Greek Food Festival - Johanna's Stuffed Eggplant

I've made my share of moussaka, eggplant salad/dip, and meat & rice stuffed eggplant. But I've never tried this particular dish. It sounds delicious, and a big plus, is that it can be cooked on the stove top. So no oven heating up the kitchen. A perfect summer meal!

For another tasty Greek dish, check out my recipe for Greek Lemon Chicken on Johanna's blog.

Johanna & Jordan

Here's Johanna's eggplant recipe:

Stuffed Eggplant Braised in Olive Oil, Onion, Garlic and Tomatoes (Imam bayildi)

This is a traditional Turkish dish that is also served in Greece.  In Greece, it is generally served hot.

Serves 4
(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients

1/3 cup chopped white onion
4 large chopped tomatoes (roughly 2 cups)
1 teaspoon garlic puree
2 -3 tablespoons NSA tomato paste
2 -3 tablespoons each of chopped dill, mint and parsley
1 fresh lemon
Olive Oil (roughly 1 tablespoon olive oil per each eggplant)
4 small eggplants or 2 medium/large ones

Preparation

1. To prepare the eggplant:

a)   Slice off a small amount of the bottom so that the eggplant can rest evenly.

b)  Next, peel a slice off each side (but do not peel the entire way around - reference photo) and slice the topside off. 

c)   Hollow out the middle using a knife (cross pattern) and/or spoon (leaving at least 1/4 to 1/2 inch around), taking care not to poke holes in the "boat".

2. To prepare the eggplant stuffing/mixture:

Sauté the white onions (in olive oil) until they are translucent.  Remove from heat.  In a bowl, mix together the chopped tomatoes, garlic puree, tomato paste, dill, mint, parsley. Stuff the eggplant with this mixture.

Squeeze a little lemon juice onto each eggplant and drizzle with one tablespoon olive oil.

3. Cooking instructions:

Place in a Dutch oven, fill 1/2 way up (with water or low-sodium vegetable stock) to the height of the eggplants.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat to low, and cover.  Cook approximately 45 minutes, until the eggplant has become soft.

In Turkey, most people remove from the pan, cool (refrigerate), and it is served at room temperature the next day.  In Greece, we have eaten this dish hot (warm).

Spicy Kale

When I was at the farmers market last weekend, I picked up a bunch of black kale. It’s different from the variety I usually find in grocery stores. It has a narrow leaf and is a deep, dark green. Sometimes it is called Tuscan kale or dinosaur kale because its leaves resemble reptile skin. It had been sitting in my fridge for a couple of days, so I knew I had to use it up quickly. Luckily, Christy from The Daily Dish just posted a recipe for garlicky broccoli rabe. Although her post was about a different vegetable, it inspired me to fix the kale my favorite way – sautéed in olive oil with lots of garlic and some red chili flakes.

Prepping took a little longer than expected because I had to carefully rinse away aphids that were still attached to some of the leaves. That’s the downside of buying organic, pesticide-free vegetables. I was getting rushed for time, so I decided to use a short cut. For years now whenever I’ve shopped at Trader Joe’s, I’d stock up on Dorot garlic and basil frozen herb cubes. The garlic has 30 mgs sodium per cube, while the basil has just 5 mgs sodium per cube. A few days ago I was perusing the frozen food offerings at my favorite local grocer, when my eye caught the bright red Dorot logo. I just about started jumping up & down with joy when I discovered that the store now carried both the garlic and basil cubes. But even better, they carried the red pepper (0 mgs), ginger (10mgs), and cilantro (10 mgs) cubes as well. Of course, I had to snatch up all three.

Back to the kale – I poured some olive oil into a sauté pan and added two garlic cubes and one red pepper cube. Once everything was sizzling, I tossed in my chopped and now aphid-free kale leaves and added about 1/3 cup of water. Normally I use NSA chicken broth, but I really was rushing. I covered the pan and let everything simmer for about 20 minutes. That was it. Greens are definitely a personal preference: some people like them well cooked and very, very tender while others want them still crisp. The kale I made was tender but still had some texture.

I really liked the flavor of this particular kale variety. It was great warm, and tonight I’m going to serve it cold, drizzled with homemade balsamic vinegar syrup. (Instructions for making your own balsamic reduction are found near the end of this earlier post.) So, there you have it – Kale Kubed!

