Home » Amaranth Greens (Vlita Chorta)

Amaranth Greens (Vlita Chorta)

Written by Published on Updated on June 2, 2019 in Mediterranean cuisine, Side Dish

Another delicious green salad that I love, and ate at the tavern on the day I was out with my mom was the Amaranth Green Salad.  Greek people do love their salads, you have seen that there are  many versions for the Traditional Greek Salad, but there are other salads that are not as well known and are so healthy for you. One of these salads is the Amaranth Greens which is also known as Vlita Chorta in Greece.

There are many types of Greens in Greece that are grown in the mountains and rural areas which are hand picked, (my grandmother used to pick greens in the village many many years ago)…well I think most are hand picked because they are quite small to use some kind of machinery. 🙂  There are also different types and tastes such as bitter, and sweet greens that are so very healthy.  To make this salad a delicious treat you need to add in some extra tasty ingredients, and so by adding fresh lemon juice, (fresh lemon juice makes a difference than the already squeezed store bought bottle)  or vinegar,  olive oil, garlic, onions, etc. makes you want to eat this up in minutes. Ahhh and before I forget Feta Cheese and fresh Bread….Yummmm 🙂  

When they served this salad to us there were no added ingredients, so we added Olive Oil and just a dash of fresh Lemon Juice and the taste was fantastic.  Greens don’t exist in NL, and so when I am in Greece I basically have this as a side dish and sometimes even as a Main Dish. 🙂  

In regards to the Lemon juice or Vinegar…topping is completely up to how strong of a taste you want in your salad. 🙂

AMARANTH GREENS (VLITA CHORTA)

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Ingredients
  

  • 2 kilo of Amaranth Greens Vlita
  • 1/2 teaspoon of Baking Soda
  • Lemon Juice
  • Vinegar
  • 1 Onion chopped
  • 2 Garlic Cloves diced

Instructions
 

  • Wash Greens thoroughly and drain.
  • Add baking soda into water and boil. Once the water has started to bubble add in the Greens and boil until withered for about 10 minutes.
  • Drain and set aside to cool off…(some prefer to eat these ho🙂
  • Once cooled add in the chopped onion, or diced garlic or both if you prefer and top with Lemon juice or Vinegar.

 

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Welcome to a small corner of my Greek Heritage. Growing up in New York from Greek parents, was a challenge of its own...but the traditional food, tastes and aromas that my mother cooked always travelled me back to Greece. My mother is a wonderful cook, our house would always have that smell of home cooked food. I remember very clearly that we were only allowed fast food, once a week, that was a huge day for myself and my brother. Jumping up and down in the back car seat, laughing, just being kids. It is true that we all like to eat different foods, taste, smell, even try food that looks different than our regular meals at home and I think that is so natural. In my teens, I was not really into cooking, I enjoyed my magazines after school, listening to music, and just taking a breather. There were times that I would glance at some of my mom's recipes, more out of curiosity than to actually try to cook them. At that time I did not realise that cooking would become my passion one day. Slowly, I would start to look into my mom's recipes a bit more each day and I started to find it interesting as a hobby. Each month I would go into our neighborhood bookstore and pick up my monthly book, until one day I decided to stroll over into the cooking section. That summer was the first time I actually bought a cooking magazine....and I loved it. Cooking and baking started out as a hobby, but now after many years it is my passion. Exploring the cuisines, the spices, the oils, the scents, the variety of smells and tastes that exist. It was and still is an amazing journey without limits. So, come along with me on this adventure, and I hope you enjoy my recipes. Sophie

18 Comments

  1. Jyo
    September 27, 2018 at 12:54 pm  ·  Reply
    Interesting recipe with amaranth leaves ! Simple yet stunner 👌
  2. Megala
    September 27, 2018 at 1:27 pm  ·  Reply
    Wonderful salad! We also use similar amaranth leaves here.
  3. annika
    September 28, 2018 at 1:15 am  ·  Reply
    I had no idea they were called amaranth leaves. I buy these from a Greek grocery store here and they are always labelled Vlita but I call them Indian spinach as these are used extensively in Indian cuisine as well. I love the simplicity of your recipe, will have to try it for hubby as he's not too keen on the Indian version.
  4. Diana Tyler (Eccentric Muse)
    September 28, 2018 at 3:59 pm  ·  Reply
    So that's the name of those leaves! Thanks for sharing and I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
  5. kasiawrites
    September 28, 2018 at 7:58 pm  ·  Reply
    Looks tasty and lemon juice can make anything taste great :)
  6. dtills
    September 29, 2018 at 11:46 pm  ·  Reply
    Hi Sophie! I am having trouble with my Wordpress for some reason!! I hope you are getting at least, some of my comments😊
  7. Kally
    September 30, 2018 at 4:19 am  ·  Reply
    I love all your food posts. I was thinking if you like to do a guest post on my website so I can feature your blog. Maybe an article to gather some of your recipes for soul food to cheer up someone who is having a bad day at work? If you’re interested, please drop me an email and we can take it from there.
    • foodzesty
      September 30, 2018 at 6:56 am  ·  Reply
      Hi Kally, Seriously??? Thank you so very much for your kind words. ! I am a huge fan of your blog and would love too!!! :)

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