My mighty Moussaka

One of my favorite restaurants to visit is a Greek restaurant. I love the Mediterranean spices, and the hint of the orient. It is one of the few types of restaurant where I can choose tasty freshly grilled meats as well as seafood, or a jummy slow cooked lamb stew. I am also partial to their yummy yoghurt sauce, tzatziki!

I have always loved Greece’s answer to the lasagna: the moussaka! Recently it occurred to me that I could easily turn this recipe into a vegetarian dish. My meat loving husband was nearly finished with his dinner when he realized there was no meat in his food. He had enjoyed the texture and flavor too much to notice what was missing.

On the practical side of things, this recipe has plenty of upsides too. I made the actual dish a day in advance. The next day I baked the moussaka, which made for a nice fuss free evening for me and my toddler. This dish will definitely be on a family favorite list for a while.

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Moussaka

  • Sauce:
    • 1 tin of depuy lentils ( 310 gram )
    • 1 tin of diced tomatoes ( 400 gram )
    • 1 tsp cumin
    • 2 tsp thyme
    • 1 tsp oregano
    • 1 tsp mint
    • 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
    • 1 tsp cinnamon
    • 3 tbsp of olive oil
    • 1 large union, diced
    • 2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
    • 1 glass of white wine
    • Half cube of vegetable stock
  • 1 aubergine in slices
  • 3 medium large potatoes
  • Topping (you substitute this with bechamel sauce, this is my lazy cheat version):
    • 2 tbsp cream cheese
    • 1 tub of cottage cheese ( 200 gram )
  • 150 gram of grated cheese

You will need an ovenproof dish, I used one of  27 by 18 cm.

  1. Before you do anything else. Boil your potatoes until they are soft.
  2. Prepare the sauce;
    • Fry your union in some olive oil until soft.
    • Stir in the garlic, paprika, cumin and thyme. Add the wine and let it simmer for a few minutes.
    • Stir in the rest of the sauce ingredients.
    • Bring the sauce to a light simmer. Leave it to simmer for about an hour.
  3. While the sauce is simmering, prepare your other ingredients;
    • Slice the aubergine length ways. Drizzle the slices with olive oil and generously season with salt and pepper. Fry the slices in a griddle pan on each side.
    • Let your potatoes cool, then slice them.
    • Wilt the spinach down in some oil in a really hot pan. Let the spinach cool and slice it roughly. The spinach needs to cool in a collinder now. Drain as much of moisture out as you possibly can.
    • Mix your topping ingredients.
  4. When all your components are ready, you can layer your moussaka in an oven proof dish:
    • One layer of sauce
    • One layer of spinach
    • One layer of potatoe slices, don’t forget to season these.
    • One layer of sauce
    • One layer of aubergine
    • Spread out your topping
    • Sprinkle with the grated cheese
    • Season with some freshly ground pepper
  5. (You can keep the dish overnight before this step) Bake the moussaka in a 220 degree C oven for about 30 minutes until bubbly and golden.
  6. Let your moussaka stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Simpel starters: salmon salad

Salmonsalad2This salad is a great way to make the most of slices of smoked salmon. This salad is inspired on carpaccio. It is an easy way to impress your guests without too much fuss. If you buy good quality salmon, you just need to bring the ingredients together to create a beautiful harmony of flavors and textures.

I like making 4 individual servings, but if you want you can make a large serving platter.

Salmon salad (4 servings)

  • 200 grams smoked salmon
  • 2 handfuls of your favorite lettuce leaves
  • 1 (spring) onion finely sliced
  • 1 handful of pine nuts
  • olive oil
  • 1 lemon. Use half for dressing the salad and cut the rest in wedges for presentation.
  • parmesian
  • Optional: sliced tomato and cucumber

Salmonsalad3

After slicing your ingredients, assemble your salad. Dress your leaves with olive oil and lemon juice and divide them over the plates. Spread your ingredients over the leaves. Finish with an extra drizzle of olive oil, freshly ground black pepper and a sprinkling of sea salt.

This salad also works great with slices of fresh tuna.

Quick and easy mini veggi pizza

This is not a recipe for real pizza (Read more about pizza dough and pizza toppings). These mini pizza are delicious glutenfree vegetable bites. My son loves making these and having them for dinner. But they would also make a great party treat or be part of a great high tea.MiniPizza2

Once you have sliced your ingredients, you can assemble these mini pizzas with your toddler.

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Mini veggi pizza’s

  • Eggplant/aubergine in 5 mm slices
  • 1 cup of my no fuss Tomato sauce / or a jar of ready made sauce
  • 1 cup of grated Parmesan
  • 1 mozzarella cheese ball in slices
  • 1 tomato in small cubes
  • optional: 1 onion in small cubes
  • Oregano

Lay your eggplant slices on a baking sheet. Spoon a small spoon of sauce on each slice. Sprinkle with some oregano, then add your tomato and union. Sprinkle with Parmesan and top with a small slice of mozzarella.

Bake in a 220 degrees C oven for 15 minutes and enjoy!