If you can find these cubes, don't hesitate to buy some. They're great during the winter months when fresh herbs are often hard to find. And this particular technique for greens can be adapted to other vegetables as well. For an Asian spin, use a light flavored oil and add some ginger & a drizzle of toasted sesame oil. For an Italian adaptation, add a sprinkling of oregano. For a Greek twist, omit the red pepper if desired and add some lemon juice right before serving.

Scalloped Potatoes

True comfort food – creamy sauce, tender potato slices, a bit of onion, often some cheese, and (my favorite) the crunchy baked-on edges of the pan. Yum! But it takes so long for the raw potato slices to get cooked through in the oven. And, depending on your method, the milk may separate or curdle. It will still taste good, but it doesn’t look as nice.

Most recipes I’ve come across call for baking the raw potato slices in either plain liquid milk or a very thin béchamel sauce. Both methods work. With the plain milk, you need to use a moderately hot oven, no more than 350 degrees or the milk may separate. Curdling can happen in milk as the proteins coagulate and lump together. This causes separation of the curds (the protein lumps) from the remaining liquid. Several factors can cause curdling, including a high cooking temperature.

You can avoid curdling in scalloped potatoes in several ways. You could be sure to slice your potatoes thinly & evenly, don’t pile on too many layers, and bake in a moderate oven. You could bake the potato slices in a thin béchamel or white sauce. The added starch (flour or cornstarch) in the sauce will help prevent curdling. You can use cream for the liquid. Cream has more fat and less protein, so it doesn’t curdle easily. But no matter which of these methods you use, you still have to bake the potatoes in a moderate oven and that takes a while.

A few weeks ago I had a craving for scalloped potatoes, and it hit me at about 5:00 p.m. I knew that by the time I got the ingredients ready, put the casserole in the oven, and the potatoes actually cooked, we’d be eating too late. That’s when I remembered another method: cooking the potatoes in cream on the stove top first. I’d never wanted to try that method because I thought it was too much work, adding another step I didn’t want to follow. But I really, really wanted some scalloped potatoes. So I decided to give it a try.

I always have heavy cream on hand. That’s because I don’t tolerate fresh, liquid milk at all. I can handle yogurt, but no more than a ½ cup at a time per day. I have no problems with milk, yogurt, buttermilk, & sour cream in baking or cooked foods, thank goodness. For baking and any other recipes requiring milk, I use instant dry milk. Because of its high fat content, heavy cream does not spoil as quickly as other milk products. It stays good in my fridge for quite a while.

I’ve found heavy cream useful in a low sodium diet. Just a couple of tablespoons added to a so-so gravy or sauce adds a sumptuous, rich texture that offsets blandness.

Back to scalloped potatoes: I didn’t want to use all cream for the potatoes, so I simmered them in NSA chicken broth. I added two cloves of crushed garlic and some thyme to the simmering liquid along with thinly sliced onions. It didn’t take long before the starch from the potatoes had begun to thicken the sauce and the potatoes were slightly underdone. At that point, I stirred in about 1/3 cup of heavy cream, transferred everything to a greased casserole (made sure all the potatoes were covered in some sort of liquid), sprinkled lightly with a combination of grated Swiss & cheddar cheese, and topped with homemade flavored bread crumbs (crushed garlic, 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, 2 tablespoons olive oil, and an assortment of dried & fresh herbs). I put the casserole in my pre-heated 400 degree toaster oven (425 degrees in a regular oven) and baked for about 15-20 minutes until bubbly and the potatoes were completely tender. If I had been thinking clearly, I would have used a stovetop-to-oven pan for simmering the potatoes. That would have saved one step and one dirty pan.

The entire operation, from start to finish, took about 30-35 minutes. Much shorter time than baking raw potato slices in the oven. I liked this method so much that I’ve used it several times since that first effort. The potatoes can be flavored many different ways: thyme, rosemary, or a special no-salt blend like Penzy’s “Mural of Flavor;” chopped jalapeno, poblano, chipotle, or Anaheim peppers; vegetable additions like carrots, sweet potatoes, broccoli florets, corn; and even homemade low sodium sausage crumbles or a couple of slices of crumbled low sodium bacon.

This method was much easier than expected and produced tender, creamy potatoes (with no curdling). My husband and I couldn’t stop nibbling. I really didn’t need anything else with the meal.

