I recently had a great question from Michelle about how to make a vegetarian version of a Pasticcio. If you have never heard of a pasticcio (I hadn’t), they are a baked dish with blends of Greek and Italian origin. I would describe one as a cross between casserole and lasagna. Both the Greek and Italian versions are quite similar, using the same elements but varying in ingredients slightly.

I took the easy way out with my tofu recipe (Aloo Gobi) for our soy theme blog while Sasha decided to use some soy flour and soy milk in the Super Soy Breakfast Muffins. I have used soy milk in the past but have never used soy flour. Soy flour is firm roasted soy beans that are ground into a fine powder. Adding it to a recipe gives a protein boost as well as iron, calcium and B vitamins. Be careful when adding soy flour to a baked recipe, it browns more quickly so you may have to adjust cooking time and or temperature.

Soy protein is a low-fat source of high-quality protein (compared to many other protein sources) that can help you build lean muscle mass so introducing soy into your diet is beneficial to your health. I realize that there are pros and cons to every product but in my experience most things are good in moderation. I don’t eat Chocolate Mousse for Dummies (my Valentines day blog) every night, but every so often, why not?

Way back in the late 90’s when I was a young father/apprentice cook and Jana was a mom/student living on Kerr St. in Oakville ON, I worked pretty much every night, which left Jana to cook for herself and our then very young Caitrin. Every week Jana and I would sit down together and plan out a week’s worth of dinners and how to put them together. It helped keep things simple in the kitchen for Jana, plan our grocery shopping accurately and kept my girls eating well.