Lazy Veggie Moussaka

I used to make eggplant parmesan. At some point, I lost the taste for it. I think the problem is that I'm not much of a tomato fan,  plus I got turned off by the incessant heartburn that comes with pregnancy and/or old age. I'll let you decide which category I fit into.

Details of my tomato aversion are in a previous blog dated 9/16/10 "You say tomato and I say bleeachhhhhhhhhhh.....".

I do not mind eggplant, and since Walmart curbside pickup sent two not one, and more zucchinis than I had ordered (a whole other blog), I tried a new recipe. It looks lengthy and complicated but it's not any worse than making lasagna. It's definitely more nutritious without all the pasta carbs, and just a bit of yummy fat.  Also, I learned that you need to be flexible, especially these days. So I bent over backwards...not easy at my age, and created this from what I had lying around the house...food items that is. Because I wanted to make it meatless, I looked up regular and vegetarian/vegan options. I combined ingredients and procedures that I found online, with my own ideas, then adapted and simplified the recipe because I'm lazy. It's a bit of a process, but not that difficult. It just has a few steps. Ingredients are in red letters. French terms are my attempt at chef-speak.

By the way, it was delicious. It can get a bit salty so be aware when adding this ingredient. Also,  please excuse my comments and asides. I can't seem to help myself.

***Fun Fact - I was curious as to what moussaka, a Greek word, means in English so I google translated it and you'll never believe it! In English, moussaka is....moussaka.

                                   
                                                      VEGGIE MOUSSAKA A LA HILDE

Prepare and set aside the following while preheating oven to 400 degrees.

2 medium eggplants partly peeled and sliced lengthwise
3 potatoes, peeled, sliced lengthwise
3 medium large zucchini sliced length wise. Put on paper towels on a baking sheet, sprinkle with salt, leave 30 minutes to remove liquid and bitterness, then dry off.

 When eggplant is dried, put all sliced veggies on olive oiled cookie sheets and bake 20 minutes at 400 degrees.

Bechamel Sauce  (can be prepared while eggplants are salted)

Equal amounts butter (or olive oil), and flour (approx. 1/2 cup of each)
salt/pepper to your taste
3 cups milk (warmed...essential)
1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Instructions - In a large saucepan, melt butter or heat olive oil depending on your preference. Be careful not to burn. Stir in flour, salt, pepper. Stir with wooden spoon to create a roux. I think a roux is a fancy french cooking term for a combined lump of flour and melted butter. (see pic) Using a whisk, gradually add warm milk, whisking to prevent lumps. Continue cooking until slightly thickened, stirring with wooden spoon again. Add nutmeg.

Cover pot in wax paper to prevent layer of skin from forming. I put a lid on top of waxed paper. You can probably use plastic wrap or paper towels but I can't promise you'll remain skinless.

 
Lentil Sauce

Make this when veggies are roasting in oven.

Lentils  I used a normal sized can of green ones, drained and rinsed. They were nice and small. Buying dry, soaking, cooking etc. is too much work. I feel like black beans would work in this recipe as well, but haven't experimented yet.
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 can crushed tomatoes - I used flavoured "Aylmer Accents" (made in Canada),
because I like it better...whole undrained can. No, they don't pay me for my endorsement.                                      ***Note to self - look into getting paid.
1/2 cup broth or water (if you want)
1 tsp. dry oregano
1/2 tsp nutmeg
pinch cinnamon
olive oil tablespoonish

Instructions - In a decent sized pan, saute (French for fry 'em up gently) onions and garlic in olive oil for a few minutes until it smells good. Add lentils, tomatoes or accents, broth or water (I didn't add any because I left the liquid from the canned tomatoes in there), and spices. Simmer for about 20 minutes.

Assembly - the fun part

I used a 9x13" casserole type baking dish. I know this for a fact because during covid isolation boredom, I decided to measure all my pans and write the sizes on the bottom with permanent marker.

Covid Query - Why are baking pans measured in imperial and not metric? Could it be so that they can bake in a Fahrenheit oven?

Pour half lentil sauce in the bottom of pan (hopefully it's not too runny...mine wasn't).  Layer the veggies in an order of your choice. At this point, if you want but not essential, you can toss a few specks of some kind of  grated cheese between the layers. I did, although I didn't use much. I just had a brief flashback remembering eggplant parmesan and the veggies looked a bit naked.

Pour remaining lentil sauce. Cover entire casserole with bechamel sauce and smooth it out. I hate wrinkly sauce don't you? The photo was taken mid smooth.
Bake in middle oven rack, still 400 degrees for about 45 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from heat and let stand for 20 minutes or so. I covered it loosely with foil to keep it hot. Cut into squares. Here's mine, right out of the oven.

Refrigerate leftovers for up to 3 days, I hope, because we're having them today after 3 days.

Kale - The Superfood

Although I love vegetables above all other foods, I didn't grow up eating a lot of different varieties. I feel as though there are many more types of these nutritious foods available to us nowadays. In the grocery store produce aisle you can find local and exotic imports from pretty much every corner of the globe.

I knew kale was one of the superfoods even before Dr. Oz began to preach same.  I first tried cooking it and found the taste unpleasant, bitter as it were. Then I would throw raw kale into the blender with some type of liquid, close my eyes and gulp green slime in an attempt to down this vegetable...disgusting and also not recommended.

Hubby has had other kale experiences. While visiting relatives in northern Germany, he often enjoyed a dish called Grünkohl and Pinkelwurst. He speaks of it often,  reminisces and drools each time he sees a bunch of kale. Since I'm not a wurst kind of person and since I hail from southern Germany, the land of spätzle and schnitzel, I can't quite imagine the aforementioned delicacy,

In my search for alternate kale options, I have created kale chips...not bad but nothing special, especially if you burn them. More recently, I have come across an amazing recipe. It's a salad unlike any other. It can be put into the fridge and eaten over the course of several days without becoming soggy. In fact, it becomes tastier.

I'm afraid I don't know the origin of this recipe since it came to me from a firend, so I regret that I am unable to give credit to the source.

Lemon Kale Salad

Ingredients

1 tblsp lemon zest (that's when you use a grater and scrape off some lemon peel)
juice of one lemon (you can also use 3 tblsp of the liquid lemon)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
8 cups chopped kale ribs removed (wash and completely dry first)
1/2 cup shaved parmesan cheese
1/3 cup toasted blanched hazelnuts, coarsely chopped
Sea salt and ground pepper to taste

Directions

In a large bowl mix together the first three ingredients. Add the kale and toss to coat. Add parmesan and hazelnuts. Toss before serving.

As I said, this will last for days in the fridge. I hope you enjoy it. I do.