Asparagus-Leek Risotto

All my local grocery stores are selling asparagus now. They’re a great vegetable for anyone on a low sodium diet. Perfect steamed, sautéed in stir fries, and especially tasty when roasted in a bit of olive oil.

A while ago I found a recipe in Better Homes and Gardens magazine for asparagus risotto. Although I’ve always been intrigued by risotto, most recipes call for some sort of wine and/or inordinate amounts of Parmesan cheese. I never use wine in my cooking, and too much Parmesan cheese is a no-no when trying to eat & cook low sodium. The recipe clipping languished in my “To Try” files for almost two years before I finally got around to making it. I’m glad I did because it’s a wonderful dish.

The thing that sets it aside from other risotto recipes is the use of lemon -- both the zest and juice. That little bit of lemon goes a long way toward making the lower sodium version tasty. Here’s the recipe and my notes for making a lower sodium version:

Asparagus-Leek Risotto
Adapted from Better Homes & Garden
(Printable Recipe)

¾ lb. asparagus spears, trimmed
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1½ cups sliced leeks
1 cup Arborio rice
3 cups NSA chicken broth
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (I used just 2-3 tablespoons)
2 Tbsp. snipped fresh parsley (The fresh herb adds a special zing; add more if you like)½ tsp. finely shredded lemon peel
1 Tbsp. lemon juice (I used an additional Tbsp.)
¼ tsp. freshly ground course black pepper
Lemon slices (or thin wedges) and Lemon peel

Place asparagus in single layer on baking sheet. Brush or drizzle with 1 tbsp. olive oil; lightly sprinkle black pepper. (I lined the baking sheet with aluminum foil) Bake uncovered, in 450 degree oven about 10 minutes or until crisp-tender. Cool slightly. Cut two-thirds in 2-inch pieces; set aside all asparagus.

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan cook leeks in remaining olive oil until tender. Stir in uncooked rice. Cook and stir over medium heat about 5 minutes or until rice begins to turn golden brown.

In another saucepan bring broth to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer. Carefully stir 1 cup of hot broth into rice mixture. Cook stirring frequently, over medium heat until liquid is absorbed. Then add ½ cup broth at a time, stirring frequently until broth is absorbed before adding more broth (about 22 minutes).

Stir in any remaining broth, cook and stir just until rice is tender and creamy.

Stir in asparagus pieces, cheese, parsley, lemon peel, lemon juice and pepper. Top with reserved asparagus spears, lemon slices, and peel. Each person can use the wedges to add an extra squeeze of lemon juice for even more flavor.

This risotto recipe can easily be adapted to other vegetables. I think green peas would work well, perhaps with a sprinkling of finely chopped mint as a garnish. Also, you could substitute sliced and sauteed mushrooms and/or green onions instead of the leeks. Finely minced garlic would be another great addition. The recipe provides a nice jumping off point for utilizing any fresh vegetable.

Tale of Three Vegetables - Eggplant, Squash, & Cabbage

A couple of days ago I went into cooking marathon mode. I made some cracked wheat bread, pizza dough, and three vegetable dishes: Eggplant Bake, Summer Squash Casserole, and Braised Sweet & Sour Red Cabbage. The eggplant and squash were purchased from my local farmers market and the red cabbage came from the local grocery store. I made the tomato sauce for the eggplant and pizza from my home-grown tomatoes & basil.

Quick Homemade Fresh Tomato Sauce
I washed, halved, and seeded a pile of tomatoes and set them to cooking over a medium-high heat. I didn’t bother peeling them. As they cooked, they released a lot of liquid, so I took the pot cover off to let the tomatoes cook down. Eventually they began to thicken, and, at that time, I added some extra virgin olive oil, about three large handfuls of coarsely chopped fresh basil, and four minced garlic cloves. I also tossed in a sprinkle of red pepper flakes. I used tongs to remove some of the skins. Once the mixture had cooked down and reduced, I used my hand held blender to break up any tomato clumps and puree the remaining skins. The resulting salt-free sauce is perfect for pasta, pizza, and eggplant.

Eggplant Bake
The eggplants I picked were small and firm, so I just peeled them and grilled them on my George Foreman grill. Then I layered the grilled eggplant slices with my tomato sauce and some chopped fresh mozzarella cheese. Fresh mozzarella is much lower in sodium than the regular stuff. I usually buy Bel Gioioso brand; it has only 85 mg. sodium per 1 oz. serving. I ended up with two layers of eggplant and one layer of cheese. Then I topped everything off with some homemade breadcrumbs tossed with olive oil, minced garlic, and a tablespoon of Parmesan cheese.

