Briam

I was not planning to post anything until tomorrow but I got up really early after the very strong earthquake we sensed today at 7.15 a.m. Memories came back after the 1999 earthquake with epicentre Parnitha, near Athens. After being assured by the mass media that no damages occurred anywhere in Greece and there would be no after earthquake shocks it was too late to go to bed again as we were still trembling.

I decided to distract myself by posting a recipe I had made a few days ago.

Briam is a very versatile vegetarian dish and practically you can just use any vegetable when you want to clean up your refrigerator. The main ingredients are zucchini, potatoes, onions, parsley and seasoning. However, briam can be made with any vegetable you like most, such as artichokes, eggplants, mushrooms, carrots, peppers, okra, green broad beans, etc. and is usually served as a main dish. If you want it to be more rich crumble some feta cheese in 20 minutes before the end.

Briam

Servings: 4 – 5

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Baking time: 2 hours

Ingredients:

• 1/2 kilo zucchini (about 4)
• 8 – 10 small potatoes
• 1 onion chopped
• 1 clove of garlic
• 5 spring onions finely chopped
• 3 ripe tomatoes, cut into slices
• 2 – 3 carrots, finely chopped
• 1 eggplant, cut into small pieces
• ½ cup of parsley, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup of dill, finely chopped
• 1 – 2 sprigs fresh oregano (optional)
• 1/2 cup of  olive oil
• Lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1 1/2 tablespoonful salt
• Freshly ground blackpepper to taste

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to (180C).

Place all the vegetables in a large heavy, shallow baking pan and mix.

Add salt, pepper, oregano, thyme and rosemary, olive oil and lemon juice and  toss together.

Bake in a preheated oven until tender (about 2 hours), stirring occasionally.

Do not add any water.