Hot Mess

No… I’m not talking about myself. I’m talking about this fantastic dinner I made the other night and subsequently have been eating the leftovers from for the past three nights. That’s good for something because this girl usually can’t stomach eating leftovers more than one time.

Isn’t it a beauty?

I kid.

But who cares when it tastes incredible and leaves me so full and satisfied?

Not me.

As a Foodbuzz Tastemaker, I received these three bottles of Crisco Olive Oil at no cost to sample and review. You know I love olive oil, I use it all the time. So, as you can imagine, I was pretty psyched. I was sent Crisco’s Pure Olive Oil, Extra Virgin and Light. As you can see in this picture, I cracked open the Pure. It sounded like the perfect one to use for roasting the veggies in the above dish.

Oh yes, more about that. What you see there is Vegetable Moussaka. Apparently Moussaka is a “Greek favorite”. Anyone out there who is Greek/more worldly than me (probably most everyone), is probably rolling his or her eyes. But listen, I’d never heard of Moussaka and fortunately now I have because this is going to be a regular around here.

Vegetable Moussaka adapted from The Illustrated Kitchen Bible

Ingredients:

• 1 large eggplant, cubed
• 1 medium zucchini, cubed
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into strips
• 4 T Crisco Pure Olive Oil
• salt and pepper
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 t dried Thyme
• 1 14.5 oz can crushed tomatoes, undrained
• 1 15 oz can lentils, drained
• 1 1/4 c plain non-fat yogurt (or Greek if you have it)
• 2 extra large eggs, lightly beaten
• pinch of paprika
• 3 oz feta cheese, crumbled
• 2 T sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Toss eggplant, zucchini and red peppers into roasting pan. Drizzle with oil and toss. Season with salt and pepper.

Roast for 10 minutes. Stir in garlic and thyme. Continue roasting for 35 minutes or until tender. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.

Stir in tomatoes with juices and lentils into roasted vegetables and season with salt and pepper. Transfer mixture to a four quart baking dish.

Beat the yogurt, eggs and paprika together and season with salt and pepper (if desired). Spread over vegetables and sprinkle with feta. Place on baking sheet and bake for 40 minutes. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and bake for 10 minutes more, or until top is golden brown. Let stand for 5-10 minutes. Serve hot.

Makes 4-6 servings.

For the love of “oil” that’s good

Yesterday had it’s ups and downs. I scrambled around to finish up the last bit of work I had left in my summer classes. For once, it wasn’t that I procrastinated, but rather that I just wanted to get it all done so I could have August free of deadlines. Griffy definitely sensed that my focus was NOT on him and therefore gave me a run for my money.

He and I had a very off day. He jumped on the coffee table and grabbed tissues out of the box and tore them to shreds faster than I could react. He pushed his plastic Mickey Mouse hand under the couch and cried non-stop until I retrieved it for him. Repeat. He begged for food. I gave him a pretzel and he spit it out on the floor. We tried the laser pointer game. He was just too unfocused. Sigh. There were plenty more mishaps, but you get the idea.

My eating was weird yesterday too. I started with a bowl of cereal and coffee. Then had 4 chocolate covered gummy bears and one non-peril.  A salad of mixed greens, tomato and feta followed for lunch. A handful of sea salt and vinegar chips. I had no desire to make dinner. Here comes the point where my day turns around…

The roommate graciously offered to make burritos for dinner. YES! The most fabulous part? My only task was to EAT the fruits of her labor. I opened up a bottle of wine, poured glasses for all, and sat myself down on the couch. She made an appetizer of fabulous cheese dip that I ate with tortilla chips while reading a magazine and sipping wine. WIN. Then, the announcement that the burritos were ready was made. The star of the show, lime infused rice. She cooked the rice with Persian lime infused olive oil purchased here. Everything was SO delicious and much appreciated after the day I was having, thanks roommie!