Roast Eggplant with Garden Salsa

Flavorful and colorful, this was a winner at cooking club.

Once a month or so, six of us girls get together for our own Loyola Cooking Club.  Taking turns at each of our homes, the hostess of the month chooses the theme.  Over the years we have cooked and shared our best chocolate cake or cheesecake (we always waddle out the door on those days!), or it could be something as simple as lemon where a meal is made using lemon in all recipes from beverage to dessert.   Or it may be that all recipes come from a certain cookbook, or nowadays, a blog.

Our hostess this time asked us to make recipes from the Smitten Kitchen blog, written by Deb Perelman.  The banter that accompanies each post is fun and I found myself liking this woman who is not only a clever writer, she is an amazing cook.  We decided that each of the eight prepared recipes were delicious (well there was one that wasn't quite as good as the rest), and we will definitely be visiting this blog again.  This recipe received thumbs up by all in attendance.

One eggplant makes eight servings
Prep and cook time:  about 30 minutes

1 to 2 tablespoons plus 4 teaspoons olive oil
1 eggplant cut in 3/4- to 1-inch slices
Salt and pepper to season eggplant
1/3 cup finely diced red onion
2 teaspoon red wine vinegar
2 ounces (1/2 cup) crumbled feta
2 tablespoons capers, drained
2-3 Roma tomatoes, diced
3 tablespoons minced fresh mint leaves
Freshly ground black pepper.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Coat a large baking sheet generously with olive oil, about 1 to 2 tablespoons. Arrange eggplant rounds in a single layer. Sprinkle with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Seasoned and ready to go into the hot oven.

Roast, without disturbing, for 15 to 20 minutes. Carefully flip each piece: the undersides should be blistery, dark and a bit puffy and should release from the pan with no effort. If they’re not, let it cook longer. Once flipped, sprinkle them with additional salt and freshly ground black pepper and return the pan to the oven for another 10 to 12 minutes or so, until the undersides match the tops.

Nice and browned and slightly puffy.  Mix the salsa ingredients
while the eggplant is cooking.

Meanwhile, place the red onion and vinegar together in a small bowl and let sit for 10 minutes*.  Mix crumbled feta, capers, tomatoes, mint, onions and vinegar, and remaining 4 teaspoons olive oil (I used less!) in a bowl. Adjust seasoning. Add more vinegar, if desired. Add freshly ground black pepper, to taste.


Ingredients for the topping are ready to be mixed.

A final touch, mint blossoms for garnish.

Each serving includes one slice roasted eggplant topped with several spoonfuls salsa (about 1/4 - 1/3 cup).  Calories come in under 100 calories, over 3 g fiber, and over 2 g protein per serving.  As the salsa and eggplant are veggies, there are lots of good vitamins and minerals as well.  The very small amount of cholesterol and saturated fat comes from the cheese.  Otherwise, the fats are mostly monounsaturated.

*Soaking the red onion in vinegar softens the bite of the onion.  Toss the whole mix of vinegar and onion into the rest of the ingredients when making the salsa.  This was another little gem gleaned from Deb Perelman's blog!

- Kim Fielding

Simple Ratatouille

All fresh ingredients for the ratatouille make for a delicious treat.

Ratatouille is a French Provencal vegetable stew featuring tomatoes, courgettes (zucchini), eggplant, bell peppers, onion, garlic, and herbs.  Usually served as a side dish, we love ratatouille as a meal with pasta, over fish or other proteins, and as a dip.  Very versatile, there are lots of ways to make this flavorful medley.  To keep things easy, we offer a one-pot recipe which is modified from a ratatouille recipe found on the Real Simple blog.  (They offer great recipes and food ideas.)

A quick note:  this recipe was made at around 7000 feet elevation.  Cooking times may vary (be shorter) if you live in the lowlands.

Simmering and softening the ingredients.

Makes 3 - 4 cups

3 Tblsp. olive oil
3 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
1 onion, peeled and thinly sliced
1 bay leaf
1 large tomato, coarsely chopped
1 medium eggplant, top trimmed off, unpeeled, and cubed
1 medium zucchini, top stem trimmed off, halved lengthwise and then thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, remove stem and seeds, cut into quarters, then into thin slices
1/2 - 1 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 - 1/2 C. chopped fresh basil
freshly ground pepper

In a large pan, heat the oil and saute the garlic, onion, and bay leaf over low to medium heat until the vegetables are softened, about 10 minutes.  Add the tomato, eggplant, zucchini, bell pepper, and kosher salt, and cook over medium heat until the vegetables have softened (particularly the eggplant). Stir in the basil and add a few grinds of black pepper.  Remove from heat and serve.

A batch of ratatouille keeps in the fridge for several days.
 Use glass jars with lids for best results. 

One recipe will make six to eight servings.  The entire stew above offers approximately 580 calories, loads of vitamin C, manganese, and fiber.  Be cautious with your use of salt.  This mix is so flavorful, you really don't need to add very much while the mixture is cooking.  My first batch seemed to get saltier as it sat.

This recipe was made in the morning and it just seemed
too perfect not to use it for breakfast.  Voila, top with a poached egg!
The nieces all loved this.  Toast would be a great compliment.

- Kim Fielding

Grilled Vegetable Salad Dinner

Potatoes, peppers, eggplant, chards, red onion, green beans, and fennel sliced and ready for the grill.
 

End of summer produce is the best.  Hot days ripen tomatoes, eggplants and peppers mature, and other produce available in farmer's markets and stores is glorious.  For our cooking class I featured grilled vegetables in a pasta salad and a Nicoise salad.  Left-overs inspired this simple salad that was filling enough to sate my boy's bellies.

The vegetables were tossed only with olive oil before grilling.  The eggplant cooks quickly while the onions, fennel, chard stems, green beans, and peppers take a little longer.  Be watchful so that the veggies are neither under nor overcooked.

Composing the salad consisted of a handful of spring mix surrounded by halved cherry tomatoes.  Arugula is good also as are a variety of chopped herbs.  Next, layer on grilled veggies.  (I used them all).  Top with your choice of protein.   In this case we used thinly sliced grilled beef.  Other protein options include pressed and grilled tofu or seitan, chicken, or whatever your heart desires.

The finished product.  A salad composed of grilled and non-grilled vegetables topped with a lean protein. 

The final touch is the dressing.  As always, a freshly made vinaigrette is the first choice.  Two parts oil, one part vinegar, salt and pepper, and depending on how you feel, herbs or dry mustard.  In this case I ventured into something a little different.  I added ricotta salata which is a hard version of ricotta cheese and is crumbly.  Add a couple tablespoons of crumbled cheese to the vinaigrette and then drizzle over the composed meal.  For a vegan option, leave the cheese and meat out.  This was delicious.

One of the great things about eating healthy, besides not feeling guilty or glutteny afterwards, is that you can walk away with a sense of well-being.  A stroll after dinner with your family or spouse, your dog, or your music should end the evening and prepare you for restful sleep.

Calories for the salad with the ricotta salata dressing but not including the meat is about 550 and offers almost 15 grams of fiber and 12 grams of protein.  The measurement for this calculation included 1 cup greens, 3 cherry tomatoes halved, 2 red small red potatoes halved, a handful of green beans, 4 slices eggplant, about 1/2 head of fennel, several slices of red onion, and a couple tablespoons of vinaigrette.  All vegetables except the lettuces and tomatoes were grilled.

- Kim Fielding