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Dukan Moussaka – Fabulously Healthy Protein and Vegetable Dish

22 Monday Apr 2013

Posted by On Top Of Spaghetti in Beef, Dukan Diet Friendly, Meat, Slow Cooker

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

aubergine, beef, cauliflower, crockpot, Dukan diet friendly, eggplant, Greek, low fat, meat sauce, protein, red pepper, slow cooker, vegetables

A piece of moussaka on a pretty blue plateThis is a complicated recipe. It’s not at all difficult, but there are many steps to it. It’s not a throw-together-right-after-work meal, but you can make it in stages over a couple of days; and that makes life a lot easier. The seed for this idea was planted when I made the Healthier Mac & Cheese using a cauliflower béchamel. I started wondering if I could use this sauce in a lasagna, but then it occurred to me that it’s actually Dukan friendly. So my thoughts turned towards adapting a classic dish to suit this protein and veg based diet. Lasagna was out due to the pasta, so what else could I make? Moussaka of course! Sadly the potato had to be replaced, but layers of red peppers compensated by lending their sweetness and bright colour to the dish.

On my first go at this experiment I tried to dry fry slices of aubergine (no oil is allowed in the diet) so as to keep with the traditional layering of meat and veg. That didn’t really go too well; aubergines like their olive oil. Also, I made the cauliflower sauce based on the mac & cheese recipe, which turned out a bit too watery and meant the top layer was very thin. So the second time round, I cooked the aubergine (eggplant) together with the meat in order to overcome the dryness issue, and made a thicker cauli sauce without the addition of water. There were less layers than traditional moussaka, but everything held together much better, and the result was tastier and much prettier!
view from the top of the moussaka's creamy cauliflower topping
I used the slow cooker to make the meat part, since this is by far the best method for cooking without oil or any other kind of fat. It’s also a great way to make minced meat sauces in general, as they always benefit from long simmering on low heat. I always leave my Bolognese on for a good 10 hours. If you don’t have a slow cooker I’m sure it would work just fine on the stovetop. Use water to gently cook the onion, then add the meat, and don’t forget to drain the fat before adding the rest of the ingredients. You want the result to be quite thick so watch the amount of liquid you add.

Before it’s cooked , the aubergine needs a bit of alone time with a good sprinkling of salt (don’t worry, it’s rinsed off!). This helps get rid of the bitterness that sometimes comes with this vegetable. I recently heard an interesting tip for those who grow their own aubergines; apparently if you plant them next to basil they’ll be less bitter to begin with!

As regards the preparation of this dish, what I did was make the meat sauce the first day. Then in the evening I made the cauliflower puree. Both went in the fridge overnight. The next day I made the peppers, mixed the puree with the rest of the topping ingredients, layered it all up in the baking dish and baked it. Broken up like that it’s not that big a deal really. And it’s well worth it! Oh, you could also use store bought roasted red peppers, but since they are usually preserved in oil it would be cheating a bit.

If you are not on the Dukan Diet, this is still a recommended recipe. It’s super healthy, low in fat, and very tasty. I suggest you sprinkle some grated cheese on top before baking! (Also allowed in the Consolidation phase of the diet)
My Dukan Moussaka in the baking dish, straight from the oven!

Dukan Moussaka – Fabulously Healthy Protein and Vegetable Dish

Step 1

Slow Cooker Meat Sauce with Aubergines (Eggplant)

Ingredients

1 medium onion, chopped
3 Tbs water
500g minced lean beef
2 Tbs water
2 Tbs white wine vinegar
400g chopped tomatoes with juice + 2 Tbs water to rinse tin
1/2 cup tomato passata
2 medium aubergines, cut into chunks
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly cracked pepper
1 bay leaf
Salt

