Kitchen Capers

Time whizzes by all too fast as the distraction monster's immense claws pull me away from my little kitchen kingdom. Such is life I suppose. But now that I am back I'm attempting to make up for lost time by putting all those miscellaneous thought bubbles into concrete forms. I got my six burner Thermador all fired up and humming again. I'm creating recipes, cooking and testing them, and while for me it's fun, fun, fun, it is fraught with potential disaster. Kitchen flops can be hilarious but I didn't think so at first when I pulled my gluten free chocolate chip gingerbread spice cake out of the oven, burned my hand, and flipped the whole pan upside down onto the floor. Lucky for me the floor was reasonably clean, and being an adherent of the much revered twenty second rule, I scooped the whole messy pile back into the pan with a spatula, at which time Olivia and I proceeded to eat the hot goo with our hands. I have to say I really didn't like it very much, way too much molasses for my taste. Both the recipe and the cake got chucked in the garbage can. Chalk it up to experience, have a chuckle and move on...

I am happy with this vegan and soy free version of moussaka though, and when I eat it I feel like I've just eaten at my favorite Greek restaurant without the obligatory heartburn. It's a homey and satisfying casserole of roasted veggies, a cinnamon-spiked chunky Greek tomato sauce, and a chickpea cashew cream topping. Let me admit that my recipe was inspired by the one in the Veganomicon, The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero.


POTATO EGGPLANT MOUSSAKA WITH CHICKPEA CASHEW CREAM

Serves 6, or 4 very hungry people
Time: 1 hour and 15 minutes

Roast the Vegetables

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Lightly coat three baking sheets with olive oil.

2 1/2 pounds potatoes (I used three very large potatoes)
1 pound eggplant (I used two small to medium eggplants)
1 pound zucchini or yellow squash (I used two round yellow squashes a little bigger than tennis balls)
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt

Wash the eggplant and zucchini and trim the ends. Scrub and peel the potatoes. Cut the eggplant, zucchini, and tomatoes into 1/4-inch slices. Place them in a large bowl. Cover the vegetables with olive oil and mix with your clean hands, coating each piece. Sprinkle liberally with salt and mix again to coat evenly. Spread the vegetables out on the three baking sheets. It is OK to overlap. Roast for 20 to 25 minutes until the vegetable are tender, not mushy, and some of the edges have browned. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool as you make the tomato sauce.

Soak 1/2 cup cashews in enough water to just cover. Set aside to use for the chickpea cashew cream.

Chunky Greek Tomato Sauce

2 T olive oil
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 medium onion chopped
1/2 tsp. salt
pepper
1 cup vegetable broth
Three generous T tomato paste
2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 28 oz. can Muir Glenn whole tomatoes(I used the ones with basil)
A generous pinch of cinnamon

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan on medium high. Add the garlic first and hear it sizzle, then add the onion and salt. Sir frequently until the onions are soft, about five minutes. Add the vegetable broth, tomato paste, oregano, thyme, and cinnamon. Stir frequently until the liquid reduces to a thick sauce. Add the canned tomatoes one by one, breaking them apart with your hands as you put them into the pot. Pour in the canned juices as well. On high heat, stir and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce to medium-low heat, put the lid on, and simmer for about ten minutes. Remove from heat. Add a generous pinch of cinnamon, stir, and set aside.

Chickpea Cashew Cream


1 15 oz. can chickpeas and liquid
2 T tahini (I used Joyva brand)
1 T olive oil
1 T nutritional yeast (optional)
3 T fresh lemon juice, seeds removed
1 small clove garlic
2 T hot water
A generous grating of nutmeg, or a pinch
1 tsp. salt
A dash white pepper
1/2 cup raw cashew that have been soaking, drained

Combine all of the ingredients in a blender or food processor (I used a Vita-Mix) and blend until very smooth. Set aside.

Assemble the Moussaka

Raise the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Oil a 9x13 inch pan. Spoon sauce with a soup ladle to coat the bottom of the pan. Layer half of the potatoes, half of the zucchini, and half of the eggplant as evenly as you can. Ladle half of the remaining sauce over the vegetables. Layer the remaining vegetables on top. Spoon and spread out the rest of the sauce. Use a rubber spatula to evenly spread the chickpea cashew cream over the top. Sprinkle with a teaspoon of nutritional yeast. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the top is golden and the edges slightly browned. Cool for at least 10 minutes before slicing. Serve.


I played a little trick on you. To make this photograph look more impressive, I layered one piece of moussaka on top of another. Try it! Since this dish is so rich, I recommend serving it with a simple salad.

Let this recipe do double duty for you. Make a batch of the sauce for pasta. (I really love this Bionaturae brand from Italy. It is by far the best gluten-free pasta I've ever tasted.) Heat up some of the sauce, add some fresh spinach, and cook until wilted. Serve it over the pasta with a generous amount of crumbled feta cheese.

I'll fill you in on my future escapades. And now to the business of washing dishes....