Zucchini, Feta, and Black Olive Lasagna

I'll admit to falling down on the MoFo job this last week, but I needed to switch my focus from vegan Greek  cuisine to early modern English infanticide. (Don't ask. Or go ahead, but don't say you weren't warned.) That said, I did spend a pleasant Sunday afternoon concocting this lasagna; it turned out so well that there were far fewer leftovers than I'd anticipated, which I chalk up to the happy combination of roasted late-summer zucchini with the brininess of the olives and tofu feta,  Now that fall is finally upon us, it's officially casserole season, so fire up the oven and get busy!

Zucchini, Feta, and Black Olive Lasagna 
Ingredients
~ 1 package no-boil lasagna noodles
~ 2 tbsp. olive oil
~ 4-6 green and/or yellow zucchini (I used a combination)
~ 2 large leeks, chopped
~ 1 tbsp. minced garlic
~ 1 tsp. each: salt, oregano, basil, chili powder
~ 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
~ Fresh black pepper
~ 1 14 oz. can fire-roasted, diced tomatoes
~ 2 tbsp. tomato paste
~ 1 cup chopped black olives
~ 1 cup water
~ 1 recipe tofu feta
~ 2 cups vegan mozzarella, divided (I recommend Daiya or Teese)
~ 3/4 cup nutritional yeast, divided
~ ½ cup chopped fresh parsley
~ 1.5 cups plain, unsweetened soy milk
~ 1 tbsp. hot sauce (I used Frank's)
~ Dash each: nutmeg, cayenne
~ 1 cup tomato sauce, store-bought or homemade

Directions
~ Preheat the oven to 475 degrees Fahrenheit and coat two baking sheets with cooking spray.
~ In a large bowl, combine the chopped zucchini with 1 tbsp. of the oil and a few grinds each of salt and pepper (I like to do this with my hands).
~ Arrange the zucchini on the baking sheets and cook at 475 for 30-40 minutes, flipping them and switching the pans around at the halfway point. The squash should be tender, browned, and just a little charred. Remove from the oven, and cool to room temperature.
~ In a large skillet, heat the remaining tbsp. of olive oil and sauté the leeks over medium heat for about 5 minutes, until quite soft.
~ Add the garlic, seasonings, canned tomatoes, and tomato paste. Stir well and continue cooking for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally; add as much of the water as needed to make a thick sauce.
~ Stir in the roasted zucchini and the chopped olives, mix well, and remove from heat.
~ In a large bowl, combine the tofu feta, 1 cup of the mozzarella, fresh parsley, and ¼ cup of the nutritional yeast and mix well.
~ Combine the soy milk, hot sauce, nutmeg, cayenne, and the remaining nutritional yeast and mozzarella in a saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until you have a smooth cheesy sauce.
~ Heat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and coat a large casserole with cooking spray.
~ While the oven is heating, ladle 1 cup of tomato sauce in the greased casserole, and arrange sufficient lasagna noodles to cover the bottom of the pan (this should 4-5 sheets).
~ Spread the zucchini-tomato-olive filling over the noodles and smooth with a spatula.
~ Carefully top with the feta-mozzarella mixture, spreading it out to cover the filling.
~ Add another layer of lasagna noodles and then pour on the cheesy sauce, being sure to distribute it as evenly as possible. Sprinkle the top with a little paprika, cover tightly with aluminum foil, and bake for 30 minutes. (I put a cookie sheet under the casserole to catch any errant drips.)
~ Remove the foil and bake an additional 15-20 minutes, until the top is golden brown and bubbly.
~ Remove from the oven and allow to rest about 10-15 minutes before slicing and serving.

Savory Zucchini & Olive Bread

This easy quick-bread is a perfect use for the zucchini guts left over from kolokithia yemista, with chopped black olives standing in for the raisins or other fruit you might find in a sweet version. This bread is good served warm, at room temperature, or toasted (a toaster oven is best, since it's a bit fragile), and makes a nice accompaniment to soup, salad, or a more elaborate meal. (NB you can make this recipe as muffins, too; just reduce the cooking time to about 25 minutes.)

