Life: Idiotropic

One of my favorite restaurants in the U district of Seattle was a small Greek restaurant that served all my favorites. And, I think of all cuisines I've tried, I'm especially proud of my Greek dishes. It is amazing food.

The people are wonderful too - always positive, smiling, optimistic.

Tonight was Greek night at the IWC - an evening that I could just relax, eat, and bask in that happy optimism.

Their theme this year was the Greek diet which, to my surprise, has it's own pyramid. I should have known better - really. Why would the USDA food pyramid be the only one in the world? It wouldn't. The Greeks have one that is really interesting. And, unlike ours that changes every few years, theirs is based on the dietary habits of rural Greeks before 1960 - a time when the Greeks had heart disease rates 90% less than Americans.

So, in their pyramid, red meat is at the very top, consumed less than sweets, only 1-2 times each month. Sweets, poultry, eggs, and fish are consumed 1-2 times a week. But daily, they eat moderate amounts of cheese and milk, olive oil, 1-2 glasses of red wine, and plenty of grains, fruits, and vegetables.

The appetizers were a thick, hard seedy bread covered with tomatoes, a little bit of feta cheese, and a generous drizzle of olive oil and freshly made tsaziki with french bread. For dinner we had phyllo pockets with feta cheese, potatoes, baked tomatoes stuffed with rice, and giant beans.

When dinner was over and the raffle was finished, the music went on and we started dancing. The Greek dancing is simple with steps that many of us learned in elementary school and it's easy to learn because the music starts out slow. You watch and move and once you have the steps down, the music gradually speeds up until you're dancing in fast forward around in a circle like a record player on high speed feeling like you're going to fly off at any second. Then the music ends and you take a deep breath before starting slow into the next song. The timid have no chance. The Greek ladies will reach out and grab your hand and pull you to the dance floor patiently teaching you the steps until you are doing it beautifully. They must have taught well.. a nice German lady asked me if I was Greek. Such a nice complement.

So, I did leave with a recipe - one for the giant beans. If you can find the beans, the recipe is a must make.


Giant Beans in the Oven

Ingredients:
1 packet of giant beans
1 cup of olive oil
4 big ripe tomatoes or 2 cups of canned thick tomato juice
1 big onion
3-4 garlic cloves
finely chopped parsley
1 small chili pepper (optional)
salt and pepper

Directions:
1. Soak the giant beans overnight or at least for 10 hours before cooking. Then, drain them out before boiling.
2. Boil the giant beans in salted water for about an hour. Drain them out again.
3. Saute the chopped onion, cloves of garlic, and parsley in half a cup of olive oil. Add the grated tomatoes with just a dash of sugar and let it boil over medium heat for half an hour. Season with salt and pepper. Add chili pepper (0ptional).
4. Mix the tomato sauce with the boiled beans in an oven proof pan. Cover with a sheet of aluminum foil.
5. Bake the bean in the oven covered with aluminum foil for 15 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 30 minutes. Serve with fresh bread and feta cheese.

Tsaziki
Combine fresh yogurt, diced cucumber squeezed, garlic pressed, olive oil, salt, and pepper... all mix to taste.