Wednesday, May 27, 2026

Easy Chicken Kapama

Boneless skinless chicken thighs make this easy kapama chicken with a rich cinnamon scented tomato sauce quick to the table. It’s so very delicious! 

Food Lust People Love: Boneless skinless chicken thighs make this easy kapama chicken with a rich cinnamon scented tomato sauce quick to the table. It’s so very delicious!

Not that I’ve ever made it before but New York Times Cooking says that the traditional Greek version would be made with a whole chicken, cut into its typical pieces. But, of course, bone-in chicken takes much longer to cook so if you are looking for a weeknight dish, starting with boneless chicken is ideal. 

It's also a great make-ahead dish because it just gets better the next day! We liked it the first night but loved it even more as leftovers. 

Easy Chicken Kapama

This recipe is adapted from one on New York Times Cooking. It calls for ground cinnamon as well as two cinnamon sticks and it needs both for a more authentic Greek flavor. Serve it over buttered egg noodles or orzo.

Ingredients
1 lb 12 oz or 800g boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Fine sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Ground cayenne
Ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 (15 oz or 425g) can tomato puree
2 cinnamon sticks
1 teaspoon sugar
2-3 sprigs fresh oregano, leaves only
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, optional

For garnish:
2 tablespoons fresh herbs, such as Italian parsley and oregano, roughly chopped

For serving:
Buttered egg noodles or orzo
Grated kefalotyri cheese or Parmesan
Crushed red pepper, optional

Method
Season the chicken thighs well on both sides with salt, black pepper, cayenne and a sprinkle of ground cinnamon. Cut them into three or four pieces each.


In a large skillet, heat the butter and olive oil over medium flame. Working in batches to avoid overcrowding, cook the chicken until it is lightly browned on both sides. 


Remove to a plate as you cook each batch. The chicken will not be cooked through at this point but, worry not, it will finish cooking in the sauce. 



Slice the onion and garlic thinly. 


Add them to the skillet and cook until the onion is soft and translucent. 


Stir in the tomato puree, tomato paste and water equal to half of the tomato puree can. This also helps rinse the can so you are sure to use all of the puree. Stir well.


Add in the cinnamon sticks and leave to cook for a few minutes.


Return the chicken to the pan along with any juices that have collected on the plate, stir to coat with the sauce and bring to a simmer. 


Turn heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until the chicken is cooked through and the flavors meld, stirring occasionally, 20-30 minutes. Add in the fresh oregano leaves, the spoon of sugar and crushed red pepper, if using, stir well. 


Taste and adjust seasonings to your liking, adding more salt and pepper, if necessary.


Serve the chicken over buttered egg noodles or orzo, spooning the tomato sauce on top. Top with the fresh herbs and grated cheese.

Food Lust People Love: Boneless skinless chicken thighs make this easy kapama chicken with a rich cinnamon scented tomato sauce quick to the table. It’s so very delicious!

Enjoy!

Welcome to the 11th edition of Alphabet Challenge 2026, brought to you by the letter K. Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm for organizing and creating the challenge. Check out all the K recipes below:





Pin this Easy Chicken Kapama! 

Food Lust People Love: Boneless skinless chicken thighs make this easy kapama chicken with a rich cinnamon scented tomato sauce quick to the table. It’s so very delicious!

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Sunday, May 17, 2026

Watermelon Strawberry Feta Salad

Sweet and savory, fruity and refreshing, this watermelon strawberry feta salad is tossed with honey and balsamic vinegar and fresh mint leaves. Don't forget the black pepper as well! 

Food Lust People Love: Sweet and savory, fruity and refreshing, this watermelon strawberry feta salad is tossed with honey and balsamic vinegar and fresh mint leaves. Don't forget the black pepper as well!

Growing up in my home of origin, we always sprinkled salt on watermelon. Is it a Louisiana thing or maybe a southern thing? I don’t know! But I can tell you that the addition of a little salt brings out the innate sweetness of ripe watermelon and even helps the less than perfectly ripe ones taste sweeter somehow. 

Next let’s talk about the strawberries. Not something I grew up with, but there is a contingent of the general population that swears by adding freshly ground black pepper to enhance their strawberriness. Apparently, according to Google, “the piperine in black pepper neutralizes the fruit's natural acidity while elevating its inherent sweetness.” Many claim the same effect from adding a touch of balsamic vinegar.

Take all that together and that’s why I knew that salty feta cheese and aromatic black pepper would be a great addition to a fruit salad made with watermelon and strawberries and dressed with honey and balsamic. 

Watermelon Strawberry Feta Salad

This served two hungry, greedy people but if you have other dishes, it would absolutely stretch to four. That said, it’s also easily doubled AND the weight of ingredients you use is flexible. I give my amounts below as a guideline. This fruity salad is the perfect breakfast, brunch or lunch dish. 

Ingredients
8 oz or 225g strawberries, weight after hulling
10 2/3 oz or 300g watermelon, cut in chunks
Big sprig fresh mint
1 oz or 28g goat or sheep milk feta
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons aged balsamic vinegar

Method
After hulling, slice the strawberries in pieces. 