Squash Casserole
I wanted to try a low sodium version of a squash casserole I’d seen on many web sites. It contains squash, cream of mushroom soup, cheese, and stuffing mix. I had noticed last week that my local grocery store was now carrying the truly low sodium version of Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup. In the past, if I wanted to use canned cream of mushroom soup, I’d pick Campbell’s Healthy Request with 470 mg. per ½ cup serving. But the ready-to-serve Low Sodium Cream of Mushroom Soup has only 45 mg. for the entire 10.5 oz. can. Before I’d only been able to get it online. Be forewarned, though. Without all the excess salt, the soup is pretty bland. So I livened things up a bit by adding a squirt of Worcestershire sauce.

Most of the squash casserole recipes I looked at called for boiling the squash and onions together until the vegetables were tender. Then draining, mashing, and finally combining with the soup. I decided to just saute the cubed squash with onions in some unsalted butter. I added some sliced mushrooms I had on hand too. Once the vegetables were almost tender, I added the soup and let everything cook over a medium-low heat until the vegetables were completely cooked (but not mushy). I plopped the squash mixture into a casserole dish and topped it with three ounces of shredded cheese – a mixture of extra sharp cheddar and naturally low sodium Swiss. Instead of stuffing mix, I combined some homemade breadcrumbs with melted butter and hefty pinches of thyme and savory and sprinkled the mixture over the casserole.

Sweet & Sour Braised Cabbage
Finally, I followed the red cabbage recipe I wrote about earlier. It was the perfect accompaniment to the other creamy and cheesy vegetable dishes. I baked the two casseroles while the cabbage was simmering on the stove top. The great thing about this vegetable trio is that it made a tasty vegetarian dinner and the leftovers have been great for quick, no-fuss lunches.

Fasolakia: Greek Stewed String Beans

A few weeks ago one of the largest Greek Orthodox churches in Sacramento held their annual Greek Food Festival. We've attended the festival several times in the past. Although we didn't attend this latest one, my daughter and her boyfriend did. A few days later they brought us a Greek-style lunch and some goodies they got from the festival.

Sarah made some tabouleh and fasolakia to go with the loukaniko and psomi she bought at the festival. Fasolakia is a green bean stew, often including chunks of potatoes. Loukaniko is a sausage flavored with fennel seeds and orange peel. My husband's favorite! Psomi is Greek peasant bread, baked in a circle and crusted with sesame seeds. We grilled the sausage, spooned mounds of tabouleh salad on our plates, served up the fasolakia, and cut up chunks of bread to sop up the sauce with. A wonderful meal!

About a week ago, I picked up some fresh green beans at the farmer's market and a rosemary foccacia bread. We had enjoyed the fasolakia Sarah made earlier so much that I wanted to make some myself. Friends of ours were coming over for dinner that night, so I made the green beans. With the bread to dip into the flavorful sauce, I had a perfect home style Greek meal. This was the kind of meal my dad loved, with lots of vegetables & lots of broth.

A couple of notes: Greeks love vegetable stews. Their stews will often prominently feature one vegetable as opposed to an assortment of vegetables. Fasolakia features green beans. You could do the same thing, with the same seasonings, using all zucchini, or green peas, or even okra. Also, Greek people like their vegetables cooked all the way through. None of that crisp-tender stuff.

Here is the original family recipe adapted to low sodium. The combination of herbs made the sauce so flavorful that we didn't even miss the salt. Also, here is a video from the TV series we produced for our local cable access channel.

Fasolakia: Greek Stewed String Beans
(Printable Recipe)

A flavorsome combination of green beans stewed in a tasty tomato sauce. Simple, healthful, and delicious. A wonderful holiday alternative to the usual cream soup based green bean casseroles.

2 pounds string beans, fresh or frozen
2 onions, chopped
2 – 4 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup olive oil
1 - 8 ounce can NSA tomato sauce
¼ - ½ cup fresh parsley, chopped
1-2 teaspoons mint (or a combination of dried mint, oregano, & dill)
2 potatoes, peeled and cut in 1-2 inch chunks (any kind of potato will work)
2 carrots, sliced
1 cup water or NSA broth
Pepper to taste

In Dutch oven, sauté onion lightly in olive oil. Add tomato sauce, string beans, and remaining ingredients. Cover and simmer over medium heat for about 60 minutes or until all vegetables are tender. Check after 30 minutes; add more water or broth if necessary. Serve hot or room temperature.

