Gyros with greek salad

This is a recipe that is unbelievably easy and low maintenance to make. With a few choice ingredients the marinade is assembled in minutes and after that its just a question of waiting long enough and frying it up quickly. I have adapted it from this (German) source.

Make it the night before and it will be even more worth the effort!

This marinade will suit beef, pork or chicken. As it is only cooked for a very short time it is worth it to invest in a more tender piece of meat...

For three people:
3 Tsp mild paprika
2 Tsp oregano
2 Tsp thyme
1/2 Tsp ground cumin
2 cloves of garlic, pressed or grated
ca. 2 Tsp mustard
salt to taste
a good squeeze of lemon juice
olive oil
500 gr. chopped beef
2 onions, sliced

1. Mix the ingredients for the marinade. Add olive oil bit by bit until the marinade is loose enough to coat the meat. A couple of tablespoons should do it.
2. Add the beef and onion slices making sure everything is well coated.
3. Cover with cling film and wait. :-)
Generally the longer the better. But I would say that half an hour should be the minimum. If you remember, stir everything a couple of times.
4. Heat a frying pan to high heat and fry the meat up in batches. In my experience the oil in the marinade and a nonstick frying pan will do just fine without any extra oil... but suit yourself.
5. Serve with a simple salad of cucumber, tomatoes, black olives and feta cheese.


I can imagine that this would be a good thing to serve up for a crowd with pita breads and extra salad, so that everyone could make their own flatbreads...

Fresh Winter Salad

Hello everyone!

Please excuse my prolonged absence! A challenging new job and an apartment hunt in a city that is notoriously difficult does take its toll... But things are looking up, so let's get back to business!

This delicious salad I just made is a fusion of the wonderful and unanticipated combination of oranges & raw beets (with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of salt) and the citrus & green olive salads that seem to be quite the rage these days (check out Mark Bittmans version on the New York Times homepage).

Inspiration struck today (three oranges lying around from making orange vodka like here) and I tried this version:

(ingredients for a light dinner for two)
three oranges
one raw beet (red ones make for a stunning color combination)
a handful of green olives (de-stoned for convenience)
one small red onion
good olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

1. Start by cutting the peel off the oranges and slicing them, about half a centimeter thick. Spread them on a large enough serving platter.
2. Peel and slice the beet as finely as possible. Supposedly a little olive oil on your hands prevents them from taking on too much color...) Spread them over the oranges.
3. Chop your olives roughly. I cut mine lengthwise into slivers. Sprinkle over your oranges and beets.
4. Peel and slice your onion into half moons and spread over the platter.
5. Drizzle over your olive oil and add seasoning to taste.


The combination of the juicy fruit with the crunch, the sharpness and the saltiness is unbelievably good. I know it may be a bit late to try to get people to go for a winter salad, but if you try this one you will be looking for these ingredients long after the first local strawberries are being sold... Don't take my word for it. Try this one out for yourself!

Mexican sweetcorn salad

I found this dish on the pages of Jamie Olivers magazine, which I always buy when I am in the UK as it is so exorbitantly more expensive here in Switzerland. (So are all the other English mags, but that is a rant for another day.)

It had one section with Mexican food which I found a pleasant surprise. I am not really a big fan of Mexican cooking. I have to admit that this impression comes from a limited number of experiences. I think I've just never been to a restaurant that specializes in the freshness aspect as opposed to the too much cheese and a couple of mildly spicy jalapenos. So these recipes were definitely an eye opener.

The one I was most intrigued by was this spicy sweetcorn salad. The flavours are well balanced and I loved using fresh corn from the cob.

Made for two people:
a tsp of olive oil
small knob of butter
one green chili (mine are hotter than hell, taste yours and see of you need more), finely chopped
one small shallot, finely chopped
two cobs of corn, kernels cut off
4 sprigs of thyme, leaves picked
one clove of garlic, finely chopped
juice of one lime
a small bunch of coriander, chopped
2 spring onions, chopped

Heat a pan with the oil and butter. When in sizzling add the chili and cook for a minute. Add the corn, shallot and thyme. Sauté over high heat (you don't want it to steam) until the corn turns slightly brown and the shallot translucent. This should take about five minutes. Add your garlic, salt and pepper and cook another couple of minutes.
Take it off the heat and add the lime juice, spring onions and coriander.

You could serve it with sour cream and grated Parmesan. Haven't tried that yet.