Father's Day (Menu: Athens via Astoria, Queens from Vegan Eats World)

In Australia, Father's Day is the first Sunday in September (I know it is different in the US). As per usual, I made a special dinner for my dad, guided by his choices. It used to be Indian menus every birthday and father's day, but in the last few years he has started exploring the world through food a bit more. So for this meal, he picked Greek. I hit the cookbooks and picked out a menu from Vegan Eats World by Terry Hope Romero that met with his approval. You can see other stuff that I have made from this book here.

Cucumber Tzatziki: This was amazing, with a combination of cashews and vegan yoghurt (I used natural almond yoghurt) as the base. I only made a third of the recipe, which I regretted because I would have happily drank all the leftovers! It has the usual tzatziki components of garlic (I used powdered instead of fresh), cucumbers, and dill (sadly I couldn't find any fresh, so I did have to use dried here). Quadruple the recipe and pour it in a glass! Or put it on stuff, whatever.
Rating: :D



Greek Eggplant Lasagna (Pastichio 'Vegani'): I love pastichio, so I was happy to make it for this recipe. The full recipe makes a huge amount, so I halved it to cook in an 8 x 8 inch casserole. Weirdly, while the name of the recipe says eggplant, the recipe itself is mushrooms only but then has a variation where you add roasted eggplant listed after. I added the roasted eggplant because of course you should. There are three components to this recipe: A slightly cheese pasta, a mushroom/eggplant/tomato filling, and a cashew and silken tofu bechamel sauce. They came together so well, cooked perfectly. Also, leftovers are good hot or cold! Please enjoy the slightly messy inside shot as well, so you can see some of the layers. The book has a prettier photo.
Rating: :)





Braised Greens with Lemon and Olive Oil: This is a simple dish, very easy to make while your pastichio is resting. I made a half recipe, and I used baby spinach because that is what was easiest for me. A nice side dish, also good cold as leftovers.
Rating: :)



These are some dolmades. I didn't make them, I got them out of a tin. I just thought that they would be a nice addition.



And here is a plate, all full of Greek goodness!



Walnut Spice Sticky Cake: Of course there had to be dessert! This cake is lovely and moist, with a wonderful orange kick to it. The recipe says you can bake it in either a 9 x 13 in sheet tin or a 9 in round tin, I did the round tin. Once baked, the cake it covered in syrup and left to soak. I poked holes all over the cake prior to tipping on the syrup. At first I was worried there was too much syrup, but it soaked in after a few hours. I made the cake in the morning, and served it at night, so it had lots of time to soak in all the syrup.
Rating: :)



Overall, this menu was fairly relaxed to put together over the course of a day. I made the cake first, then the tzaziki. Then I made the pastichio filling and the bechamel sauce. Then I had several hours to chill out and watch a Sunday afternoon movie with my mum. Finally, about an hour before dinner I made the pasta, layered it with the other pastichio bits, and popped it in the oven. And I made the greens right before serving, as the pastichio was resting out of the oven.

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



My baby has another UTI. Poor girl. It came on Wednesday night. Thankfully I have pain relief and antibiotics on hand so I was able to get that into her straight away. She seems OK now, though will be on antibiotics for a bit longer.