A Summer Moussaka

I love eggplant! I ate it frequently while growing up in my Greek household. My mom often made simple, fried eggplant slices as a side dish vegetable. It's still my favorite way to eat it. And then there were those special dinners of fried eggplant, cooked whole beets, fried fish, and Skorthalia, a fresh garlic sauce. My dad & grandma used to love those meals. We'd often have Melintzanoslata, a delicious eggplant spread similar to Baba Ganoush. Of course, no self respecting Greek could ignore Moussaka. It's a sumptuous casserole of eggplant slices layered in a cinnamon perfumed tomato sauce and topped with a Parmesan flavored egg custard.

Saturday at the farmer's market I picked up three perfectly fresh eggplants, two purple beauties and one striped zebra. Yesterday I decided to fry them up. First I sliced them about 1/3 - 1/2 inch thick. I don't like thin eggplant slices because I think that by the time they're coated with either breading or sauce, the eggplant flavor is lost. I dredged the slices in flour seasoned with some garlic powder & crushed dried Greek oregano. I fried them in oil until they were nicely browned on both sides. A perfect accompaniment to our lunch of fresh tomato & sweet onion sandwiches.

There were several slices left over, so I started thinking about Moussaka. Hmmm! I had a blob of ground beef in the refrigerator that I needed to use up. I've already got fried eggplant slices. Could I possibly come up with something that didn't require a 9 x 12" casserole dish and a full hour of baking in the oven? After all, it's summer. It's hot. And I had already spent the morning baking my weekly batches of Oatmeal Scones and Bran Muffins. I wondered... Could I make Moussaka stacks, plopping everything on the individual eggplant slices? I decided to give it a try and pulled out my Moussaka recipe.

The first thing I did was make the tomato sauce. I had just about 1/3 pound of ground beef so I halved all the other sauce ingredients. I omitted salt, used a low sodium tomato paste & leftover Trader Joe's low sodium chicken broth, and added 1 teaspoon of red wine vinegar for added punch. I cooked the meat sauce down until there was almost no liquid left.

Then I made the bechamel sauce. I halved its ingredients too. Since I was planning on topping individual slices of eggplant, I figured the custard mixture needed to be thicker than what I usually poured over the casserole top. Instead of adding whole eggs to the cream sauce, I just added two egg yolks. I also omitted salt and used about two tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese.

Finally, I put everything together. I used four eggplant slices. I covered each slice with the meat sauce and then the cream sauce custard mixture. Popped the slices into my toaster oven for about 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Then I broiled them for a couple of minutes to brown the tops. Perfect! They tasted great AND the house was still cool.

I had a bit of the cream sauce mixture left over and,of course, the two egg whites. I'm planning on using them today in an omelet lunch. All in all, I think the experiment was a success. A casserole full of Moussaka is an impressive dish for guests but a little too much for just a simple evening meal for two. This method worked out really well, and I know I'll be making it more often. Especially now that eggplants are showing up in the farmer's markets.

Moussaka: Greek Eggplant Casserole

 (Printable Recipe)

A classic Greek dish, famous throughout the world, and a favorite at Greek restaurants and festivals. Delicious eggplant layered with a spicy tomato sauce and topped off with a Parmesan flavored egg custard. A feast for the eyes and the palate!

Meat Sauce:

1 pound lean ground beef or lamb

2 large onions, finely chopped

2 – 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 6-ounce can.tomato paste

¾-1 cup water or NSA broth (may substitute up to ½ cup wine for water or broth)

⅛ teaspoon allspice

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon Greek oregano

Salt & pepper to taste

Eggplant:

3 large eggplants

Vegetable oil

Flour (optional)

Egg (optional)

Cream Sauce:

½ cup flour

½ cup butter

2 cups warmed milk

4 eggs, beaten

¼ cup Parmesan cheese

Dash nutmeg

Meat Sauce Preparation:

Sauté onion and garlic in olive oil until translucent; do not brown. In separate pan, brown ground beef or lamb; drain well. Add browned ground meat, tomato paste, water, broth, or wine, nutmeg, allspice cinnamon, and oregano to onion mixture.