Instructions

  1. Prepare aubergines by putting the chunks into a colander and sprinkling with salt. Give them a shake and sprinkle again, so that all the pieces have salt on them. Leave for 20-30 minutes (on a plate, as the veg will release a bit of water).
  2. Sautee the onion in the 3 tablespoons of water on medium low heat till softened. Add to the slow cooker. Or just put the raw onion in the slow cooker and save yourself a step – to be honest I doubt it makes much difference to the end result.
  3. Put the pan back on the heat, turn it up to high, and add the 2 tablespoons of water followed by the minced meat. Stir continuously breaking up any clumps. The meat will release fat and juices and start bubbling. When it’s brown all over with no pink showing, add the vinegar. Stir well and let it all bubble till the liquid in the pan has reduced. Transfer meat to the slow cooker with a slotted spoon and discard the remaining fatty juices (this is a diet dish!).
  4. Add the tomatoes, passata, cinnamon, bay leaf and pepper to the slow cooker. Stir well.
  5. Rinse and strain the aubergine well. Add to the slow cooker and stir into the mixture.
  6. Cook on low for 10 hours (I imagine it would be fine after 8, but I was out so I don’t know for sure!). If you are around give it a stir halfway through.

Step 2

Red Pepper Layer

Ingredients

2 red peppers (I used the long Greek ones, but bell peppers would be fine)

Instructions

  1. Cut one side of a pepper from the stalk down to the bottom, then do the same on the opposite side. You want to end up with two big pieces, as wide and flat as possible. These will make up the layer that separates the meat from the topping. Don’t worry about the bottom or sides curling in, they will flatten a bit after they are softened. If necessary, measure the pepper pieces against the baking pan or dish that you will use. If needed, use another pepper.
  2. Take a large frying pan with a lid, cover the bottom of the pan with water, lay the pepper pieces in it and turn the heat to medium. Cook covered till the peppers are well softened, turning once. Mine took about 30 minutes. My mum suggested that I try doing this in the microwave next time. I wish she’d said it earlier… Anyway, make sure they don’t catch on the bottom of the pan. If necessary turn the heat down a bit or add more water. Set aside.

Step 3

Cauliflower and Yogurt Topping – The Fake Béchamel

Ingredients

1 smallish head of cauliflower (I forgot to weigh it – I think it was probably about 600-700g). You want it to produce 2 cups of puree.
1 Tbs vinegar
1 tub (200g) Greek yogurt (2% fat)
2 eggs
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

  1. Cut the cauliflower into florets and put in a pan with a fitted strainer. Add water to the bottom of the pan (don’t let it touch the bottom of the strainer), together with the vinegar. Cover with a tight fitting lid and steam the cauliflower till very soft. (Vinegar helps with the smell!)
  2. Remove the cooked cauliflower and blend it well, till it’s very smooth. Let cool a little. You want two cups. If you have some leftover, use it as a healthy sauce for meat or fish (you can thin it out with milk if necessary).
  3. Add the yogurt to the cooled cauliflower puree while stirring continuously, followed by the eggs, pepper, nutmeg and salt. Make sure it’s all well incorporated.

Step 4

The Dukan Moussaka – General Assembly!

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 200C. In a baking tin or dish, evenly spread the meat and aubergine sauce.
  2. Lay the peppers on top, creating a layer and trying to cover the meat as well as possible.
  3. Spoon the cauliflower mixture on top of the peppers and level it out. The dish I used is 16x25cm and everything fit perfectly.
  4. Bake in the hot oven for 50-60 minutes, till it’s bubbling at the sides and firm on top. It will probably start to brown on the top, but mostly around the sides. I couldn’t get mine to brown all over. It didn’t matter!

Other Moussaka recipes – but none of them Dukan!
Moussaka by Brown Eyed Baker
Vegetable Moussaka by The Shiksa in the Kitchen
Leek Moussaka by The Perfect Pantry
And something a little different… Mussaka by FatFree Vegan Kitchen

Healthier Mac & Cheese with Cauliflower White Sauce

26 Saturday Jan 2013

Posted by On Top Of Spaghetti in Meatless, Pasta

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

bechamel, cauliflower, cheese, cheese sauce, Mac & Cheese, pasta bake, vegetarian, white sauce

A piece of Mac & Cheese on an antique plate with a painting of a harbour

With many thanks to The Collector for the French antique plate, c. 1875-1891

I’ve started and re-started this post a couple of too many times now; it’s just not happening. Maybe I should leave it, and wait till some inspiration decides to return to my brain. I’m sure that would be the right thing to do. However, I really want to share this recipe with you all.

