Ridiculously Easy

Last week I ate a whole eggplant for dinner.  No side dish, no accompaniment, no sharing.  That's how good this was.  I'm not even sure what made it so amazing!

It's really too easy and too good to be true.   I just sliced up the eggplant, preheated my griddle, brushed all the slices in a mixture of olive oil, sesame oil and tamari and then grilled them up.  

I'm sure these eggplant slices would be fantastic on a sandwich, in a stir-fry or with pasta.  But I was feeling lazy and can attest to them being delicious straight up.

Spiced Eggplant: A VT Recipe

I think I've been reading Vegetarian Times magazine since I was 11 or 12 years old.  It was pretty lonely as a vegetarian tween in Texas, at least in regards to food camaraderie.   This magazine was an older, wiser vegetarian, teaching me  not to rely only on veggie corn dogs and fake nuggets, but to actually eat mostly vegetables.

But I have something to confess. In all these years of reading the magazine, I have rarely used any of the recipes.  I love to flip through the magazine, noting interesting flavor combinations, cooking techniques or new products I'd like to try.  I read the articles and look at the pictures.  But I think it's been a year since I've used a recipe from this (or any) magazine.

When I saw the feature on pressure cooker recipes in the February issue, though, I knew I had to give them a try!  I love my pressure cooker, but mostly just use it for beans and broth.  The Spiced Eggplant with Feta (optional) and Pomegranate Seeds caught by eye right away.  I love that the dish calls for pomegranate molasses, pomegranate seeds and fresh mint- fantastic ingredients to compliment tomato-ey eggplant!

I did make a few substitutions to the recipe since I am physically incapable of following a recipe (including my own) exactly.  I used canned fava beans instead of canned chickpeas and I didn't have Aleppo pepper, so I used a combo of paprika and cayenne.  Maybe it's because of my substitutions, but I didn't think this dish was especially flavorful.  I ended up needing to pressure cook it for 10 minutes, rather than 6, but I think that's because I used regular eggplant instead of Japanese eggplant (to my credit, I did cut it smaller to compensate for the larger diameter and heartier texture).  

I loved the combo of pomegranate seeds and pomegranate molasses with the eggplant and will definitely be stealing that flavor combo for other dishes.  And the color combination is killer.  Maybe a marinade for eggplant kebabs with the molasses?  Or doing  a cold salad with these ingredients and roasted eggplant?  Or maybe just more spices with this same dish would bring it more into my favor?  Don't get me wrong- it's pretty good.  But it's just not quite as stellar as I imagined.

Next up is the pressure cooked curried cauliflower.  This one sounds promising!  

Thai Eggplant Soup and the Garden

Okay, I'm done complaining now. I broke down and went the Western medicine route for my pink eye and it's already feeling better. Since I couldn't go anywhere today, I spent a lot of time watching TV, cleaning, and did a little cooking.

A week or so ago I splurged at Penzey's and got a ton of spices I've been wanting (ancho chile powder, sumac, and Mexican oregano, for example). I finally broke open the dried galangal and lemongrass tonight with a Thai eggplant soup.

Spicy Thai Eggplant Soup

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried galangal
1 tsp dried lemongrass
1 dried cayenne chili pepper, crumbled
1 tsp ancho chile powder
1 Tbsp. ground coriander
a few grinds of black pepper
2 inches of fresh ginger, finely grated
1 medium eggplant, peeled and cubed
5 cups water
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 veg. bouillon cube
2-3 Tbsp. tamari
2-3 leaves of collards, sliced thinly

Heat olive oil in a soup pan over medium-high heat. Add the spices, fresh ginger, and eggplant and cook for 1 minute or so (don't burn the spices!). Then add water and all remaining ingredients and bring soup to a boil. Simmer for about 20 minutes, until eggplant is very tender. Use a spoon to smash the eggplant a bit. I think this soup is awesome- spicy and a little sour and a little salty (but my taste buds are a bit off right now, so you might need to tweek it).

Last weekend I got the garden almost all planted- and most importantly, I laid out our new drip hoses! I am so excited about these.
You can see the rhubarb coming up here and the garlic is going strong!
I do still have to plant the kale and potatoes, but I think everything else is in. I can't wait to start eating from the garden!

