Gert's Moussaka, Vegan Style

While chatting with a my lifelong friend/sister, Barb, on Facebook the other day she mentioned a couple of her mom's family recipes, Moussaka and Stifano.  I think of Moussaka as a Greek lasagna, usually made with eggplant and ground meat, lamb or beef.  It has layers of potatoes, a tangy tomato meat sauce, cheese, and a generous amount of creamy béchamel sauce poured on top of the layers, and topped with cheese.

Gert was one of my favorite mom's growing up.  She had a wide range of talents and great stories to tell of her life experiences.  We remained friends as I became an adult.  I'd come to visit Barb unannounced and if she was not home it wasn't a problem.  I was at home there and stayed anyway. Sometimes Gert & I would crack open a bottle of wine and talk through the night.  I was more at home at her house than my own parents' house. She lost the battle with stomach cancer some years ago and I do think about her from time to time and miss her. Gert was a lot of fun to be around.  She has lived all over the world and when she made an authentic ethnic dish, it was authentic.  I don't think she'd mind what I did with her family recipe. I also made a vegan version of her Stifano, a Greek beef stew, using stew meat size seitan pieces.  I'll be posting that later.  Simmering for three hours in the crock-pot, this dish made my house smell wonderful.

My version of Gert's Moussaka, vegan style.

2 Large eggplants, sliced 1/2" thick
1 14 oz. tube Gimme Lean ground beef style veggie protein - I think Soy curls would work well for this dish
3-4 small zucchini, sliced
1 1/2 pounds red potatoes
1 cup organic Panko breadcrumbs
Cooking oil such as Olive, I used hazelnut oil
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
8 ounces tomato sauce, I just blended my home canned tomatoes
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon chopped dried parsley
small sprig of fresh rosemary
fresh thyme leaves, about 1 teaspoon
1/2 cup red wine
about 1/2 - 3/4 cup Daiya mozzarella style vegan cheese
sea salt and ground pepper to taste

Béchamel Sauce:

1/2 cup, 1 stick, vegan margarine, I used Earth Balance organic
1/2 cup spelt flour
3 cups non dairy milk
1/2 teaspoon tumeric
pinch of nutmeg
sea salt & pepper to taste

Slice and cook the potatoes in a small amount of water for ten minutes or until just tender, al denté.  Set aside.

Peel and slice the eggplant and the zucchini and toss them with a little sea salt.  Then I put them in the dehydrator for an hour or so to let the moisture evaporate.  If you don't have a dehydrator, you can put the slices between paper towels and weight with another plate for an hour or more.

While the eggplant is drying, prepare the 'meat' sauce.  Dice or crumble the veggie protein which looks a lot like ground beef and brown it in a couple tablespoons of oil.  Then add the diced onions, garlic, sea salt, and pepper.  When the meat was brown and onions tender add the cinnamon, nutmeg, herbs, and tomato sauce.  Stir well, add the wine, and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring a couple times.

The eggplant can be steamed, or sauteed with or without a breading.  I chose to dip them in some egg replacer and dredged in a little spelt flour.  Then I gently fried them in a little hot oil just until they were golden, not very long.  Then put them aside on a paper towel until I needed them.  I suppose when I have fresh picked eggplant from the garden I could just put the slices 'as is' without any prior cooking. But, since I used eggplant from the market which is probably not so fresh, it needed some tenderizing first.

Lightly oil a 9" x 13" pan and sprinkle the panko bread crumbs in the bottom.  Leave a small space around the edges of the pan so the bechamel sauce can ooze over the sides of the dish. Make the first layer with the sliced potatoes.  Top with a layer of eggplant slices, add the tomato 'meat' sauce, sprinkle with the shredded Daiya cheese.  Add the zucchini slices next.  Top with a layer of eggplant slices.

Preheat the oven to 350º and make the béchamel sauce.

Béchamel Sauce

Melt the vegan margarine.  Using a whisk, add the flour to the melted margarine whisking continuously to make a smooth rue.  Allow the mixture to cook for a minute but do not allow it to turn brown.  Add non dairy mild in a steady stream, whisking continuously.  Simmer over low heat until it thickens a bit but does not boil.  Remove from heat, and stir in turmeric, nutmeg, salt, and pepper.