Savory Zucchini & Olive Bread
Ingredients
~ ¼ cup olive oil
~ 1 cup minced shallots
~ 1 tbsp. minced garlic
~ 1 cup plain, unsweetened soy milk
~ 1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
~ 1 tbsp. ground flaxseed
~ 2 cups mashed or grated raw zucchini
~ 2.5 cups all-purpose flour
~ 1 tbsp. baking powder
~ 1 tsp. each: salt, oregano, dill, za'ataar
~ ½ tsp. each: baking soda, thyme, white pepper
~ ¾ cup chopped Kalamata olives

Directions
~ Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit and coat a loaf pan generously with cooking spray.
~ In a skillet, cook the shallots and garlic in the olive oil over medium heat for 7-10 minutes, until soft.
~ Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
~ In a bowl or beaker, whisk together the soy milk, vinegar, and flaxseed for about a minute, until the mixture becomes thick and a bit foamy. Stir in the zucchini and the cooked shallots and garlic - making sure to include the olive oil from the skillet - and mix well.
~ In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and dry seasonings. Add the chopped olives and stir to coat.
~ Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, gently fold in the wet ingredients, and combine thoroughly.
~ Transfer the batter to then greased loaf pan and bake in the center of the oven for 50-60 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. (Ovens vary wildly and you know yours best; just keep an eye on it.)
~ Allow the bread to rest in the pan for about 5 minutes before turning out. Transfer to a cooling rack and allow to rest at least 15 minutes before slicing.

Israeli Couscous, Chicken, and Feta Salad

Another salad! And this one is substantial enough to be a whole meal, boasting not one but two protein sources, along with a mix of raw and cooked vegetables. Make it in the morning, so when dinnertime rolls around you'll have nothing to do but pour some wine and eat, instead of slaving away in the kitchen!

Israeli Couscous with Chicken and Feta
Ingredients
~ 1.5 cups Israeli couscous
~ 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
~ 2 large leeks, thinly sliced
~ 4-5 cloves garlic, minced
~ 1 tsp. each: salt, oregano, basil, lemon zest
~ Fresh black pepper to taste
~ 1 package vegan chicken, cut into 1" pieces (I used Beyond Meat)
~ 1 red bell pepper, diced
~ 1 small cucumber, seeded and cut into quarter-moons
~ 1 14 oz. can marinated artichoke hearts, drained
~ 2 cups asparagus spears, lightly steamed
~ 1 cup fresh or frozen green peas, lightly steamed
~ 2 cups tofu feta
~ 1 cup chopped, fresh parsley

Directions
~ Prepare the couscous according to package directions (this should be 1.5 cups couscous to 3 cups water for 10-12 minutes, but this can vary). Transfer to a large bowl and set aside to cool.
~ In a skillet, cook the leeks and garlic over medium heat about 7-10 minutes, until quite soft. Raise the heat to high, add the dry seasonings, lemon zest, and chicken pieces, and cook 5-7 minutes more, until the chicken starts to brown just a bit. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
~ When the couscous has cooled, gently stir in the cooked leeks/chicken and all the remaining ingredients, finishing with the fresh parsley.
~ This dish is equally good eaten chilled or at room temperature, but it does get better as it sits, so it's worth making it a few hours (or even a day) before serving. It's especially good on top of a big pile of fresh salad greens with a squeeze of fresh lemon.

Φακές / Fakes (Greek Lentil Soup)

This soup is a lot like the one my mother used to make, although I have a heavier hand with seasonings than she did. Sometimes she added rice, sometimes orzo, sometimes a couple of cubed potatoes, and sometimes no starch at all; any or all of these work equally well, but I happened to choose rice for this batch. In some ways, a lentil soup is a lentil soup is a lentil soup, but the thing that really makes this one sing - in a distinctively Grecian sort of voice - is the red wine vinegar stirred in at the end, which adds a nice sharpness to the "earthy" flavors of the other ingredients.

