Not necessarily togas.. but it is valentines day so anything goes
Dolmas And Tzatziki
- 3 cups cooked jasmine rice
- 1 medium red onion, minced
- 1/2 cup fresh minced dill
- 1/4 cup fresh minced mint
- 1/4 cup dried currants
- 6 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
- 50 large grape leaves (fresh or jarred)
- Salt and pepper
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Tzatziki
Start with tofu sour cream and add
1/2 Cucumber minced or grated
3 Tbsp minced fresh dill
1 Clove garlic, minced
(some grilled green onions on the side)
Mushroom Orzo
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 Onions, minced
11/2 Lbs wild mushrooms or mixed button/shiitake/portabello..
1-2 Tbsp mirin
4 Cups vegetable broth
2 Cups orzo
- Heat oil in a large heavy saucepan over medium-high heat.
- Saute onion and mushrooms until tender and golden brown.
- Stir in Mirin
- Pour in broth, and bring to a boil.
- Stir in orzo, reduce heat to low, and cover.
- Simmer until orzo is tender and liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes.
Moussaka
This recipe is usually a lot of meat and nightshades.. I tried to mix it up a little choosing zucchini an potatoes instead of the eggplant and tomatoes..
- 1 lb veggie ground round or cooked lentils
- 2 large zucchini
- 1 cup pureed carrots
- 3 potatoes
- 1 large onion
- 1 pint vegan béchamel sauce
- ¼ cup fresh parsley
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- White flour
- Pepper to taste
- Salt
- Slice the zucchini and coat with flour.
- Fry the zucchini in a hot skillet with olive oil until soft and lightly brown. Remove from the skillet and let drain on paper towels.
- saute the ground round with thinly cubed onion in olive oil until fully cooked.
- Add the puree carrot to the meat/onion mixture and season with pepper, cinnamon and parsley.
- Cook for another 5 minutes to incorporate the flavors.
- Boil the peeled potatoes whole until halfway done. Remove and let rest.-In an oven proof deep dish, place alternating layers of sliced potatoes, zucchini and lean mean/cooked lentils.
- Top the dish with the béchamel sauce
- Place in a preheated oven at 350 (uncovered) until the béchamel starts to settle. The sauce should be lightly brown and semi firm (about 40 minutes).
- Remove from the oven and let settle before cutting wedges.
Parsley Mint Salad With “Feta”
W made a great big parsley salad. But of course forgot to measure…
Big bunch of parsley, washed , minced
1 shallot, sliced thin
4 radishes (we used watermelon radish), sliced thin
1/2 Cup of mint, minced
Olive oil
lemon juice
Salt
Pepper
“Feta”
Feta
1 Lb tofu , cut into cubes
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup umeboshi vinegar
1 tbsp oregano
In a medium pot blanch tofu then set aside to cool. Mix the rest of the ingredients and add to tofu. Marinate for at least 2 hours or up to 3 days .
Baklava
- 1 cup finely chopped walnuts
- 1/2 cup finely chopped pistachios
- 1/2 cup rice syrup
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon tahini (mix well before measuring)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 rice syrup
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- pinch of sea salt
- 1 pkg phylo dough
- extra virgin olive oil
Toast and finely chop walnuts and pistachios. Set aside.
Gently warm tahini, lemon juice, rice syrup and cinnamon over low heat. Stir until tahini is loosened and everything is combined.
Add the tahini paste to chopped nuts , stir in lemon zest.
Brush olive oil onto several layers of phylo dough. ulternate olive oil phylo with nut mixture. sprinkle evenly. Mix together the rest of the ingredients and pour over entire dish . (fills a 9×13 pan)
Bake for 10-15 minutes in 350 degree oven.