Simmer about 20 minutes over medium heat; sauce will not be juicy. 

Cream Sauce Preparation:

Melt butter and stir in flour. Cook over medium/low heat, stirring until mixture is well blended and bubbling. Off heat, add warmed milk slowly and stir continuously until sauce is well blended and thickened. Sauce will be quite thick. Allow sauce to cool. Add beaten eggs to sauce; stir until all sauce is blended with eggs. Stir in ¼ cup Parmesan cheese and dash nutmeg.

Eggplant Preparation:

If desired, peel eggplant. Slice into 1/3 - 1/2 inch rounds. Choose a browning method for eggplant:

Baked – Brush eggplant slices with oil and bake in 425° oven, turning once, until both sides are golden brown (about 10 minutes per side); do not overcook.

Broiled – Brush eggplant slices with oil and broil, turning once, until both sides are golden brown (about 5-7 minutes per side); do not overcook.

Fried – Coat the eggplant pieces generously with flour (if desired, dip slices in egg wash and flour a second time); heat oil in a skillet and fry eggplant, turning once, until golden brown; do not overcook; drain well on paper towels.

Moussaka Assembly:

Brush bottom and sides of deep 13 x 9 inch baking dish with olive oil. Place ½ of eggplant slices onto bottom of pan; cut slices to fit so that the entire surface is completely covered with eggplant. Spoon meat mixture over eggplant. Top with remaining eggplant slices; cut slices to fit so that the entire surface is completely covered with eggplant. Pour cream sauce over all; spread evenly to completely cover all the eggplant.

Bake at 350° for 60 minutes (the top should be set, slightly puffy, and nicely browned). Let rest for 15 minutes before cutting into serving pieces.

Variations:

Potato:

For easier serving and a firmer texture, potatoes may be substituted for part or for all of the eggplant. Peel and cut potatoes lengthwise into ⅓-½ inch thick slices; sauté  slices lightly in olive oil. Potato slices may also be brushed lightly with olive oil and baked. If using a combination of eggplant and potatoes, place potato layer on bottom of casserole.

Summer Squash:

Summer squash (zucchini, crookneck, pattypan, etc.)  may be substituted for part or for all of the eggplant. Cut squash lengthwise into ⅓-½ inch thick slices and either bake, broil, or fry as the eggplant before assembling the casserole. Do not overcook squash, and do not use overgrown squash with large seeds.

Steamed Vegetable Plate with Cheese Sauce

I'm really lucky that my husband is not a picky eater. I have friends whose husbands can't abide onions or garlic or spices or green vegetables, etc. So their cooking adventures are very limited. I can't even begin to imagine how difficult it would be to follow a low sodium regimen with such ingredient restrictions.

We both love vegetables, and, interestingly enough, I've been cooking vegetables without added salt or butter for years now -- long before I "had" to. The abundance & availability of fresh vegetables make the summer Sacramento heat almost worthwhile. I've been frequenting two farmers markets weekly, so one night I decided a nice steamed vegetable plate would be a wonderful evening meal. I used squash, green beans, baby carrots & new potatoes from the farmers markets. I steamed each vegetable separately until just perfectly done, then combined them for serving. I made a simple lower sodium cheese sauce to pour over everything. It was a simple yet satisfying meal. And there were enough leftovers to use another time as a vegetable side dish.



Cheese Sauce
(Printable Recipe)

Cook together two tablespoons each of flour & unsalted butter for about 2-3 minutes. Add two cups of warm milk or chicken/vegetable broth (Or 1 cup milk and 1 cup broth). Whisk till smooth and stir until thickened.

After the sauce has thickened somewhat, add 1/4 cup shredded naturally low sodium Swiss cheese and 1/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese. Stir while cheese is melting. Keep temperature low so cheese will stay smooth.

For extra flavor, add about 1/2 tsp. each of dry mustard and paprika and a teaspoon of low sodium Worcestershire sauce.  Add more liquid if sauce is too thick. Keep warm, if necessary, over extremely low heat.

Orzo Salad, Squash Fritters, & Yogurt Bread!

My favorite pasta salad, my favorite squash dish, and some yummy bread... What could be better? Tonight I made a great vegetarian meal, and I wasn't even trying to "do" vegetarian. First off, a couple of days ago, my husband came home with some summer squash -- 2 green zucchinis and 2 yellow crooknecks. Then earlier this week I discovered a box of orzo in my pantry. And since my successful try with Sour Cream Bread, I've been toying with the idea of making a yogurt bread. Put it all together, and it spelled dinner tonight.