Give them a quick rinse and gentle spin to dry them.


Cut the watermelon into small cubes.


Pick the leaves off of the mint stem and give them a wash and spin. 


Add the watermelon and strawberries to a large bowl. 


Crumble in the feta and add the mint leaves, along with a few generous grinds of black pepper.


In a small bowl, whisk together the honey and balsamic vinegar. 


Drizzle the mixture over the salad. Toss lightly to combine. 

Food Lust People Love: Sweet and savory, fruity and refreshing, this watermelon strawberry feta salad is tossed with honey and balsamic vinegar and fresh mint leaves. Don't forget the black pepper as well!

Serve immediately at room temperature for best flavor but chill if you aren’t ready to serve right away. 

Food Lust People Love: Sweet and savory, fruity and refreshing, this watermelon strawberry feta salad is tossed with honey and balsamic vinegar and fresh mint leaves. Don't forget the black pepper as well!

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing recipes with strawberries in celebration of Pick Strawberries Day which is 20 May. Many thanks to Camilla of Culinary Cam for the theme and to Sneha from Sneha's Recipe for hosting in her stead. Check out the links below. 

 
We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.




Pin this Watermelon Strawberry Feta Salad! 

Food Lust People Love: Sweet and savory, fruity and refreshing, this watermelon strawberry feta salad is tossed with honey and balsamic vinegar and fresh mint leaves. Don't forget the black pepper as well!

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Wednesday, May 13, 2026

Jägersuppe - Hunter's Soup

A traditional German dish, jägersuppe translates to hunter’s soup in English. This version features wild mushrooms, bacon, red wine and sour cream. 

Food Lust People Love: A traditional German dish, jägersuppe translates to hunter’s soup in English. This version features wild mushrooms, bacon, red wine and sour cream.

A while back I was looking for soup recipes and came across the name jägersuppe. I am not familiar with German cuisine so, intrigued, I followed the links and went down a rabbit hole of recipes with all manner of wild game and foraged ingredients.

The recipe I finally settled on called for chanterelle mushrooms which my high-end local grocery store, Central Market, often carries. Much to my disappointment, they didn’t have any! So I picked up some baby bella mushrooms there instead and decided to hydrate some wild mushrooms to keep to the spirit of the recipe name. 


It turns out that chanterelle season here in the US is July through November so I’ll definitely be making this again later in the year. Even without the special mushrooms though, it was delicious, rich and satisfyingly savory. My husband said it was the best mushroom soup he's eaten in quite a while!

Jägersuppe – Hunter’s Soup

Use whatever nice fresh mushrooms you can find if chestnut ones aren’t available. If you have chanterelles, all the better! This recipe is adapted from one on Gute Kueche, Germany’s Good Food magazine. It makes four servings. 

Ingredients
1 oz or 28g dried wild mushrooms
8 oz or 227g fresh baby bella mushrooms
½ large or 1 small onion (Mine weighed 112g)
2 tablespoons butter
3 ½ oz or 100g bacon crumbles
2 tablespoons flour
4 ¼ cups or 1L beef stock
½ cup or 120ml dry red wine
½ cup or 120ml sour cream
¼ teaspoon white pepper
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt or to taste – depending on the saltiness of your stock
Optional for garnish - chopped flat leaf parsley

Method
Pour boiling water over the dried mushrooms in a heatproof bowl and set aside to soak. 


Clean the fresh mushrooms, trim any hard bits and slice them. 


Mince the onion.


Sauté the sliced mushrooms in the butter.


Keep cooking until they have released their liquid and turned a lovely golden brown. Remove them from the pan and set aside. 


Drain the dried mushrooms, reserving the liquid and straining out any dirt. Chop them finely with a sharp knife.


Fry the bacon crumbles in the same pan you used for the mushrooms.


Add in the minced onion and cook until the onion is softened and translucent. 


Dust the bacon and onion with the flour. (I like to use a little sieve which helps avoid lumps.) Stir well and cook the flour for a minute or two. 


Pour in the stock and red wine and bring to a low boil.


Stir in the fresh and dried mushrooms along with the soaking liquid. Bring to the boil and then simmer for about 10 minutes.


Add the sour cream, season with salt, if needed, and white pepper and bring to a boil again briefly.


Stir well to combine.


Garnish with some chopped parsley to serve. Enjoy! 

Food Lust People Love: A traditional German dish, jägersuppe translates to hunter’s soup in English. This version features wild mushrooms, bacon, red wine and sour cream.

Welcome to the 10th edition of Alphabet Challenge 2026, brought to you by the letter J. Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm for organizing and creating the challenge. Check out all the J recipes below:

To check out the Alphabet Challenges for 2024 and 2025, click here.




Pin this Jägersupper – Hunter’s Soup!

Food Lust People Love: A traditional German dish, jägersuppe translates to hunter’s soup in English. This version features wild mushrooms, bacon, red wine and sour cream.

.