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We tried this recipe with courgette as well, this worked fine but we just love eggplant more.

Read more about cooking with toddlers here.

Pea Puff Pies

This is a recipe that I invented in order to finish our leftovers. Feel free to use any form of leftover vegetables and meat for this recipe. I have also made similar pies using cauliflower, broccoli, spring union or asparagus.

You can also make a delicious vegetarian version by replacing the meat with some tasty nuts or maybe a stronger cheese.

I serve these pies in individual ramekins, this way I can accommodate everyone’s busy schedule. But you could easily make one large pie, just increase your cooking time slightly so the pie is cooked and warm in the middle.

These pies are a simplified version of a soufflé. The egg makes them puff up beautifully and creates a light texture. The measurements below are an indication. Feel free to adjust them to your taste. Add more egg for more rise and a more “eggy” flavor.

This recipe only needs stirring and measurements are not crucial so you could easily make these together with your toddler. For more toddler cooking tips, read this post.

For a simple dinner, serve your Pea Puff Pies with some HP sauce and a tasty salad. You could make these pies as a starter, especially if you use a more fancy vegetable like asperagus.

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Pea Puff Pies (for 4 small pies)

  • 150 gram of mashed potato
  • 2 free range eggs
  • 100 grams of grated cheese (keep some aside for on the top)
  • 100 grams of shredded chicken
  • 150 gram of peas (or any other veg you like)
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Simply warm mix your ingredients and spoon the batter into the greased ramekins. Sprinkle some cheese on top.

After preparing your pies you can keep them for a few days in the fridge until you are ready to eat them.

Bake your pies in a 220 degrees C oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until puffed up and golden.

Enjoy!

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4 principles for a tasty salad

A good salad is about balance and contrast. If you keep the following 4  principles in mind, you can make special salads every day of the year.

  1. Don’t combine too many ingredients, the best salads have around 5 main ingredients. This ensures you taste every ingredients shines.
  2. Make a simple dressing that compliments your ingredients. If you insist on using a complex dressing like a ceasar dressing, keep your salad even more simple: using up to 3 ingredients. For more information on ceasar salad read about my dutch ceasar salad here.
  3. Balance your flavors. Make sure you have a sharp/spicy, sweet, salty, sour, savory and bitter component in your ingredients and dressing.
    Sparpness can come from unions, chili or pepper.
    Sweet can come form honey in your dressing or some fruit or sultanas.
    Salty can come from some cheese, bacon,salty nuts or even sea salt.
    Sour can come from sertain lettuce leaves or butter milk in your dressing.
    Savory kan come from nuts, croutons or bacon.
    Bitter notes can come from your choice of leaves, cheese or fruits like grapefruit.
  4. Balance your textures. Make sure you have a variety of textures. Croutons or nuts for some bite, soft cheese or pears, creamy dressing and crunchy lettuce or cucumber.

FestiveLettuce1

The other day I made a tasty well balanced salad using endive leaves, feta cheese , union, tomatoe and bacon with a simple honey mustard dressing. For the honey mustard dressing combine equal quantities of mustard and honey. For a more runny dressing add water of (butter) milk to this mixture.

No fuss tomato sauce

PastaSauceThis is the easiest way to make tomato sauce ever! You make it with fresh ingredients and the flavor is so intense. The bog secret is that the ingredients are not fried but roasted. You can use this sauce with your pasta or as a pizza sauce. Both my son and my husband have approved this recipe, it is finger licking good!

This recipe is enough for a family pasta meal. But you could easily make a large batch and freeze the rest of the sauce. The sauce can also keep in the fridge in a jar for a week.

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No fuss tomato sauce

  • 6 tomatoes
  • 1 onion
  • 1 handfull of fresh thyme and rosemary
  • 1 tbsp dried oregano
  • Honey
  • Olive oil
  • Optional: 1 chili pepper for a kick
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  1. Preheat the oven at 220 degrees C.
  2. Halve all the tomatoes and place them sliced side up on a baking tray.
  3. Peel and quarter the onion and peel the garlic. (Slice the chili in chunky pieces.)
  4. Scatter the other ingredients between the unions.
  5. Sprinkle the tomatoes, onions, garlic and chili with thyme and rosemary.
  6. Drizzle with honey and oil
  7. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes to an hour, untill your ingredients are nicely roasted.
    If you are making this in advance, shutdown your oven and let it cool while leaving the tomatoes in.
  8. Blend the roasted ingredients to a smooth paste.
  9. Mix in the oregano, salt and pepper to taste.

Simpel starters: courgette soup

GSoup1In the summer I find myself overwhelmed my the bounty of produce. One vegetable that grows in abundance in the summer is the courgette. When I have a large surplus, I like to make this soup. It can be eaten warm or cold, my favorite! When it is cold you really appreciate the smooth texture and the subtle flavors.

