Admin Assistance: How to Order Greek Food Delivery for the Office…and Pronounce “Gyros” Correctly
Posted by Sara on Tuesday, May 27th, 2014 with 6 Comments
Busy admin assistants are often tasked with ordering food delivery for the office…which often means trying to find a one-cuisine-fits-all approach that will satisfy all kinds of coworkers. And while it’s easy to stick with tried-and-true favorites like pizza and Chinese, there’s one cuisine that is wonderfully well-suited for pleasing all kinds of diners: Greek food.
Greek dishes like moussaka are an unexpected yet easily accessible choice for food delivery orders.
Image source: Flickr user Alpha
If your only exposure to Greek food is the yogurt that’s taking over the dairy aisle at your local supermarket, you’re in for a treat. Greek food is a cuisine full of savory grilled meats, tangy cheeses, tons of flavor — and a fantastic choice for your next food delivery order. It’s more exciting than the usual pepperoni pie or chicken fried rice, but offers enough familiar ingredients and flavors to keep less adventuresome diners happy, too. Vegetarians, meat lovers, gluten-free dieters, healthy eaters, diehard Paleo diners… there may be no cuisine better adapted to satisfy a wide range of tastes and preferences, which can be a lifesaver for admin assistants trying to feed a crowd.
The best way to try Greek food delivery or takeout in the office for the first time is to order a variety of dishes and stage a makeshift buffet, inviting your coworkers to try a little of everything. Here are a few classic dishes to kick-start your workplace’s foray into Greek cuisine:
Appetizers
Start your meal with a few kinds of meze, or appetizers. Dolmades are a quintessential Greek appetizer: stuffed grape leaves. There are nearly as many kinds of dolmades as there are Greek restaurants, but rice, mincemeat, herbs, and pine nuts are just a few of the traditional ingredients stuffed into rolled grape leaves for a fresh, easy-to-eat finger food.
Vegetarians (but not vegans) can dig into spanakopita, a kind of savory pie made from spinach, cheese (usually feta), and flaky phyllo dough.
Pink taramasalata will satisfy the adventurous palates in the office.
Image source: Flickr user Merle ja Joonas
A simple spread of olives, feta cheese, pita bread, and a dip like tzatziki or hummus is a straightforward way to serve some classic Greek flavors alongside a main dish. To please adventurous palates, include taramosalata (made from carp roe, or caviar) or melitzanosalata (an eggplant dip).
Entrees
Moussaka may be the most iconic Greek entree. A baked casserole-style dish, moussaka consists of layers of eggplant, spiced meat, herbs, potatoes, and a deliciously gooey top layer of bechamel (a saucy mixture of cheeses). Not exactly light and healthy, moussaka is nonetheless sure to satisfy the meat-and-potatoes lovers in the office.
Paleo lovers will adore souvlaki, skewers of grilled meats like lamb and pork. While they’re often served as fast food in Greece and wrapped in pita bread, the skewered meat is just as delicious alongside a pile of vegetables for a standalone low-carb meal.
Gryos are perhaps the most prevalent Greek food in the U.S., and for good reason: they’re delicious!
Image source: Flickr user jeffreyw
Now ubiquitous in the U.S., gyros are probably the most familiar Greek dish. The production of gyros meat itself is quite complicated (beef and lamb trimmings are seasoned and combined with bread crumbs into fused cones of gyros), but the end result is an affordable and delicious dish. Gyros are often eaten sandwich-style, stuffed into pita bread along with tomatoes, red onions, and tzatziki (the refreshing cucumber-yogurt sauce served alongside many Greek dishes). And yes, for the record, it’s pronounced YEE-ros, not JY-ros.
Side Dishes
Along with your mains like moussaka and gyros, Greek cuisine has a number of delicious side dishes to round out your makeshift buffet. Boiled leafy greens, called horta or sometimes hortas vrasta, are drizzled with olive oil and lemon juice for a nutritious and surprisingly flavorful side that’s sure to please health-conscious diners. The Greek version of green bean casserole, fassolakia lathera, is a vegan-friendly option; fresh green beans are cooked with tomatoes and olive oil.
There are many more Greek dishes to explore, but a spread like this will make a nice introduction for your next office food delivery order! Choose from plenty of Greek restaurants for your next feast at Waiter.com, and enjoy the ease of online ordering and prompt delivery along with your delicious meal!
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I have always wanted to try more Greek food and after reading this article I am even more motivated to do so. I really like how Greek food has a little bit of everything for just about everybody. Having catered film and commercial projects it is really hard to please say a hundred different people with the food choices you make. But after this info , I think I might have a new go to when I really need to keep everyone full and happy. I can’t wait to try some of that pita bread, horta or some Moussaka. I really enjoy adventure through food and this will satisfy that I am sure.
Thanks for your thoughts, Kim! It’s true – Greek is a great compromise between people who like adventurous dining (like you) and a hundred other people with different tastes!
What a great idea. Looking at all that good Greek food has my stomach rumbling. Greek food will definitely be next up on the menu.
Thanks Tim – I totally grabbed a Greek salad for lunch right after writing this post! Something about that tomato/olive oil/olive combination is just unbeatable.
First I am glad to learn how to properly say gyros, I was definitely saying it wrong. Second I am in total agreement with the article. I see plenty of people that order Italian, Chinese, and even Thai but you hardly hear anyone asking if you would like to go out for some Greek food. In my opinion Greek food has an awesome mesh over flavors.
Glad I could help with the “jy-ros” versus “yee-ros”!