This dish is perfect for many reasons. A: It is very healthy and light. B: It cleans your fridge, any leftover vegetables, bits and pieces get used up. C: It is the easiest dish to make. D: And, it keeps for three four days in the fridge and gets better each day. Briam is a dish that I learned from my husband. In Greece, this is a very traditional side dish that can go with chicken or meat dishes. There is no set recipe because you can use any vegetables you like. However there has to be these ingredients: Tomatoes, garlic, onion, olive oil (plenty), feta cheese and thyme or oregano (or both). This is the basic of the dish, you can then add any type of vegetables you like and think that would go well together. In the summer courgettes, aubergines, onions and tomatoes, with a bit of potatoes are the best combination. In this recipe, I used mostly winter vegetables, and some summer vegetables like courgettes. Chop them in big pieces, throw into a deep oven dish, pour generous amount of olive oil, crumble some cheese inside and your briam is ready to go. Eat and enjoy!
Ingredients:
1 big onion
3 big tomatoes
6-10 cloves of garlic
3 leeks
1 small bunch of cauliflower
10-12 mushrooms
2 courgettes
A glass of tomato juice or tomato paste mixed in water
2 teaspoons of thyme
Pinch of salt
1/2 glass of extra virgin olive oil
Fresh rosemary (optional)
A chunk of feta cheese
Some parsley leaves (to sprinkle over the top)
How to:
1. Take out a deep oven dish/tray; wash and clean the vegetables; chop them into big chunks; throw all of them into the dish.
2. Add the tomato juice, olive oil, thyme, rosemary, garlic cloves, salt, pepper and mix well. Cover the top with aluminum foil or the lid of your dish and put into the 200 degree oven for half an hour.
3. Take the briam out of the oven, stir the vegetables to cover with tomato juice and olive oil if necessary; also add some more juice if necessary. The vegetables should not be dry. Then crumble some feta cheese on top, cover with your lid and put into the oven again for another 15 minutes.
4. The baking time depends on the vegetables you use in your briam. If you are following this recipe, the vegetables should be cooked and soft by now. Be careful, potatoes and carrots take longer than the other vegetables.
5. Sprinkle with some thinly chopped parsley and your briam is ready to serve. Eat and enjoy!
This briam was made by our friend Artemis and served with a piece of baked chicken.
Start with chopped vegetables. Do not tarry too much, big pieces are okay. =)
Glass of tomato juice. In my case I mixed two table spoons of tomato paste with water and came up with this sauce.
Almost ready to go in the oven.
Finishing touch... Thyme. Yum!