First the bread: I found a recipe on Allrecipes for Yogurt Yeast Rolls that used 1-1/2 cups of plain, unflavored yogurt. I figured I could just shape the dough into a loaf rather than rolls. I pretty much followed the recipe except I cut the salt in half. Because salt inhibits yeast activity, I also cut the yeast in half. I let my food processor do the mixing & kneading for me. The recipe made two free-form loaves, and the bread has a nice taste & tender crumb.

While the bread was rising, I started on an orzo salad. Orzo is my absolute favorite pasta shape; I've loved it as long as I can remember. A few years ago I discovered a delicious pasta salad using orzo, and I've been making it ever since. The original recipe comes from Epicurious, but I've adjusted it to lessen the sodium content. The combination of  tomatoes, basil, feta cheese, and toasted pine nuts is unbeatable. Here's the recipe with my notes:

Orzo Salad
From Epicurious
(Printable Recipe)

1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 cup olive oil
(I add 1 clove crushed garlic)

6 cups chicken broth (I don't use the chicken broth)
1 pound orzo

2 cups red and yellow teardrop or grape tomatoes, halved
1 7-ounce package feta cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes, about 1 1/2 cups (I only use about 2-3 oz. feta)
1 cup chopped fresh basil (I thinly slice the basil)
1 cup chopped green onions (I thinly slice the onions)
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted

Whisk vinegar, lemon juice, and honey in small bowl. Gradually whisk in oil. Season vinaigrette with salt (I do not add any salt) and pepper. (Cover and chill.)

Bring broth (or unsalted water) to boil in large heavy saucepan. Stir in orzo, reduce heat to medium, cover partially, and boil until tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain. Transfer to large wide bowl, tossing frequently until cool.

Mix tomatoes, feta, basil, and green onions into orzo. Add vinaigrette; toss to coat. Season with salt (I do not add any salt) and pepper. (Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.) Add pine nuts; toss. Serve at room temperature.

And finally, my absolute favorite way to fix summer squash -- Squash Patties. I love all summer squashes and have grown & purchased my share of them. I cook them all kinds of ways too, but squash patties is my all time favorite. I eat them hot & freshly fried, lukewarm, and even cold, straight from the fridge. Leftover patties don't last long because I'm always snitching them. Here's the recipe with my notes:

Summer Squash Fritters
(Printable Recipe)

2 cups grated raw summer squash
½ cup biscuit mix (I use Hodgson Mill Insta-Bake or my own homemade version)
1 egg, beaten
½ cup grated cheese (I use 1/4 cup grated naturally low sodium Swiss)
Minced onion to taste (I chop about 1/4 cup of whatever fresh onion I have on hand)
Salt and pepper to taste (I omit salt)
(I add about ¼ - ½ tsp. dill weed)

Mix all together in a bowl. Spoon into shallow, hot oil in a frying pan. Fry until golden on first side, turn, cook until golden on second side. Drain on paper towels. Serve warm.

Braised Sweet and Sour Cabbage

This is a favorite of mine, braised sweet & sour cabbage. This recipe is so tasty, it doesn't need any salt at all. It is so adaptable too. You can add a couple of cooked and crumbled pieces of low sodium bacon. You can leave out the apple altogether if you don't have one handy. You can use all loso/NSA chicken broth instead of apple juice. I can eat it hot, cold, and even room temperature. Give it a try!

Braised Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage
Canarybird from Garden Web's Cooking Forum

(Printable Recipe)

1 tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, sliced
1 large apple, cored and chopped
1 small red cabbage, quartered, cored and thinly shredded (about 6 cups shredded)
1 cup apple juice (I often use 1/2 cup NSA chicken broth & 1/2 cup apple juice)
3 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp. sugar (I use 1 tsp.)
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat the olive oil over a medium-high heat in a deep frying pan. Cook the onion and apple for 5 minutes or until softened. Stir in the cabbage and toss well. Add the apple juice, vinegar, sugar and seasoning and stir.

2. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes or until the liquid reduces completely and the cabbage is tender. Leftovers can be chilled for one day and reheated over a moderate heat. Serves 4 - 6.