[Greek Gods] Honey and Strawberry Baklava with Pistachios

Q. What happens when Greek Gods meet the Kitchen Goddess (in training!) blog?

A. A modern twist on a Greek classic with honey and strawberry yogurt, filo pastry and pistachios.

Those of you who know the Foodies100 website may well be aware of the competition currently being run by GreekGods.

The idea was to make a love-inspired dessert fit for Aphrodite using some of the company’s own Greek Style yogurt.

I chose honey and strawberry flavour (after all, what’s more romantic than a red heart shaped fruit?) and decided to update the Greek classic Baklava and bring it into the 21^st Century!

Each piece of filo pastry stacked on top of the next shows the layers of your love for the partner – each piece representing another thing you love about them. And what better way to say your love makes me “nuts” then with a good helping of pistachios!

This recipe is also super simple. It’s the perfect recipe for any Greek God (or Goddess) wanting to cook their partner a romantic dinner without spending all of their time in the kitchen. After all, the time you save on cooking, you can use for romancing.

Here’s my recipe!

Strawberry Frozen Yogurt

Hopefully you’ve all had a chance to see my delicious strawberry ice-cream recipe! It should be a summer staple for anyone who loves to cook from scratch.

I’m lucky enough to not only have parents who grow a whole variety of fruit in their garden (from eating and cooking apples to strawberries, raspberries and gooseberries) but to also have a fruit farm that allows you to “pick your own” just 15mins away! One of my favourite things about summer is going to the fruit farm to find big juicy strawberries and much, much more!

When I came home from university (FOR GOOD!) last weekend I was greeted by two huge punnets of strawberries that my parents had picked from said fruit farm. Now call me crazy, but I truly believe that these strawberries taste like they come from that particular fruit farm!


Can a human REALLY tell where a strawberry is from by taste alone? Well...I think I can!

There was no room for them in the fridge so I had to come up with a few new ideas and turn them into something delicious before they were past their best – strawberry ice-cream was first on the list and we now have a tub chilling in the freezer as we speak!

Now I could have simply doubled the batch, but...the recipe isn’t exactly good for anyone who is conscious of their weight and what they eat so I attempted a “lighter” but just as delicious strawberry frozen yogurt, and I was VERY impressed!

Whilst my home-made strawberry ice-cream is rich and velvety, the frozen yogurt is light and fresh (and best of all virtually fat free!!!!!) I definitely recommend giving this healthier option a go because let’s be honest...you can’t eat ice-cream every day and expect a beach ready bikini body!

Twice Baked Sweet Potato

I do love a good jacket potato don’t you? There are endless topping choices from coleslaw to cheese, from chilli to beans and so much more! Even a simple dollop of butter will do.

But...they can get a bit boring...

Being a student I most definitely eat my fare share of jacket potatoes! In the winter I can easily eat 4 in a week and it can get extremely repetitive! So, I was determined to come up with a jacket potato with a twist, something new and exciting and perhaps more appropriate for a light dinner as winter moves into spring.

The rather delicious sweet potato was my starting point. I love its soft sweet flesh whether its mashed or turned into wedges, but I’d never actually had it quite simply as a baked potato.

Low Fat Creamy Mushroom and Chicken Pasta Bake

Diets - lets be honest, they are restrictive, they're not the same as teaching yourself healthy eating habits, and on diets there are certain foods that are off limits including creamy, cheesey pasta bakes!

However, I have come up with a delicious alternative to normal creamy jars of pasta bake that mean when you're 'dieting' or trying to get back into healthy eating habits, you can still have a big bowl of comfort food and not feel the guilt!

My healthy eating saviour is 0% fat Greek yogurt (in case your wondering I use Total!), this is what gives the dish its distinct creaminess (you may have noticed it in my curries too!), so you may need to nip down to the supermarkets to get the ingredients but it will be WELL worth it! Trust me!

I'd also recommend either using wholewheat pasta or pasta with low dietary carbs like Dreamfields but its not essential!

Low-fat Apple Tea Cake

At the minute I have two culinary conundrums... Firstly, my apple tree is HEAVING! We can't catch them quick enough as they fall off the tree, secondly I have eaten far too indulgently over the last two months of being at home and am in desperate need of a few more healthy treats in my recipe file!

This recipe was my saviour! A tasty treat, but with a lot less fat than your average cake recipe!

(NB. This recipe was adapted from an original Weight Watchers recipe)
Enjoy!