Pour the béchamel sauce over the eggplant and be sure to allow sauce to fill the sides and corners of the pan.  Smooth the bechamel on top and sprinkle remaining cheese.  Bake in 350º oven for 45 minutes or until sauce is a nice golden brown color.  Allow to cool for 15 - 20 minutes before slicing and serving.

Most of this dish can be made ahead of time, but it's best to make the béchamel sauce right before you intend to bake it.

Enjoy, I am going to go have some right now.

Vegan Adobo Stew

I thought I'd better get busy trying a couple recipes out of my latest Veg News.  The new issue is about to come out and I've hardly cracked this one.  I've read a couple articles, but I hadn't cruised the recipes yet.  It didn't take long to find a couple I wanted to make today.  I made the Authentic Adobo and a Dark Chocolate Truffle Tart.  The tart pictures will have to be posted tomorrow.  I want it to chill all night.  The recipe says one hour in the refrigerator, but I want to make sure the truffle filling is really firm when I cut it for that 'slice of tart' photo.

 Dark Chocolate Truffle Tart ~ Vegan & Gluten Free

 At first glance I thought Adobo was a Spanish dish, Adobo being a Spanish word.  I was thinking it was something like Chili Colorado. I use a can of chipotle peppers in Adobo sauce once in a while and I thought that sauce was really spicy, must be the influence of the chipotles. This dish is a bit spicy, but not hot and not a Spanish flavor. There is a Spanish style Adobo but as it turns out this Adobo is a Filipino dish.  Adobo is a very popular cooking technique in the Filipino kitchen.  It's an ancient cooking method that preserves cooked food in hot climates by simmering vegetables in a healthy dose of vinegar. And as the Veg News article mentioned, the vegetables and seitan respond beautifully to this trick with the blend of vinegar, soy, and garlic.  This dish would satisfy a Veg-curious omnivore. I love the quantity of garlic in this dish. Finally, I thought, a recipe in proportion to the amount of garlic I still have from the garden last year, 3 tablespoons. **smiling**

The original name of the recipe is Seitan Adobo Stew, but I had these nice soy curls made locally.  I picked some up at the Portland Veg Fest last September.  I just soaked the dry curls in filtered water for about an hour and drained.  They sauteed nicely.

Seitan Adobo Stew

     Terry Hope Romero

1 cup small red potatoes, diced
4 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
2 cups Asian eggplant, cut into thin slices (I diced mine in about 1 inch dice)
10 ounces seitan, diced 1/2-inch thick (Soy Curls will work well for this dish)
3 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2/3 cup mild soy sauce (I used Tamari)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 bay leaves

Garnishes:

1 cup diced red cherry tomatoes
1 ripe banana, peeled and sliced
2 scallions, white parts removed and green ends thinly sliced (I used all the scallion)
1 cup chopped cilantro
1 cup white or brown rice

1. In a small pot, cover diced potatoes with 2 inches of cold water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes,until potatoes turn tender and can be easily pierced with a fork.  Drain and set aside.
2. In a large pot or dutch oven over medium high heat, heat 2 tablespoons oil.  Add eggplant, frying for 4 to 5 minutes, on both sides until brown. Remove from pot and set aside.  Add another 1 tablespoon oil and brown seitan or soy curls, flipping occasionally until edges are golden.  Remove from pot and set aside.
3. Add remaining oil, garlic, and pepper and stir-fry for 30 seconds.  Return eggplant, seitan or soy curls, and potatoes to pot.  Pour soy sauce and vinegar over vegetables, then add brown sugar and bay leaves.  Bring to a bubbling simmer, and gently stir a few times.  Reduce heat to low.
   
4. Cover and simmer for 30 to 35 minutes, occasionally stirring.  Sauce will reuce and eggplant should be very tender.  remvoe from heat, partially uncover, and let stand for 10 minutes.  to serve, ladle stew into serving bowls.  Garnish with tomatoes, banana, scallions, and cilantro.  Serve with a side of steamed rice.

I was really apprehensive about the banana garnish, but it was excellent with the other flavors.  I'll make this again.  It's a very flavorful and satisfying meal.

