Feta

When you say “Greek” in Oxford, Mississippi, most people will think you are talking about one of three things: sororities and fraternities, antebellum architecture, or Angelo Mistolis’s feta cheese salad dressing. This dressing of mine is great on cold-cut foot-longs and on salads of all sorts.

I’m crazy about farro’s chewy-grainy goodness; this bright refreshing salad is the perfect complement to Grilled Leg of Lamb (page 163) and also makes a great little vegetarian lunch on its own.

Billy Cotter devised this delicious meaty sandwich for his vegetarian wife, Kelli, at their restaurant Toast, in downtown Durham.

Elote—roasted corn on the cob spiked with salty cheese, creamy mayo, lime, and chile powder—is traditional Mexican street food, slightly exotic but homey enough to anyone who has scarfed roast corn at a state fair. It’s also solid party food: guests can garnish their own, and because the pulled-down husk is used as a handle, it can easily be eaten standing up. Cotija cheese, widely available in supermarkets and Mexican tiendas, is a crumbly aged cow’s-milk cheese, weirdly similar to both feta and Parmesan, and either can be substituted here.

Sour citrus and spicy peppercorns are perfect foils for salty feta. (See photo)

If you love spinach and feta, this simple supper is for you.

Because lentils cook quickly, they’re ideal for a simple supper. This thick, earthy stew, chock-full of protein, is most satisfying on a chilly fall or winter evening.

Feta cheese, garlic, and artichoke hearts are some of our favorite ingredients; here, they’re combined in a very simple pasta dish that packs a lot of flavor. For this dish, we make an instant creamy sauce by stirring hot pasta-cooking water into feta.

I have always loved Greek food, and a trip to Greece a few summers ago only reinforced that affection. The Greeks are doing something right with their Mediterranean diet rich in olive oil. A burger might not exactly fit into those parameters, but I can use the salty, briny, and fresh elements that they love to make this burger Greek. Flavorful kalamata olives are blended into a spread for the bun, and this combo wouldn’t be Greek without some salty feta cheese and ripe tomato. You might not be as familiar with tzatziki, but this tangy blend of thick yogurt, pungent garlic, and grated fresh cucumber is a staple in Greek cuisine and is used for practically everything, from a dip for wedges of pita bread and French fries to a topping for sandwiches.

Capture some of the best flavors of Greece—spinach, tomatoes, oregano, garlic, and feta—in this family-pleasing vegetarian casserole.

You’ll think you’re at a taverna on the Mediterranean Sea when you bite into this chicken. It’s packed with flavor from lemon, feta cheese, oregano, and kalamata olives.

Feta cheese lends a little pungent punch and complements the sweetness of the sun-dried tomatoes in this colorful entrée for five or side dish for a crowd.

Roasting vegetables usually takes 45 minutes or longer. The technique we use here takes only 15 minutes, yet provides excellent slow-roasted flavor. For a change, omit the pasta and serve the vegetables as a side dish.

The contrasting bright green edamame, shiny black beans, and snow-white feta cheese in this dish will please your eyes as well as your palate.

The dillweed provides a pleasant aroma, the red pepper flakes give a bit of a kick, and the feta cheese adds tanginess to this attractive green bean and tomato pairing.

Gina: If you’ve never spent a summer in the South, then you don’t know heat like we know heat! Baby, this dish is perfect for a sultry Memphis evening, because it requires very little cooking. The shrimp and zucchini are grilled briefly, and the rest of the ingredients are simply heated in olive oil for a few minutes, to coax out their flavor. Then everything is tossed with pasta shells, and you are done, sugar. We call for cherry tomatoes, but feel free to use Sweet 100, currant, or pear tomatoes, or any other small tomatoes available at your local farmers’ market. Best of all, you’ll walk away from the table feeling satisfied but not too full. Choose a nice Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio, and you are set.