Eggplant Lasagna

This is absolutely and incredibly delicious. Try it.

Substitute "noodles":
1 large eggplant, cut into 3mm thick slices
White sauce:
1 small clove garlic, minced
150g low-fat cheddar cheese
2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp flour
1 cup skim milk
1 tsp oregano
2 cups of sliced mushrooms
Red sauce:
1 cup pasta sauce
1/4 cup ground beef
a few sliced black olives


Salt to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lay out the eggplant in single layer and bake for 20 minutes.
2. The white sauce: Make a roux with the oil, flour and garlic. Stir in the milk, mushrooms and cheddar cheese until it all mixes together and thickens. Taste and add salt if necessary.
3. The red sauce: Cook the ingredients for the red sauce together. Add salt if necessary.
4. Layering: 1 layer eggplant, all the red sauce, remaining eggplant in 1 layer, all of the mushroom white sauce, and a thin layer of cheddar cheese.
5. Bake in 350 deg oven for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Lau Maach, Squash with Salmon in a Mustard and Poppyseed sauce, লাউ মাছ পোস্ত দিয়ে

I couldn't find a Bengali recipe for Squash or Lau (Gourd) with Salmon. Since Lau-Chingri (Gourd with Shrimps) exists, then why not mix Lau with another oceanic creature?

So here is my lovely creation. I have to say, it tastes absolutely wonderful with some rice. Doesn't take long to prepare either.

400-600g salmon, cut into 100g pieces
1 large squash cut into thin 1 inch pieces (roughly 3-4 cups)
2 tbsp black mustard, ground
1 tbsp white poppy seeds, ground
1 tsp red chilli powder
2 tsp turmeric/haldi powder
2 tbsp mustard oil
1 tsp panch phoron
2 green/red chillies (optional)
salt to taste
1.5 cups of water

1. Place the ground mustard seeds, ground poppy seeds, 1 tsp red chilli powder in a non-reactive bowl and add 1/2 cup of water to soak the seeds in. Leave this for 10 minutes or so. If the mixture looks dry add a little more water until it is the consistency of cooked oats  or beaten eggs.
2. In a separate bowl, mix the Salmon with 1 tsp of haldi and some salt. In a heated pan, add 1-2 tsps of oil and lightly fry the salmon for 1 minute on each side.
3. Remove the fish from the pan and keep it on a separate plate.
4. To the pan still on the heat, add the remainder of the mustard oil. Wait till it's hot then add the panch phoron.
5. Once the panch phoron sizzles, add all of the squash/gourd/lau at once and mix thoroughly. Add salt to taste.
6. After about 5 minutes of cooking, add the mustard/poppy seed paste, 1.5 cups of water, green chillies and stir till everything is evenly combined.
7. Drop in the salmon pieces gently. Submerge under the liquid. Cover the pan with a lid and turn the heat to medium-low and let it come to a boil.
8. Cook all of this for at least 10-15 minutes.

Serve with hot rice.

Yum! Yum! Yum!

Low-fat low-points Banana Pineapple Walnut Cake

Makes 12 slices

Ingredients, PointsPlus value
Group1:
2 cups flour, 24
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup Splenda
1/4 cup powdered or regular sugar, 4
1/2 tsp cinnamon
a little freshly ground nutmeg

Group 2:
1 cup (8oz.) pureed pineapple or 1 can crushed pineapple
2 cups pureed or mashed bananas
2 tbsp oil, 6
2 eggs, 4
1 egg white

Group 3:
1.5 cups chopped or sliced bananas
1/2 cups chopped pineapple
1/4 cup walnuts broken, 4

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix Group ingredients
3. Mix Group 2 ingredients
4. Combine the Group 1 and Group 2 ingredients till just thoroughly combined
5. Add in Group 3 ingredients and fold everything together till thoroughly combined.
6. Divide into 2x9-inch round baking tins. Bake for 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

This cake is quite moist and quite sweet. I left a little bit of oil and sugar in for a nice taste and partly for texture.

Delicious served cool or warm. If you can splurge a few calories, a light cream-cheese frosting will be nice.

PointsPlus value per slice: 3.5