Eggplant Bacon

Eggplant bacon? Or is it eggplant jerky?  You can call it either.  When it's made with the common large eggplant the strips do resemble bacon as in my previous post . I think it satisfies that sweet salty taste we like in bacon without all the nasty health risks that come with eating real bacon.

Recently I got some locally grown eggplants which are a little more the size of softballs than eggplants we see most often.
 

I think this batch should be called Canadian bacon.

Someone asked me for the recipe the other day and I found it difficult to get to the site of my favorite eggplant bacon recipe.  It's been down a couple times so I thought I'd better get the recipe posted before I lose it.  I've got it pretty much memorized, but I do have a few recipes in my head, too easy to forget something.

I found this recipe on a site called: Raw & Simple, It's from the Every Day Raw cookbook by Matthew Kenney.  It's very simple and the "bacon" is a big hit with just about everyone who tries it.


 Eggplant Bacon
      Every Day Raw, page 58
  
Ingredients:
 
    1 large eggplant, thinly sliced
    1 tablespoon sea salt
    1/2 dried chipotle chile, soaked at least 2 hours
    1/2 cup soaking water from the chipotle peppers
    2 tablespoons maple syrup
    2 tablespoons olive oil
    2 tablespoons nama shoyu
    2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
    1 teaspoon chili powder
    1/2 teaspoon paprika
    1/2 teaspoon cumin
    pinch black pepper
    pinch cayenne

 Directions:

To make the thin sheets of eggplant I used a mandolin or peeler. The mandolin is great at getting them sliced at an equal size, but sliced in 1/4" thick slices will work just fine too.  I tried it with a peeler, but they were just too thin for me.

Once you have sliced your eggplant, sprinkle it with the sea salt and allow to sit for 1-2 hours.  Layer your eggplant sheets between paper or cloth tea towels and press out excess moisture.

In the mean time, blend the other ingredients in the liquid container of your Vita-Mix.

Submerge the squeezed eggplant in the marinade. I put them in a baggie and purged as much air as possible (as I would with any marinade). Marinate 30-45 minutes.

Carefully lay out the eggplant sheets onto your dehydrator trays and dehydrate until crispy (24 – 48 hours).

~~Enjoy!~~

Eggplant Bacon & Collard Wraps

 I made some bacon this weekend, out of eggplant.  While watching my new friend, Desirée's, raw foods class she mentioned that she made bacon with eggplant.  I needed to know about that.  It wasn't hard to find a nice recipe online.  I used this one from Raw & Simple, but now that I've done it once, I can see endless variations.  I found it pretty good, but I think I may have overdone it a bit on the dash of cayenne.  At first when I took it out of the dehydrator, I found it a bit too spicy, but as it cooled the flavor mellowed a bit.  I like them.  You couldn't get this past a meat eater as a 'bacon' substitute, but I find this a great sweet/salty snack, the maple flavor combined with the smoked paprika give it that bacony kind of flavor.  I've planted nine eggplants in the garden.  Hopefully I'll have a lot to test out. I probably could have left it in the dehydrator a little longer.  They are a little leathery.  But, when I turned them over this morning, they were so delicate, the fan was blowing them off the tray so I took them out.  I'll like them though.  I must, I've been munching them all day.  I have to save a couple to share at work tomorrow. 

I served them with some of the cashew ricotta I made for the vegetable wraps this weekend, grated carrots, fresh mixed sprouts, and some fresh vegan herb foccacia bread. Kinda of a bacon, cheeze, and greens, sandwich.

The Collard Wraps

This combines some great recipes from the Vegan Fusion Cuisine cookbook: An Almond/Basil Paté, Cashew Ricotta Cheeze, with fresh avocado, grated carrots, a mixture of different sprouts, rolled in large fresh collard greens and served with a Cucumber mint sauce.  All of the herbs used in this dish were picked from our garden this morning.  They kind of resemble sushi rolls.

 Collard Wraps with Cucumber Mint Sauce

I've rolled enough of these to share with some friends and feed us for a couple meals.  

This was Scott's father's day dinner.  Afterwards we had some of the dairy free chocolate mousse, made with fresh ground almond butter. This time I used organic chocolate extract instead of a vanilla bean for a real chocolaty flavor.