I made this dish a couple of weeks ago, after an impulse buy of a head of cauliflower at the supermarket. What’s that you say? The words cauliflower and impulse don’t belong in the same sentence? I know. It just looked so nice! And hey, it’s cheaper than a pair of Manolos. This version of Mac & Cheese is made with a thick white sauce, just like the classic, but with a twist. The white sauce is in fact a thick, gooey, creamy, cauliflower soup. Clever, isn’t it? The idea came from this Alfredo Pasta recipe on A Pinch of Yum. I tried it a while ago and really liked it, but thought I could take it up a notch in tastiness (and down a notch in healthiness) by adding a whole load of cheese to it. Baked Cauliflower Cheese was one of our favourite meals as kids, so combining that with pasta was a no-brainer really!

I’ve simplified the recipe for the sauce so the Mac & Cheese is fairly quick to throw together, but for a super fast meal, make the sauce the day (or a couple of days) before. Then you can just mix in some cheese and cooked pasta, sprinkle with breadcrumbs and pop it in the oven. In future I might even try replacing béchamel sauce in other recipes with this cauliflower sauce; for example it would probably be lovely in a veggie lasagna with spinach. But first I’ll have to convince The Mister to have a teeny weeny try. I know he’d like it but just the mention of the main ingredient sends him running to the souvlaki shop.

Healthier Mac & Cheese with Cauliflower White Sauce (Bechamel)

Serves 4

Ingredients

For the Cauliflower White Sauce (Bechamel)

1 small head of cauliflower (approx. 700-800g)
2 cups broth or stock, whatever type you prefer
White pepper, to taste
Nutmeg, to taste
Salt, to taste
1 Tbs cream
1 Tbs olive oil

For the Mac & Cheese

375g pasta (I used penne)
100g mature cheddar, grated
100g cheese of your choice, grated (choose one that melts well, mozzarella or gouda would be good – I used Greek Kaseri)
60g cheese for topping, grated (same as above, or Parmesan, or anything in the fridge that needs eating up! I used Kaseri again)
½ cup breadcrumbs for topping (or enough to cover your mac)
½ tsp Italian seasoning (or a mixture of any dried herbs you fancy)
White pepper, to taste
Salt, a good pinch
Cauliflower white sauce (I used most of the sauce made with the above ingredients – it depends how gooey/runny you like your Mac & Cheese)

Instructions

Cauliflower White Sauce

  1. Cut the cauliflower into florets and boil it in the stock, covered, for about 30 minutes or until very tender.
  2. Pour out 1 cup of the stock and set aside.
  3. Using a stick blender, blend the cauliflower and remaining stock until smooth. Add the olive oil, cream, seasoning and the rest of the stock back in and continue to blend till very smooth (if you find that your sauce is already runny, just add as much of the reserved stock as necessary till it reaches the desired consistency. You want it thick and creamy, like béchamel. Mine was perfect with the 2 cups of stock).
  4. Continue with the Mac & Cheese recipe or let it cool and refrigerate until needed.

Mac & Cheese with Cauliflower White Sauce

  1. Preheat your oven to 180C.
  2. Boil the pasta in plenty of salty water but stop just before it’s completely done (about 2 minutes less than you would normally cook it). Drain the pasta reserving ½ a cup of water.
  3. Return the pasta to the saucepan and add the white sauce and cheeses (except the cheese for the topping). Stir well to combine. If it’s too thick you can thin it out with some pasta stock. I didn’t need to do this.
  4. Now you can add some seasoning to the mixture if you want. I forgot to do this, so I just added the salt and pepper to the breadcrumbs. It worked for me because I liked the bursts of saltiness that came in the crunchy topping. If you prefer a mellower taste add the salt to the mixture.
  5. Transfer mixture to an oven proof dish.
  6. Mix the herbs (and seasoning if not already used) with the breadcrumbs and remaining cheese, and sprinkle over the mixture.
  7. Bake for about 40 minutes or until the top is golden and the sides are bubbling a bit. If the sauce was in the fridge this might take a bit longer.
  8. Let the Mac & Cheese rest for a while before cutting into it. Serve with a tomato or green salad.

Other Cool Cauliflower Recipes from around the Blogosphere
Cauliflower Cheese by The English Kitchen
Pureed Cauliflower by Kalyn’s Kitchen
Bacon Cheddar Cauliflower Chowder by Iowa Girl Eats
Cauliflower Crust Pizza with Fried Eggs by Love & Lemons
CrockPot Roasted Cauliflower Soup with Curry and Honey by A Year of Slow Cooking

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