Fakes (Greek Lentil Soup)
Ingredients
~ 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
~ 1 large red onion, diced
~ 2 large stalks celery, diced
~ 2 large carrots, diced
~ 5-6 cloves garlic, minced
~ 1 tbsp. each: dried dill, marjoram, oregano
~ 1 tsp. salt
~ A few generous grinds black pepper
~ 2 bay leaves
~ 1 cup brown lentils
~ 1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes
~ 2 tbsp. tomato paste
~ 8 cups no chicken broth
~ ½ cup basmati rice
~ 2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
~ ½ cup chopped, fresh parsley

Directions
~ In a large, deep pot, sauté the onion, celery, and carrot in the olive oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes.
~ Add the garlic and dry seasonings and cook another minute or so, then stir in the lentils and allow them to toast for a few minutes, stirring constantly.
~ Add the canned tomatoes and tomato paste and cook 5-7 minutes, so the flavors can blend a bit.
~ Pour in the broth, cover the pot, and raise the heat to high just long enough to bring the soup to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
~ Stir the basmati rice, replace the lid, and continue cooking 20-25 minutes more, until the rice is cooked and the lentils are soft.
~ Remove the bay leaves, add the vinegar and fresh parsley, mix well, and serve hot.

Patates Lemonates (Lemon Potatoes)

Because I deplore insincerity and dissimulation, I won't even affect modest humility: these potatoes are amazing. My goal was the ineffable lemony, garlicky, herby, slightly-crisp-but-not-too-crunchy goodness of Greek restaurant patates lemonates, and I absolutely nailed it. So run, don't walk, to the kitchen and roast up some of this carb-based nirvana; your stomach (and anyone's you choose to share with) will surely thank you.

Patates Lemonates
Ingredients
~ 3 lbs. Yukon gold potatoes (about 8 large potatoes)
~ ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
~ ⅓ cup fresh lemon juice
~ 1-2 tsp. lemon zest
~ 3 cloves garlic, minced
~ 1 tsp. each: oregano, paprika, chickpea flour (or semolina)
~ ½ tsp. each: salt, marjoram
~ 1 cup "no chicken" broth
~ 2-3 tbsp. each: chopped, fresh parsley and dill
~ Fresh black pepper

Directions
~ Preheat the oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit and coat a large, rimmed baking dish with cooking spray.
~ Pierce the potatoes and microwave for about 8-10 minutes; set aside until cool enough to handle.
~ In a bowl or beaker, whisk together the oil, lemon juice and zest, garlic, and dry seasonings.
~ When you can handle the potatoes, cut them into approximately 2" chunks and arrange them in the baking dish.
~ Pour the oil mixture over the potatoes and make sure they are coated thoroughly. (I find this easiest to do with my hands. Bonus: moisturizing!)
~ Add ½ cup of the broth, give it all another stir, and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
~ Add the remaining broth, stir the potatoes around, and bake another 15 minutes or so, until they are quite tender but brown around the edges.
~ Remove from the oven and mix in the fresh parsley and dill, and a few healthy grinds of black pepper.
~ Allow the potatoes to rest for a few minutes and transfer to a dish for serving; be sure to include any remaining liquid and/or browned bits from the pan.

Kolokithia Yemista (Stuffed Zucchini) Papoutsakia-style

Back in my vegetarian neo-hippie adolescence, I made lots of stuffed vegetable recipes from classic cookbooks like Moosewood, The Enchanted Broccoli Forest, The Vegetarian Epicure, and Laurel's Kitchen, most of which tended to be 1. time and labor intensive, and 2. dairy-and-egg-laden gut-bombs. (For instance, one of the Moosewood recipes crams its zucchini full of three kinds of cheese, three beaten eggs, and - in a Hannibal Lecteresque touch - its own guts, sautéed in butter with onions and garlic. Yow.)

In recent years, I've found pleasure - and a few fairly significant challenges - in veganizing and lightening up those old favorites, and I devoted MoFo 2013 to doing exactly that. But with today's recipe I was going for a traditional papoutsakia-style stuffed zucchini, which features a meaty filling and cheesy béchamel topping (think little, individual moussakas, only less time and trouble). And at the risk of being immodest, I have to say this dish turned out really well: delicious, filling but not heavy, and massively well-received. On the whole, an excellent way to use some of our zucchini overstock, and a definite keeper.

(FYI, "papoutsakia" means "little shoes," and is used in reference to stuffed eggplant as well as zucchini. I assume that once upon a time the scooped-out vegetables reminded some waggish Greek of footwear; one could look it up, but this theory will suffice because it pleases me. Another popular approach is kolokithakia avgolemono, which I'll tackle another time; since zucchini season isn't over yet, maybe even before the month is out!)

