I Love Greek Food!!!

I've always enjoyed Greek food. My #1 favourite restaurant is Opa! in Halifax. Since I can't get to Opa! I've recently started to cook some Greek food at home and am excited about how great it turns out!

A few nights ago we had Moussaka which is like a Greek lasagna.

Moussaka

serves 4

1 pounds eggplant, peeled (if desired) and cut into 3/4-inch cubes

1/2 pounds beef, lean ground

8 ounce(s) tomato sauce with basil, garlic, and oregano

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon, ground

2 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoon flour, all-purpose

1/4 teaspoon salt

dash(es) pepper, black ground

1/2 cup milk, fat-free

1/2 cup yogurt, low-fat plain

1/2 cup cheese, ricotta, low-fat

1/3 cup refrigerated or frozen egg product, thawed

cheese, Parmesan, thinly sliced

- Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly coat a very large nonstick skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium-high heat. Add eggplant; cook about 6 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently. Set aside.

- Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook ground meat until browned. Drain off fat. Stir in tomato sauce and 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, about 8 minutes or until sauce thickens, stirring occasionally. Divide meat mixture among 4 individual 12- to 14-ounce au gratin or baking dishes. Top with eggplant.

- In a small saucepan melt butter. Stir in the flour, salt, and pepper. Add milk and yogurt all at once. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly; remove from heat. Stir in ricotta cheese. Stir in egg product. Spoon atop eggplant. Sprinkle lightly with additional ground cinnamon.

- Bake, uncovered, about 25 minutes or until heated through. Top with Parmesan, if desired. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Tonight, we had Ancient Shrimp in a Honey Glaze and Spinach Balls. DELICIOUS! We will definitely be having this again sometime soon. The glaze on the shrimp is an excellent "syrup" for the spinach balls which are similar to pancakes.

Ancient Greek Shrimp in Honey Glaze

serves 2

50 - 60 shrimp (if frozen, defrost and strain them, remove tails)

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp soya sauce

2 tbsp honey

fresh basil (2 leaves, cut up)

1 tsp flour

- Place the oil, soya sauce and honey in a frying pan and add the shrimp.

- Saute for 2-3 minutes until they soften.

- Remove the shrimp

- Transfer the honey mixture to a small pot and add the flour.

- Boil until it thickens (about 2 minutes)

- Pour the sauce over the shrimp

Spinach Balls

serves 3

2 cups fresh spinach (or 1 cup cooked)

1/4 cup diced onion

2 eggs

8 tbsp flour

4 tbsp parmesan cheese

1/4 tsp Salt

1/4 tsp Pepper

- Lightly boil spinach (put spinach in microwavable bowl with 1/2 cup water, cover with plastic wrap and cook in microwave for 1 minute)

- Strain the spinach well

- Chop the spinach finely

- Dice the onions

- Beat the eggs, flour and the cheese in a bowl.

- Add spinach and onions

- Season with salt and pepper.

- Mix well. (it should make a thick dough like cookie dough. If it needs to be thicker, add more flour)

- Use a spoon or scoop to place medium sized balls of mixture in a frying pan with 1/3 cup olive oil

- Fry on both sides until golden brown. (about 3 minutes per side)