By The real estate market is strong this week. I showed 6 properties and closed on 1. The pipeline is strong. The phone rings with the steady rhythm of a business that has taken six years to build and refuses to slow down.
Sophia came home with a ninety-five on her biology test and announced it with the casual confidence of a girl who expects excellence from herself and receives it. She has Nikos's pride — the kind that pretends not to care while caring so fiercely it has its own gravitational field.
I thought about Baba this week. Not the grief — the grief is always there, a familiar companion now — but the man. The way he stood at the bakery counter with his arms crossed. The way he hummed Greek songs he never knew the words to. The way he loved us in silence, which was the loudest love I have ever known.
I made a cold tzatziki orzo salad — cooked orzo tossed with tzatziki, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, and olives. Perfect for a night too hot for the oven. Sophia ate 1 servings and said nothing, which means it was good. Alexander ate 2 and asked for more. The pan was empty by nine. Empty pans are the highest form of flattery in this kitchen.
The weeks pass and I am learning that life at 49 is not what I expected at twenty-five. It is messier, harder, more beautiful. The moussaka is better because my hands have made it more times. The career is stronger because the failures taught me what the successes could not. And the love — the love I pour into every dish, every showing, every Sunday drive to Tarpon Springs — is bigger now because I have lost enough to know what it costs.
The orzo salad was Tuesday’s answer to the heat, but it was the moussaka line that stayed with me as I wrote this—the idea that my hands have made it enough times now to finally get it right. Lately I’ve been experimenting with a vegan bechamel for the top layer, partly for friends who can’t do dairy and partly because Baba would have raised an eyebrow and then quietly asked for seconds. Here’s the version I’ve been perfecting.
Vegan Bechamel
Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 10 minutes | Total Time: 15 minutes | Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup olive oil or vegan butter
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 cups unsweetened oat milk or soy milk
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Make the roux. Heat olive oil or vegan butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk constantly for 1–2 minutes until the mixture turns a pale golden color and smells slightly nutty.
- Add the milk gradually. Pour in the oat milk about 1/2 cup at a time, whisking vigorously after each addition to prevent lumps. Continue until all the milk is incorporated.
- Season the sauce. Add the salt, white pepper, nutmeg, and nutritional yeast. Whisk to combine evenly.
- Thicken. Continue cooking over medium heat, stirring frequently, for 5–7 minutes until the sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.
- Finish. Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice. The sauce will continue to thicken as it cools. Use immediately for moussaka or pastitsio, or let cool and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 95 | Protein: 2g | Fat: 7g | Carbs: 7g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 180mg