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Greek Cooking With Marina Sirtis Greek Cooking With Marina Sirtis From "Celebrity Hobbies" episode CHS-203

Marina Sirtis

Marina Sirtis, Counselor Deanna Troi on Star Trek: the Next Generation, is proud of her Greek heritage, including the cuisine associated with the culture. For her, cooking is a way to relax -- and eating traditional ethnic dishes is a delicious way to keep her weight under control. In order to share a taste of Greece with Celebrity Hobbies, here she makes three heart-healthy dishes: an eggplant casserole, a traditional salad and a low-fat cheesecake.

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Marina's Eggplant Casserole

Ingredients
6 to 10 Japanese eggplants
Greek olive oil
Crushed Roma tomatoes
Chopped parsley
Onion chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Feta cheese (optional)

1. On the stovetop, cook sliced eggplant in olive oil until golden brown.

2. Remove cooked eggplant to a metal colander lined with paper towels and place colander in the oven at 350 degrees for five minutes to drain excess oil.

3. To make tomato sauce, sauté onions in olive oil until tender; add tomatoes, parsley, salt and pepper and heat through.

4. Lay cooked eggplant slices along the bottom of a casserole dish and top with a layer of tomato sauce.

5. Continue layering eggplant and sauce, ending with a layer of sauce. Add feta cheese if desired.

6. Bake in a 350-degree oven for one hour.

Traditional Greek Salad

Ingredients
1 hothouse cucumber
1 red onion
1 tomato
Olive oil
Red wine vinegar
Feta cheese
Greek oregano
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Slice tomatoes, place in a bowl, add salt and set aside for at least an hour.

2. Slice cucumber and red onion and add to tomato mixture.

3. Add olive oil and red wine vinegar; mix well.

4. Top with feta cheese and Greek oregano before serving.

Low-Fat Greek Cheesecake [Sifnos Cheese Tart]

Ingredients
4 eggs
1Tblsp. flour
1/4 c. sugar
1-1/2 lb. mizithra or ricotta cheese
4 Tblsp. Greek honey
1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1. Combine eggs, flour and sugar and mix well.

2. Add cheese, honey and cinnamon. mix and pour into cake pan.

3. Place cake pan in a larger baking dish with 1" of water. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour.

4. Top with cinnamon when it comes out of the oven.