Bene Bolognese

Bene Bolognese Recipe 

Made this tasty vegan version of a recipe generally made with pork, beef, and cream last night. I added some chopped eggplant from the garden, a diced mild chili, and used white troufle balsamic vinegar and water instead of the white wine. Most of the ingredients came from my garden. I am looking forward to lunch today.

Vive Bene

Garden Update September

It was a slow start and we didn't get to give away as much vegetables as last year, but the garden is booming now.  We've harvested probably three loads just like this one this week.  It's been a busy week of washing, preparing, storing, and finding homes for our garden goodies.  It's been fun though.  I have lots put up for the winter.  I don't think I will be visiting a grocery store as much as I did last winter.  While canning my sauerkraut made from our garden cabbage this weekend, I realized that I am entertained by watching a canner simmer or fresh ice cream churning. Funny.

Roasted Garden Veggies

Columbia River Gorge, George, WA

We went to the Gorge this last Labor day for some sunshine, camping, wandering, and enjoying music with friends.  When we returned after not being to the garden for almost a week, we found that it had kind of exploded.  We harvested at least three carloads of veggies out of there this week.  I not only gave away lots to friends and family, our local produce stand took some too, giving me credit toward some winter veggies and fruit.  Life is good.

A portion of what I harvested yesterday became a tasty vegetable roast shortly after arriving home.

I sliced the squash, eggplant, and tomatoes to about a half inch thick. I chopped the parsley, a little fresh oregano, and the garlic. I layered it all in a glass baking dish lightly greased with some coconut oil. I added a little grated Romano cheese and some Panko bread crumbs to the top. I baked it for about 40 minutes at 375°.

Before Roasting, adding just a small amount of Romano Cheese

After Roasting.

The lemony early girl tomatoes were delightful with the roasted eggplant and fresh oregano. 

Keep Moving Forward

As happy and calm as I seem to be most of the day, I do have those times when I am a screaming inside because I just don't understand how my son ended up in prison and how my other son will be in a war zone in just a couple days. I feel great after my morning prayer and meditation but have to stop throughout the day and refresh that feeling with a little breathing and prayer. I noticed this yesterday. After a nice quiet morning at home and some peace in the garden, just a short time later, I am going through this tense feeling again. I am driving to the farmer's market listening to the Grateful Dead marathon on KBOO, and looking forward to the events of the day. I should be feeling great, but I find myself suddenly in tense screaming mode. This feeling seems like it just comes out of no where and without warning. I take a few breaths and mutter a "God's will, not mine" or some other short prayer that reminds me I am not in control and freaking out is not going to help the situation. The feeling passes in a few moments. I try to combat this stress by being creative, busy, and productive. The gardening helps and so do the cooking adventures. The only thing I can control in this process is how I react to these situations and feelings. I can only keep moving forward in the best, positive way I know how and not cause any more pain. I need to remind myself that life is good for the most part and there is a lot of love in my life. We will get through this, this will pass. I must say that my husband and I really did have a very nice day together yesterday and look forward to another today. We do enjoy each others' company. I have a great relationship and some very loving friends. I know I am not going through this alone.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of testing a few recipes for The Flexitarian Cookbook coming out this fall. It's a collection of recipes that can be made with or without meat.

I can't reveal the recipes yet, but I got to try out:

White Bean & Spinach Soup

Tuscan Bean Soup

Roasted Eggplant and Mint Salad

And:

Jeff's Grilled Elote, a spicy Mexican corn on the cob

I did get a lot of the week's cooking done yesterday. I will probably put together something sweet, but for the most part, taking it slow is my goal. Today I am hoping to get some crocheting and reading time, maybe a nice long walk, even if it's raining.

Eggplant Pecan Paté

After the farmer's market trip yesterday I still needed an eggplant for my Polenta Vegetable Bake. I stopped in the local produce market and she only had some eggplants that were beginning to look a little tired so she gave them to me for free. I took three of them. One I used in the Polenta bake, the other two I roasted this morning and made eggplant paté. This is a Dr. Weil recipe from Eating Well for Optimum Health. I've made it a few times. It's easy, quick, and very good. It can be eaten with other vegetables like a dip, on crackers, toast, or by itself. I like to break off pieces of the red cabbage bowl and use them as a scoop. Pretty tasty and contains some good fiber and protein from the eggplant and the Pecans. And of course, no cholesterol as it is plant based. The recipe is really named "Eggplant Walnut Pate" but I have a foodie, kitchen witch, friend who is allergic to walnuts and if she happens to stop by, I would like to be able to share some with her.

