Greek Goulash

I was really surprised that I decided to make Rachael Ray’s greek goulash. The word goulash just sounded terrible. Plus, I’d never picked out an eggplant before & had no idea how to tell if it was ripe. I couldn’t believe that I didn’t have any garlic when I got home from the store. Rachael Ray would kill me for roughly attempting to substitute some garlic salt for multiple cloves of garlic. Also the lamb was some 15/85 mixture, so I didn’t use any extra virgin olive oil either (she would die if she knew… that EVOO is her favorite).

• 1 pound ground lamb
• random amount of pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 pinches ground cinnamon
• random amount of garlic salt
• 1 small eggplant, peeled and chopped into 1/4-inch dice
• 1 box frozen spinach, 10 ounces, defrosted and wrung dry in towel
• 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
• handful pitted, chopped kalamata black olives
• handful reduced-fat crumbled feta cheese

I heated a large high sided skillet over medium-high heat with Pam cooking spray. When the pan was hot, I added the lamb, which I browned and crumbled for about 5 minutes. I seasoned the meat with garlic salt, pepper, oregano, cinnamon. I added the eggplant and cooked 6 to 7 minutes then stirred in spinach and tomato sauce. I simmered a few minutes and adjust seasonings.

I served with chopped olives & feta cheese over brown rice. It was a ton of flavor. My boyfriend really liked it, but I was on the fence. It was way better the next day when I cut up the eggplant & olives into smaller chunks before eating it, and sprinkled a little less cheese on it.