Mous-sa-wha?

You know when you've heard of dishes, seen recipes for them along the way, but never fully explored what they actually might be? Well, that's the relationship I've had with moussaka for all these years.

For those who were in the dark like me, moussaka is a traditional Greek casserole with layers of beef and eggplant.

Speaking of eggplant... I love it. I especially love eggplant parm, and have countless variations just waiting to be unleashed. However, because the boys have an aversion to many vegetable-based dishes, I have held off until tonight. That's because my new Biggest Loser cookbook promised a faster, easier and lighter version of this typically heavy dish. It's also because I was in the mood to try this dish, so the boys were just going to have to deal.
And yes - I did write new cookbook. Not really a full-on cookbook, btw - just one of those little grocery store mini-books that scream "buy me!" with loads of pretty pictures as I was patiently in line to check out.

Moussaka
Source: The Biggest Loser Weight Loss Planner/Prevention Guide, Fall 2011

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 lb lean ground turkey
• 1 c. chopped onion
• 3/4 c. white wine (special shout out to K for coming through in the clutch!)
• 15oz. low-sodium tomato sauce
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tbsp honey
• 3 tbsp canola
• 1/4 c. flour
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 1-1/2 c. 1 percent milk
• 3/4 c. vegetable broth (used no-salt added)
• 1/2 c. chopped scallions (skipped - forgot to buy)
• 3/4 c. sundried tomatoes (skipped - bought smoked by accident)
• 1 eggplant, halved and sliced 1/4-inch thick
• 1/3 c. grated parm

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat olive oil in large saucepan over med-high heat. Add turkey and onion. Cook 5 mins. Add wine, tomato sauce, oregano, nutmeg, cinnamon and honey. Simmer, stirring occasionally, 30 mins or until thickened and almost dry.
• Heat canola oil in saucepan over med heat. Whisk in flour. Cook 1-2 mins, whisking constantly. Add garlic and cook 1 min. Add milk and broth. Cook over low heat, stirring often, until thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat and stir in scallions and tomatoes.
• Coat 13x9 dish with spray. Spread half of eggplant in bottom of dish. Pour turkey mixture on top of eggplant. Top with remaining eggplant. Press down lightly.
• Pour milk mixture over eggplant. Top with parm cheese. Bake 1 hour, or until golden and bubbling. Let stand 10 mins before serving.

Yield: 8 servings
Per serving: 270 cals; 23g protein; 23g carb; 5g fiber; 9g fat (2g sat); 290mg sodium

Earlier in the day, I also attempted another lentil soup - this one courtesy of Runner's World. I'm not going to include the recipe because it basically turned out like the other lentil soup I made - a big pile of semi-cooked lentils and mushed black beans. Of course, I ate it because I love lentils and beans, but it wasn't exactly soup-like. Nor was it particularly appealing to my favorite, non-lentil loving East Coast house guest. (Shout out time!) Maybe Runner's World should stick to running?

Reviews:
For someone who has claimed for years and years that he doesn't like eggplant, the hubs managed to be the president of the clean plate club tonight. The flavor was excellent with this and the eggplant was fork-tender. The kid, of course, was not a fan of the eggplant - despite my effort to hide it by cutting it into small pieces and blend it in with the meat. My only issues with this meal? It still took about an hour to prepare, and then another hour to bake, and the Biggest Loser doesn't include specific portion sizes! WTF?

The happy moral of this story? I see lots of eggplant dishes in our future!

Ranking:
Three Forks

We've opened up the eggplant floodgates