Monday, May 30, 2011

Experimenting: You Can Call It Moussaka

I'm not good at following recipes, and I generally cook according to what's in the house.  I don't plan a menu and then check what I need and then hunt for the exact right foods.  So, on Friday I found myself with chopped meat (turkey) and vegetables and the desire to bake them together, not stew them.  I love having the food in a "cook and serve," even though just the two of us were home.

One of the vegetables I felt like cooking with the chopped meat was eggplant, so I decided to make a version of moussaka, which is layered eggplant, chopped meat and misc. (other vegetables, sauce etc.)

There are probably more versions of moussaka than chocolate cake, so my version is just as "kosher" or authentic.  Yes, it's definitely kosher! 
  • I thawed the chopped meat for easy mixing
  • and sliced up some eggplant* and sweet potato. 
  • Then I mixed the chopped meat with diced onions, eggs, garlic powder and a squeeze of catsup.
  • And then I layered them in the "bake and serve" baking dish, eggplant on the bottom.


After that I baked it, mostly uncovered.  I added foil on the top towards the end, so the top wouldn't burn.



Yes, I must admit that it was absolutely delicious and unbelievably easy to make.  You can add different vegetables if you want, like tomatoes and squash.  Really, there are no "laws" preventing creativity.

*There is absolutely no need to precook, fry, salt etc. the eggplant!  This was a simple one-step dish.  If you want an easy meal, just serve it with a nice salad and you're set!

2 comments:

Leah, Maaleh Adumim said...

sounds great!

Batya said...

next time you come... bli neder, just remind me