Weekdays are quite busy for me trying to balance between heavy work schedule and home. Every day I wake up at 6:30 in the morning. For half an hour, I go around the world checking the news, my mail and whatever happens in social media. At 7:00 I start preparing breakfast for my son and me and arrange whatever my husband and I are going to take for lunch at work. After all this and after having waken my son, I start getting ready for work. I leave home around 8:15 to 8:30 and from that time until late afternoon I am overwhelmed with work.
At 17:00 I run to pick my son from school bus stop and we return home again. During the afternoon, I either stay at home trying to do some household works or I go out to shop supplies for cooking and house. In Greece, apart from the big supermarkets there still exist butchers, greengrocers and bakeries. They can be found in every neighborhood selling their goods. After the supermarket boom of the 80’s and 90’s many people have returned to these little stores. They are not in number as they used to be before the coming of large grocery chains, but lately they have started gaining an increasing number of consumers who consider them to have fresher goods, less industrialized and are supporters of local producers.
It is true that buying everything from one place is quite tempting especially for people like me who work and do not have the luxury of spending time running around, plus the fact that supermarkets because of the volume they traffic, they manage to have much better prices. Nevertheless, since I have started buying from such little stores, I realized that although I cannot do anything about time lost, I see a real economy in my wallet. Since prices are a bit more expensive in these stores, I am very careful to buy exactly what I want and I do not fill my basket with useless, excessive produce and goods. I buy small quantities enough for the three of us and I am trying to consume them within the week. In this way, not only do we eat fresh goods but also, I am not throwing anything.
Another advantage of buying from small stores is the personal relationship you develop with the owner of the store. He values you more and tries to have you satisfied. He guides you to whatever is just arrived and is as fresh as it could be. If something you choose is not worth buying, he gently puts forward another option showing you that this might not be right for you. Since I have started following this practice, I watched my fridge being less crowded and my money more wisely spent.
At the end of last week, I paid my usual visit to the butcher and the green grocer. I bought some chicken and peppers and tomatoes. Now that temperature has risen above 20’s C here, I thought stuffed peppers and tomatoes (Gemista) should be in order. Gemista are rice and ground beef stuffed peppers and tomatoes and it is a food that is eaten a lot especially during spring, summer and fall when these vegetables are in season. Nevertheless, when Sunday arrived and since I had this chicken in my fridge I changed my mind and decided to stuff my veggies with it and with eggplant and zucchinis. I had them in my fridge also and it was the perfect chance to use them.
It was a delicious dish packed with flavors and a very healthy, light meal. Not only did we enjoy eating it but also, I used all the vegetables I bought.
- 3 chicken breasts about 700 gr. / 1.5 lb, boneless, skinless, diced
- 7 tomatoes
- 7 peppers any color
- 2 zucchinis, cut in small cubes
- 1 eggplant, peeled and cut in small cubes
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- Salt, pepper
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 chicken bouillon
- 4 tbsp light or heavy cream
- 2 tsp double concentrated tomato paste
- ½ cup melting cheese
- A small bunch of parsley
- Olive oil for sautéing
- Cut the upper part of the tomatoes and with a spoon empty the tomatoes leaving about 1 cm / less than half inch skin around.
- In your blender mash the tomato flesh.
- Add the oregano, basil, sugar, thyme, salt and pepper and blend for a second to incorporate.
- Cut the upper part of the peppers, remove the seeds and discard them.
- Put them aside.
- In a skillet pour some olive oil and sauté the onions, eggplant and zucchinis until they start to soften about 10 minutes in medium heat.
- Add the tomatoes and the bouillon and boil in medium/low heat for about 5 minutes.
- Pour the heavy or light cream and tomato paste and cheese and boil for another 5 minutes.
- In the meantime, in another skillet sauté the chicken pieces with some olive oil until half done.
- Transfer the chicken pieces to the tomato batter and mix to incorporate.
- Preheat oven to 175°C / 350°F.
- Stuff the peppers and tomatoes with the chicken.
- Take a heavy pan add some olive oil and place the stuffed peppers and tomatoes close to each other.
- Pour about a cup of boiling water around the edges of the pan.
- Place the pan in the oven and bake for about an hour.
- Remove, let rest for five minutes and serve.
- 3 στήθη κοτόπουλου χωρίς κόκαλα και πέτσα 700 γρ., κομμένο σε κύβους
- 7 ντομάτες
- 7 πιπεριές οποιοδήποτε χρώμα
- 2 κολοκυθάκια κομμένα σε μικρούς κύβους
- 1 μελιτζάνα, καθαρισμένη και κομμένη σε μικρούς κύβους
- 1 κρεμμύδι, ψιλοκομμένο
- 1 κ.γ. ξερό βασιλικό
- 1 κ.σ. ξερή ρίγανη
- ½ κ.γ. ξερό θυμάρι
- Αλάτι, πιπέρι
- 1 κ.σ. ζάχαρη
- 1 ζωμός κότας
- 4 κ.σ. κρέμα γάλακτος 15% λιπαρών
- 2 κ.γ. πάστα ντομάτας
- ½ φλ. κίτρινο τυρί, τριμμένο
- Ένα μικρό ματσάκι μαϊντανό
- Ελαιόλαδο για το σοτάρισμα
- Κόβουμε το πάνω μέρος από τις ντομάτες και με ένα κουτάλι τις αδειάζουμε, αφήνοντας περίπου 1 cm γύρω γύρω.
- Στο μπλέντερ λιώνουμε τη σάρκα από τις ντομάτες.
- Προσθέτουμε τη ρίγανη, το βασιλικό, τη ζάχαρη, το θυμάρι, αλάτι και πιπέρι και ανακατεύουμε για ένα δευτερόλεπτο για να ενσωματωθούν.
- Κόβουμε το πάνω μέρος από τις πιπεριές, αφαιρούμε τα σπόρια και τα πετάμε.
- Τις βάζουμε στην άκρη.
- Σε ένα τηγάνι ρίχνουμε λίγο ελαιόλαδο και σοτάρουμε τα κρεμμύδια, τις μελιτζάνες και τα κολοκυθάκια μέχρι να αρχίσουν να μαλακώσουν περίπου 10 λεπτά σε μέτρια φωτιά.
- Προσθέτουμε τις ντομάτες και τον ζωμό και βράζουμε σε μέτρια φωτιά για περίπου 5 λεπτά.
- Ρίχνουμε την κρέμα γάλακτος και την πάστα ντομάτας και το τυρί και βράζουμε για άλλα 5 λεπτά.
- Εν τω μεταξύ, σε ένα άλλο τηγάνι σοτάρουμε το κοτόπουλο με λίγο ελαιόλαδο μέχρι να μισοψηθεί.
- Μεταφέρουμε τα κομμάτια κοτόπουλου στο μίγμα ντομάτας και ανακατεύουμε να ενσωματωθούν.
- Προθερμαίνουμε το φούρνο στους 175°C.
- Γεμίζουμε τις πιπεριές και τις ντομάτες με το κοτόπουλο.
- Σε ένα πυρέξ ή βαθύ ταψί προσθέτουμε λίγο ελαιόλαδο και τοποθετούμε τις γεμιστές πιπεριές και ντομάτες κοντά κοντά.
- Ρίχνουμε περίπου ένα φλιτζάνι βραστό νερό γύρω από τις άκρες του ταψιού.
- Τοποθετούμε το ταψί στο φούρνο και ψήνουμε για περίπου μια ώρα.
- Αφαιρούμε, αφήνουμε για πέντε λεπτά και σερβίρουμε.
