Recipe How to make a simple Greek Moussaka casserole

Being of Greek ancestry I have been around Greek food all my life.  My favorite dish has always been Greek Moussaka.  Moussaka is a savory cinnamon (secret ingredient) spiced eggplant dish.  The common recipe is kind of work intensive with several steps and plenty of layering. With this Moussaka recipe, however, you just toss the ingredients in a casserole with all the usual vibrant flavors!  Bake and enjoy!

Note:  After you dice the eggplant add salt and toss together. 

Easy Moussaka casserole

Ingredients:

1 medium eggplant, peeled and diced into 2-inch chunks

1 sweet onion, chopped

1 ½ lbs. lean ground beef

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 small red potatoes microwaved about 5 minutes so they are partially cooked then diced into 2 inch chunks

1 jar of marinara spaghetti sauce

1 tsp. cinnamon

Salt and pepper to taste

For topping:

1 ½ cups milk

1/3 cup flour

1 egg, beaten

¼ cup grated parmesan cheese

In a large saucepan cook ground beef on medium heat until browned.  Drain.  

Add the onion and garlic and cook for a few minutes more.  Then, add the diced eggplant.  Finally, add the diced potatoes and cook until the eggplant is slightly soft.

Next, add the spaghetti sauce, cinnamon and salt, and pepper to taste, stirring it all together. Remove from heat.

Spray a baking dish with non-stick spray.  Add the eggplant/meat mixture into the pan and set aside.

In a small saucepan add ½ milk and the flour and whisk on low heat till well blended.  Continue adding the rest of the milk while whisking. Next, add the beaten egg and stir until smooth and thickened.  Add the grated parmesan cheese.

Spread the topping on the eggplant/meat mixture in the baking pan and place in a 350-degree oven. Bake for 40 minutes.  

How to make quick and savory Greek style green beans

The summer bounty of fresh vegetables is in full swing!  I love going to the local farmer’s market and buying fresh tomatoes and green beans.  Being of Greek descent I know I’ve touted the delicious flavors of Greek cooking many times.  So I’m at it again.  One of my family’s favorite Greek recipes is the Greek style green beans.  In fact, it is my husband’s most asked for vegetable recipe!

You see, while I love green beans any way, shape, or form, he isn’t fond of the lightly sautéed style of beans.  The beans just don’t seem cooked to him.  Raw or cooked never bothered me.  As a child, I’d sit in the kitchen helping my mom snap raw beans gobbling up just as many as I’d snap.  Before my husband met me, the only beans he would ever eat were slow-cooked with a ham hock.  (Which I also love)

I know, I know, this entire introduction for a simple side dish.  Side dish or not a good one can make the meal.  And what is even better is that these Greek style green beans are so easy to make.

So I think I’ll be on my way to that local Farmer's Market to get some fresh beans today!  How about you?

Savory Greek style green beans

Ingredients:

•   1 lb. fresh or frozen green beans (thawed if frozen)

•   Garlic clove, minced

•   1 tbsp. light olive oil

•   ¼ cup chopped onions

•   14.5 oz. can fire roasted diced tomatoes  (you can substitute fresh diced tomatoes if desired)

•   1 8 oz. can tomato sauce

•   ½ tsp. each of salt and pepper

•   ½” tsp. oregano

•   1 tbsp. lemon juice

Directions:

Heat the oil over medium heat in a large pot.  Add the onions and garlic and sauté about 5 minutes until the onions are translucent.  Stir in the green beans and cook a little longer.  Reduce the heat to medium low.  Add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, salt, pepper, oregano, and lemon juice.  Cook on medium low for 5 more minutes.  Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for about 45 minutes.

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How to easily make a fresh, yummy Santorini salad

I recently vacationed on several Greek Islands.  While on the Island of Santorini I stumbled upon the crisp, fresh Santorini Salad.  This salad is so crisp and fresh that I had it several times and each time while a little different contained basically the same basic ingredients.  When I got home I just had to come up with my own recipe variation for a Santorini salad. 

A Santorini salad contains no lettuce.  It does, however, have other common salad components such as cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, and green peppers.  Whip up a simple vinaigrette dressing and you can have your delicious Santorini salad to take you back, if only in mind, to that beautiful Island.

Ingredients:

Large green pepper, sliced

1 pt. cherry or grape tomatoes sliced in half

1 large English cucumber sliced in 2-inch by ½”sticks.

Small red onion, sliced thin

3 oz. jar capers

Kalamata Olives

Feta Cheese

Sun-dried tomatoes

Vinaigrette:

3 tbsps. Balasamic vinegar

2 tsps. Dried oregano

2 cloves minced Garlic

3 tbsps. Extra virgin Olive oil

Juice of one small lemon

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

In a large bowl combine the sliced green peppers, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, and red onions. 

In a jar or bowl mix together the vinegar, oregano, garlic, olive oil, and lemon juice.  Shake or whisk well.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Combine the dressing with the vegetable ingredients and stir well.  Add a good amount of capers and sun-dried tomatoes.  Top with crumbled feta cheese.  Toss well and serve.

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How to make lucky New Year's Greek sweet bread

Who will get the lucky coin in the New Year’s Greek sweet bread? Every year from the time I was a child we always had Vasilopita or Greek sweet bread. The baker adds a coin inside before baking and the person who gets the slice with the coin will be lucky all year.

There are so many superstitions and traditions when it comes to New Year’s Day. I always make black-eyed peas with rice, which is a lucky dish to have in the south where I grew up. My grandmother always felt that a man should be the first to enter the house on New Year’s Day for luck and wouldn’t open the door for a woman. My mother would send my brother’s outside to walk back in just to be safe.

The most enjoyable New Year’s Day tradition for us was always the Vasilopita or Greek sweet bread. And all of us kids would hope we would be the lucky one to get the coin.

The bread is only slightly sweet and is great with a cup of coffee. This bread is especially tasty toasted with butter for a super breakfast dish.  If you've never made bread before this one is a really easy one and has a subtle flavor with a dense texture. So it's best to cut the bread in medium thin slices.

Vasilopita (New Year’s Greek sweet Bread)

Ingredients:

• 1-cup milk (scalded)
• ½ cup butter, melted
• ¾ cup sugar
• ½ teaspoon of salt
• 2 packets of yeast
• 2 eggs
• ½ tsp. cinnamon
• ¼ tsp. nutmeg
• 5 – 6 cups all purpose flour
• 1 egg white
• 2 clean coins (washed and dried quarters)

In a large bowl pour hot milk over the butter, sugar and salt. When milk becomes lukewarm add two beaten eggs and the two yeast packets.

Next add cinnamon, nutmeg, and flour.   Knead until smooth. Form into a ball and place in a greased bowl. Then, cover with a clean towel and let rise until it has doubled in bulk.

After it rises, punch the dough down and shape into two round loaves and place in greased pans. Insert a coin in each loaf. Brush with beaten egg white. Cover and let rise again.

Finally, bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for around 30-35 minutes or until lightly browned. Now that your loaves are baking you can see how easy they are to make.

Makes two round loaves.