, with no preparation at all, pith, seeds and all. I just find them so very delicious, impossibly fragrant, lightly bitter and with a lovely texture. I’ve added them to salads in place of oranges and in warming, creamy oats and, before deciding anything else, I knew I had to make my mom’s delicious kumquat marmalade. And yet, I didn’t. See, they were so pretty, so bright and shapely I refused to chop them down. Instead, I made a preserve of sorts. [READ MORE]

Spicy satsuma & maple Dutch baby

in Breakfast, Taste -

This irresistibly delicious, sugar and dairy-free spicy satsuma & maple Dutch baby is sure to become your new favourite weekend breakfast.

Spicy satsuma & maple Dutch baby

After just sharing these impossibly chocolaty, fragrant brownies, I’m back to playing with the irresistible mandarin family. At the moment, as it always happens around this time of year, there is an exceeding abundance of citrus in my kitchen. While lemons and limes are favourites throughout the year, come December I’m drawn to other beautiful citrus as well and buy them time and time again. I don’t particularly crave eating them raw (I often find them too acidic) but I love everything else: their colour, fragrance and how they can transform almost every dish they are added to into a wintery wonder: like this sweet & salty hearty salad or them gooey brownies– and how lovely would they be added to this dried fruit & nut couscous? [READ MORE]

Apple, blackberry & cinnamon jam

in Breakfast, Desserts, Taste -

This apple, blackberry & cinnamon jam is thick, as sweet as it should and has made me fall in love with apples all over again! 

Apple, blackberry & cinnamon jam

Ever since I moved to London, every autumn, without fail, I find my self in awe of all the apple varieties available: there’s small, sour ones, with light pink and green flesh; and bigger ones, very sweet and very pink; shinny green apples, crunchy and juicy, perfectly sour and refreshing; and then others, large and brownish, with a subtle sweetness which reminds me of pears. One is truly spoilt for choice and one is hopelessly enamoured every year, all over again.

I buy large quantities and I slice and sometimes peel and eat at least one a day; I freeze for smoothies and grate for spicy oatmeal; they’re added in cakes and pies, often alongside juicy, blushing pears, or eaten hungrily, on the spot, with just a drizzle of tahini and another of honey. They’re set aside to be used in warming stews, with sprigs of rosemary or tarragon and sweet potatoes, or even added to buttery mash for a touch of sweetness. Autumn is for apples, every year, and every year I am without fail hell-bent on celebrating apples as I should: often, repeatedly, enthusiastically, hungrily. [READ MORE]

Green baked eggs with spicy yogurt

in Breakfast, Savoury, Taste -

These delicious green baked eggs with spicy yogurt are packed with crunchy cavolo nero & fresh herbs. Serve with a good drizzle of olive oil & crusty bread.

Green baked eggs with spicy yogurt

It’s been a while since I last posted an egg recipe here; In fact, it’s been a while since I last made eggs. I vaguely remember a sad looking, deflated, dense Dutch baby, which somehow found its way into our breakfast table back in August – after that, there has been radio silence on the egg front. [READ MORE]

Garam masala, pumpkin seed & dried cherry oatmeal

in Breakfast, Taste -

Fragrant and delicious, this garam masala, pumpkin seed & dried cherry oatmeal will make you reconsider oats for breakfast once and for all.

Garam masala, pumpkin seed & dried cherry oatmeal

In my mind, breakfast is always a little slow and somewhat indulgent; I try to extend this vision to reality as well, as it truly is my favourite meal of the day, regardless of the time I have it (very early, during the week, a little later on the weekends), those I share it with and its contents. There may be eggs or fruit, pastries of a wide variety or toast; it may be just a humble bowl of oats but even then, even in a hurry, even in the gloomy morning light, I try to keep with my little morning rituals and make breakfast somewhat of a feast. [READ MORE]

My favourite green smoothie

in Breakfast, Taste -

Delicious and refreshing, filled with green veggies, apple, ginger and turmeric, this is a winner all around.

My favourite green smoothie

A few days ago, it was all about salted caramel sauce. Today it’s about my favourite green smoothie. But really, honestly, essentially, it’s all about balance. It really is.

Αs beguiled I am with chocolate and butter (there’s few things as satisfying as a big fat chunk of dark chocolate or thick layer of french or irish butter on crusty bread, topped with a pinch of fleur de sel) I also LOVE green smoothies. Using a blender is apparently better than a juicer, as more fiber is retained, keep them on the thick side and enjoy them profoundly every time. I love how refreshing they are, I love that I can taste every single ingredient and I am crazy about their beautiful colour. [READ MORE]

Persimmon & apple french toast

in Breakfast, Taste -

persimmon-apple-french-toast

My love for breakfast has been well documented here. I’m down for almost anything, almost every morning. Οn week days, I like to keep things simple with quick smoothies, full of goodness and flavour, or crunchy and perfectly sweet homemade granola, a nutty bar or hot and creamy quinoa. Some days though call for eggs and I’m so down with that as well. Creamy and pretty? Yes, please. Saucy & spicy? A thousand times yes. And let’s not forget chocolate: in a pudding, or spread on warm crusty bread or mixed with booze for the perfect morning warmer. I’m in for all of the above. [READ MORE]