Egg Plant-Walnut Paté (I use Pecans)
1 large eggplant
1 cup walnut or pecan pieces
2 tsp fresh ginger root, peeled, grated, and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped or crushed
1 TB extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp ground allspice
salt and pepper to taste
dash of hot pepper sauce to taste (I have used red pepper flakes, about 1/8 tsp.)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pierce the eggplant with a fork in several places and bake until very soft, about 45 minutes.
2. While eggplant is baking, grind the nuts in a food processor until very fine, and set aside.
3. Remove the eggplant from oven, slash to let steam escape, drain off any liquid and scrape the pulp into a food processor with the ginger, garlic, and olive oil. Process until smooth.
4. Add ground nuts and process until smooth.
5. Flavor the mixture with the allspice, salt, and drops of hot pepper sauce to taste. Chill.

Eggplant Pecan Paté

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Easy Eggplant, Vegan Potato Salad, Carrot Ginger Oatmeal Cookies

I'm having some eggplant for dinner tonight. I probably already lost some of you with that first sentence. I think eggplant has a bad reputation. We aren't programmed to eat purple food much less something growing out of the ground that sounds like it might taste or look like an egg. Yikes!

Eggplant is low in saturated fat and cholesterol. It is also a good source of Vitamin K, thiamine, vitamin B6, Folate, Potassium and Manganese, and a very good source of dietary fiber. It also has only 33 calories in a cup cooked. Raw, it has only 20 calories per cup.

A friend of mine gave me a great recipe last week. She had never tried eggplant, but became a big fan after preparing it this way. This is an easy dish to prepare and by alternating the ingredients in the eggplant slices, there are different flavors in each bite. My husband doesn't like eggplant, he doesn't mind it raw in a salad, but I will probably be eating the whole dish I made. I am not disappointed about that. I used one and a half large eggplants. I use the fourth half for our salad this week.

Easy Baked Eggplant

It looks really pretty before being roasted. That is a head of garlic in the pan. I threw it in to roast at the same time. I squeeze out the garlic paste and use as a garlic spread.

After roasting - At the end of the process a topping with Parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs, and oregano is added to the top and lightly browned.

I am also enjoying some vegan potato salad. The sunshine Saturday got me to thinking about eating outdoors. So I made some traditional outdoor food.

 This is a vegan version of deli potato salad. Not too much different than most people make. I used red potatoes, diced red onion, celery, a diced red bell pepper, garlic, chopped parsley, a tablespoon of spicy deli mustard, sweet pickle relish, 2 oz flax seed oil, 1 oz garlic chili fax seed oil, and Celtic sea salt to taste. This salad has a nice fresh taste to it. Since there is no mayo or eggs, it travels well too.

I made some Carrot Ginger Oat cookies this weekend too. I thought I would look on my own blog to see how easy it was to get a recipe. I found a nice vegan cookie recipe on the 101 Cookbooks Link, Carrot Ginger Oat Cookies. I had decided to make it and realized that I'd seen that recipe before somewhere. I already had a recipe very similar to this one except mine uses maple syrup and bananas as sweetener and thickener and a tablespoon of fresh ginger and some fresh ground cardamom. I also mixed up my flours, I used WW pastry flour, oat flour, and some Teff flour. It's a very small grain, the smallest on the planet. It is very high in dietary fiber, iron, and provides protein and calcium. It's very similar to quinoa or millet. I put the grains in a coffee grinder to make the flour. Bob's Red Mill sells it. I am not sure if they have the flour, but they do have the grain. I omitted the nuts and used dried cranberries instead of raisins. They are very light and cake-like. They didn't photograph too well, in my opinion. But, they are good, low fat, high fiber, and dairy free.

Carrot Ginger Oat Cookies and Almond Milk with fresh ground nutmeg