Courgette soup

  • 2 courgette
  • 500 ml vegetable stock
  • 1 tbsp oil
  • 1 onion
  • 1 cup of Greek yogurt
  • Fresh herbs to your taste
  1. Dice your courgette and finely slice your onion.
  2. Gently fry your courgette and onion in the oil for five minutes.
  3. Add the stock and let this mix simmer for 15 minutes until the courgette is soft.
  4. Blend your ingredients to a smooth soup and add in the Greek yogurt.
  5. Mix in some finely sliced fresh herbs like dill, basil or mint.
  6. Season to taste. If you plan to eat the soup cold, season you soup well as cool soups need intenser seasoning.

Gsoup2Combine with some carrot soda bread for a healthy vegetarian lunch!

Barbecue side dish: beetroot carpaccio

Beetroot is a vegetable I had to learn to appreciate. Beetroot carpaccio always does the trick for us and our guests. I make it on a festive and large dish, this recipe serves about 2 people. In these fotographs I used yellow beetroot.Beetroot2

I make this dish very often, so I like to vary the ingredients depending on the contents of my refrigerator. Just discover your own favorite set of ingredients and let me know how it turns out!

Beetroot carpaccio

  • Three boiled beetroots (boil in water for 75 minutes and then peel)
    Use mixed colors of you can.
  • 200 grams white cheese – my favorite is soft goats cheese, but feta cheese works as well. On occasion I have use crumbled Boursin as well.
  •  Generous sprinkling of fresh or dried herbs. I like using mint, basil and/or dill.
  • 2 spring onions finely sliced – although your plain onion would work as well.
  • Honey
  • Olive oil
  • Balsamic vinegar or other sweet vinegar
  • Optional extras:
    • Ribbons of smoked salmon
    • Capers

1. Make fine slices of beetroot and arrange these on your plate.

2. Crumble your cheese on the beetroot. I like a generous cover of cheese.

3. Sprinkle on the herbs and onion. (And optional extras.)

4. Drizzle with honey, vinegar and a generous helping of olive oil.

5. Season with freshly crushed black pepper.

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Tip: This salad tastes great on a piece of fresh bread too.

Funny farfalle with chanterelle cream sauce

Farfalle4I love trying new ingredients, and the other day I found some forest mushrooms in my supermarket. As I love any mushroom, I had to buy and try it.

I decided a simple pasta would do this ingredient justice. My son loved the flavor of the pasta and the sauce, but returned the fried chanterelles to my plate. Oh well, the texture of mushrooms isn’t for everyone, and I was happy to receive extra mushroom.

This recipe would work with any flavorsome mushroom, or even a mix. You can easily leave out the ham for a vegetarian option.

If you are going all out, garnish your pasta with freshly chopped parsley for some freshness and drizzle with some truffle oil.

Funny farfalle with chanterelle cream sauce (serves 2 and 1 toddler)

  • 250 grams of pasta
  • 150 grams chanterelle mushrooms
  • 1 shallot, finely sliced
  • 1 garlic clove, finely sliced
  • 100 grams of ham in fine ribbons
  • 1 glass white wine
  • 150 ml cream
  • Handful of chopped flatleaf parsley
  • Some olive oil and a knob of butter

First boil your pasta according to the instructions. While your water boils and your pasta cooks, you can make your sauce.

1. Clean your chanterelle mushrooms and cut them in similar size pieces.
Farfalle22. Gently fry the chanterelle mushrooms and union in the butter and olive oil until soft. Add salt and pepper to your mushrooms.

3. Add the garlic and the wine. Let this mix stew for a few minutes so the alcohol can evaporate.
Farfalle14. Stir in the ham and add the cream. You can turn off the heat on your sauce until your pasta is cooked.
Farfalle2Drain your pasta when it is cooked.
Farfalle45. Warm your sauce and pasta while combining them.

Sprinkle with parsley and dress with some olive oil or truffle oil and enjoy!

Simple Seasonal treat: Spinach quiche

As you might know. I like making vegetable quiches and pies. This is a lovely way to eat your spinach!

For a vegetarian alternative I would replace the bacon with a handful of toasted nuts like pine nuts.

Spinaziquiche

Spinach quiche

  • Pastry:
    • 100 gr flower
    • 60 gr butter
    • 1 tsp salt
    • 50 ml water
  • Filling:
    • 300 gr of fresh spinach leaves
    • 1 tbsp olive oil
    • 100 gr Bacon cubes
    • 125 gr soft goats cheese of feta cheese
    • 3 free range eggs
    • 75 ml cream
    • Pepper and ground nutmeg to tast
  1. Prepare your base as described in my asparagus pie recipe.
  2. While your base bakes:
    1. Clean your spinach leaves.
    2. Fry your leaves in the oil until all spinach has wilted.
    3. Place your spinach in a collinder and let the access water drain out.
    4. Fry your bacon cubes until they are crisp.
    5. Wisk and mix your eggs and mix in your cream.
  3. Build your pie:
    1. Divide your spinach and bacon over the base.
    2. Pour over the egg and cream mixture.
    3. Crumble the cheese over the top.
  4. Bake for 20 minutes in a 200 degrees C oven.