Stuffed Zucchini
Ingredients
The Stuffed Zucchini
~ 4 medium-size zucchini squash
~ 1 tbsp. olive oil
~ 6 large shallots, diced (about a cup)
~ 3 large cloves garlic, minced
~ 2 cups chopped, fresh tomato
~ ½ tsp. each: salt, oregano, basil, marjoram, chili powder, smoked paprika, white pepper
~ Pinch nutmeg
~ ½ cup each: water, dry red wine
~ 1 package TJ's or Nate's veggie meatballs, cooked and mashed
~ 3 tbsp. tomato paste
~ ½ cup chopped, fresh parsley

Directions
~ Preheat the oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit and spray a 9 x 13" baking dish with cooking spray.
~ Trim the ends of the zucchini and scoop out the flesh to make a little squash canoe - or shoe! - leaving about a ¼" thickness around the perimeter. (Set the zucchini guts aside and store for use in muffins or bread; recipe to follow).
~ In a large skillet, sauté the shallots in the olive oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, chopped tomato, and dry seasonings, and continue cooking another 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes are breaking down.
~ Stir in the water, wine, and tomato paste, and add the mashed meatballs. Combine thoroughly, reduce heat to low, and cook another 8-10 minutes, until you have a thick "sloppy joe" texture.
~ Remove from heat, add the fresh dill, and allow to cool for a few minutes.
~ Fill the scooped-out zucchini with the meatball mixture (make sure it's packed in pretty densely; you should use all the filling) and arrange them in your prepared baking dish.
~ Cover tightly with foil and bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes.
~ While that is happening you can make...

The Sauce
Ingredients
~ ⅓ cup plain, unsweetened soy milk
~ 1 cup vegan mozzarella (I used Daiya)
~ ¼ cup tahini
~ ¼ cup nutritional yeast
~ Fresh parsley for garnish

Directions
~ In a saucepan, heat the soy milk over medium heat until almost at a simmer, then add the mozzarella and stir until melted.
~ Add the tahini and nutritional yeast and continue cooking a few minutes more, stirring constantly to make a smooth, thick sauce.
~ After it's been baking for 30-35 minutes, take the casserole out of the oven and ladle the sauce evenly over each of the stuffed zucchini and sprinkle with fresh parsley.
~ Return the whole business to the oven and bake, uncovered, for another 15-20 minutes, until browned and bubbling.
~ Remove from the oven and allow to rest about 10 minutes before serving.

Old-Fashioned Rice Pilaf

Today's recipe is basically my home-made rendition of that ubiquitous supermarket staple, Near East rice pilaf mix. Dear to the hearts of American grocery shoppers, the classic original version is pretty old-school, without superfluous fripperies like nuts, raisins, dates, saffron, or exotic grains to complicate the situation. And that is exactly what I offer here: with just rice, orzo, chopped onion and celery, a handful of basic spices, and some decent broth, this recipe is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser that makes a perfect accompaniment to other Middle Eastern dishes, and a damned fine snack all on its own. (Even as a nightmarishly picky toddler, my youngest son would never turn down a dish of pilaf, and I've been known to make a meal of it myself more than once!)

Old-Fashioned Rice Pilaf
Ingredients
~ 1.5 cups basmati rice
~ ½ cup orzo
~ 1 tbsp. olive oil
~ 1 small yellow onion, diced
~ 2 stalks celery, diced
~ ½ tsp. each: salt, thyme, sage, white pepper
~ ¼ tsp. turmeric
~ 2 tbsp. nutritional yeast
~ ½ cup chopped, fresh parsley
~ 2 ¾ cups vegan "chicken" broth

Directions
~ Rinse the rice in several changes of water, and then set aside aside to soak for at least 30 minutes (an hour or so is even better).
~ In a saucepan, sauté the onion, celery, and dry seasonings in the olive oil over medium heat for 5-7 minutes, until soft. Add a little more oil or a splash of water or broth if things get sticky.
~ Drain the rice and add it to the pan along with the orzo, nutritional yeast, and fresh parsley. Stir well, cook another minute or two, and pour in the broth.
~ Cover the pan, bring to a boil, and lower the heat to simmer.
~ Cook over low heat for 12-15 minutes, or until all the broth is absorbed and the rice is still a bit firm but fluffy (the longer you've soaked it, the  more quickly it will cook).
~ Remove from heat, fluff with a fork, and serve.