Mushroom Moussaka

Here it is ready to be served!

The casserole comes out bubbly and fabulous!

Mark helped Wrigley see what was going on up there!

The fabulous Mushroom Sauce!

I have never had Moussaka before this so I have no basis for comparison but, WOW! It was delicious and I am happy to say that I have an entire casserole to enjoy throughout the week. This is a very low fat, vegetarian dish full of flavor, fiber, mushrooms and herbs. There four layers to this dish. A layer of eggplant, the thick and tomato-y mushroom sauce, another layer of eggplant and topped off with the wonderful Bechamel Sauce! I do have some notes on alternation as well as what I will do differently next time. First of all, I used, as always, non fat milk. I hope to eventually use my almond milk for these things but I don't know if the Bechamel Sauce would have thickened. Next time, I would probably use 4 eggplants instead of 3. The top layer wasn't completely covered. Also, although my Bechamel Sauce was AMAZING, I think it turned out a lot thicker than it was suppose to. This top layer browns in the oven if you leave it in long enough and almost has a light cheese sauce flavor to it. That layer is probably the least healthy, but again I used non fat milk and light margarine and really only 3 tablespoons of the margarine for the entire casserole. It was a delicious experience that I will enjoy for the week to come. Now, as many of you know, I severely injured my foot last weekend so, alas, no heavy duty workouts for me for a while. With that in mind, I will be moving to the salad section of the Moosewood cookbook to try to keep the weight down. So look forward to some great light salad recipes in the weeks to come!

Mushroom, Broccoli, Noodle Casserole

Chip and I had planned to spend the day together before his trip to Michigan next week and last minute he got called into work. As a result, I got in a very long workout at the gym, cleaned the crap out of the kitchen and knocked out another of my Moosewood Cookbook recipes. Wow! This one turned out great. I did a few alternations from the original recipe. First of all, I used whole wheat noodles cause, well, I always use whole wheat when I can. The recipe is not very specific on amounts when it comes to broccoli so I think I used more than it suggests which is great, but then there is less sauce to cover it and the mushrooms and onions are my favorite and I used the correct amount of them so next time I will use a little less broccoli. Everything I used was low fat or non-fat and I opted out of adding the cheese. Cheese if wonderful, indulgent, amazing and delicious. Cheese is also the devil and I am doing my best to limit if not eliminate it from my life. I also think I might need to add more salt next time. I use sea salt, which isn't as salty. Aunt Shula, I think you would especially like this one. You are going to want to add more mushrooms and probably opt in the cheese. There is cottage cheese in the sauce mixture. Do not let this scare you away from this fabulous meal. When it is mixed with everything else, it creates a delicious, creamy goodness that is also full of protein, calcium and is low fat! Bon Appetit!

Ukranian Poppyseed Cake

Coraline picked this one out. I was surprised how delicious poppy seed cake is! There is a lovely orange glaze that we poured on made of orange juice and sugar. It gave the cake a very heavy, moist texture. Sooooo Gooooood! I highly recommend this to even the most discriminating palet. Even more fun than eating the cake was making it with my fabulous and dear friend, Coraline!

Zingy Bean Dip

Okay, I love garlic. Garlic makes everything fantastic. But even I must admit that I went a little overboard on the garlic on this one. It was, however, still fabulous. AND super easy. Basically, you put all the ingredients into a food processor (or a blender in my case) and mix until semi-smooth. The bean of choice is pinto and there is a lot of cilantro involved. YUM! Heather and I (after many family Saturday's together) have come to the conclusion that the best meal in dips and things to dip them in....especially when there is a gathering of people. This is an excellent addition with a bit of a kick. How much kick, only you can decide. It isn't pretty but it goes great with tortilla chips or pitas! A definite crowd pleaser. Coraline was here for this one and she whole-heartedly agreed that this bean dip is a winner! Happy Dipping!

Cucumber Salad

I have always loved the cucumber salad at Indian restaurants. Just like that variety, this recipe was made with yogurt. I must say that although it was refreshing and clean, it lacked something. The onions are soaked beforehand so perhaps eliminating that step would improve the flavor. My partner in crime, who we will call Coraline for anonymity sake, did favor the cucumber salad, as did the crowd at my God-Son's birthday, where I took the remainder of the dish. Coraline was a HUGE help in adjusting the seasonings and encouraged me to add "just a little at a time and then taste". Wow. What a new and fabulous concept. I will apply this to all future endeavors. My final thoughts on this dish is that it is a fabulous summer time salad but definitely taste as you go and get creative with the seasonings.

Summer Vegetable Soup

I made the Summer Vegetable soup last weekend. I did not really alter the recipe at all. It says you have the option of adding buttermilk, but I did not. Honestly, all the fresh veggies were good but the broth was pretty much water, garlic and potatoes blended in a food processor, which on its own I think would be good, but did not make a good base for a veggie soup. I had a blast making it though! No helpers on this one. I may venture away from soups and make a dip for Jadon's birthday party tomorrow and hopefully, Susie will be here tonight to help. They maybe we will skip ahead to desserts! MmmmMmmmMmmm. Its a beautiful day ! Yesterday was fabulous and today will be even better.

Cream of Asparagus Soup

What a great and unique soup. First things first. I wanted to try to make it with almond milk so it was dairy free, but I was a little nervous about doing that for this one. Asparagus soup sounded very different to me so I did not want to stray from the recipe too much. But I will substitute milk for almond on the next cream based soup. I did, however, use fat free organic milk. And of course Smart Balance in place of butter. I don't think either substitution had any negative effects on flavor. In fact, for a cream based soup, this was light and frothy and just delicious. I think I may have over done it a little with the white pepper as well as the dill. I used fresh and a lot of it. Just something to keep in mind for next time. But it turned out great! I hope you enjoy! And as always, just send me a message if you are curious about the recipe. Or of course pick up the cookbook!

Gypsy Soup!

I had never heard of Gypsy Soup before this endeavor and let me just say, I was missing out! I stayed pretty true to the recipe since it was so new to me. Of course, I used extra garlic. I also substituted the green peppers for red and yellow since they were on sale and taste better. I used two bay leaves instead of one cause I like to live on the edge and I used canned chick peas instead of cooked fresh cause who has time for that. Once again, Kelly was my amazing chopper. I am going to have to keep her on staff in my kitchen permanently I think! Once again, I am wishing I doubled this recipe.

I am looking forward to the weekend so I can continue this soup adventure. The past few days have been somewhat yucky and today pretty much topped it off...and its still early. I am looking forward to the routine of following a recipe. And the satisfaction of tasting it!

Spicy Tomato Soup

First of all, let me just say that I am a connoisseur of tomato soup. Well, this has to be the best I have ever dipped my spoon in! I had some help with this one. Kelly was my expert chopper and I do believe she will be invited over every time I cook from now on to take on this daunting task. There were a couple of changes I did make to the recipe. I don't keep butter in the house so I used Smart Balance instead. So little butter is used in this recipe that I don't think you can tell much of a difference. I used fresh dill and a bit more than the recipe suggests. I love my herbs! My only regret: THAT I DIDN'T DOUBLE THE RECIPE!

Welcome to The Moose Wood Chronicles

Welcome Aunt Shula, Susie and probably Virginia....and whoever else is interested in this journey. On Aunt Shula's recent visit, she bought me a critically acclaimed vegetarian cookbook. I decided, in the style of two ladies named Julie and Julia, I would cook my way through this cookbook, one recipe at a time, and report on my findings, substitutions and opinions. This weekend, the adventure begins. First section: Soups! My favorite!