Everyday Foods

I have few random food pictures from the last week...I tried to think of a theme for them all, but I don't think there is one. Except maybe everyday foods for us. Okay. That will work.
So here they are:

This was a snack plate I put together for the kids and I last week. It includes carrots, celery, apples, blood oranges (amazing right now!), and pecans. The dip was just a mix of tahini, garlic red pepper miso, soy yogurt, and tamari. It's amazing how a great dip can make a couple of 8 year olds devour a plate of veggies!
This is just one reason why I love my sweetie so much. It takes a lot of love and an amazing amount of restraint to save the last one of these to bring home to me. Mike made these for his coworkers last week- Hot and toasty Lifestream gluten free waffles with melted peanut butter, melted chocolate chips, and a scoop of Rice Divine vanilla ice cream on top! Wow! It was hot and cold and chocolatey and so peanut buttery that my whole mouth stuck together.

This stir-fry broke all expectations with its deliciousness. I don't aim high when cooking on Monday and Tuesday nights. These are our busiest night when the kids have extra homework. So I didn't expect much and was pleasantly surprised. I marinated some tofu with tamari, garlic, and sesame oil and baked it for about 20 minutes. Then I stir fried broccoli, carrots, and green beans and mixed up a sauce of all the leftover marinade, orange juice, ginger and cornstarch. This one is a keeper.

This was my dinner tonight. I made a ratatouille out of some zucchini, eggplant, and tomatoes that were about to go bad. This really hit the spot served over top of some pasta with some Parma- and it only took about 20 minutes.
Now the ratatouille would have been delicious with some Spicy Italian Sausage added to it. But I figure that if I've already eaten 2 entire sausages dipped in dijon mustard for lunch, I should probably not eat any more today! I tried taking about 6 pictures of this sausage and Trouble kept jumping up and getting in all the pictures. So they are all blurry and serve as evidence that kittens like vegan sausage almost as much as I do.

Tonight was my "Shopping Co-op on a Budget" class at the co-op. It went really well- we had a full house and some folks even stayed afterward to say how much they appreciated it. I think this one is a keeper (plus, it's free and you can't argue with that). With prices of grains and soy going up, I'm starting to think about expanding my garden this year. (As if I needed an excuse to do that).

Recreating the Caravan

One of my fond memories from college is sitting on a floor cushion at the Caravan Serai, eating the vegetarian platter while doing homework (and sometimes watching the belly dancer). I could sit there for hours, scooping up the dal with my naan and enjoying the atmosphere.

An Afghani restaurant in an aging building in the early post-911 days spelled some hard times for the restaurant and it is now long gone. But years later I'm left craving the vegetarian platter: yellow lentil dal, subzi paneer (spinach with soft yogurt cheese), bademjan borani (eggplant and tomatoes), aromatic rice, and yogurt.

Tonight I attempted to recreate the recipes- but vegan and lower in fat.


Creamy Subzi, sans Paneer

1 Tbsp. canola oil
1/2 onion, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
1/2 tsp. asafoetida
16 oz. of frozen greens (I used 1/2 spinach and 1/2 kale)
1/2 cup almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
3/4 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. nutritional yeast

Heat canola oil in a medium saute pan. Add the onion, garlic, jalapeño, and asafoetida (watch out for those pepper fumes!) and saute until onions are translucent. Add greens and cook until hot throughout. In a separate bowl, whisk together milk, cornstarch, lemon juice, salt, and yeast until smooth. Add to spinach and simmer until liquid has thickened considerably and spinach is creamy.

Bademjan Borani

I'm usually a fan of lightly cooked vegetables, to preserve nutrients and texture. But I remember this eggplant dish as being cooked so long it fell apart into a rich, buttery eggplant mash. This version can be fat free, so it is not quite so rich. It is, however, just as delicious. Feel free to drizzle with flax oil after baking to get a more rich texture.

1 medium eggplant, sliced 1/4 inch thick and quartered
1/2 onion, sliced
1 tsp. cumin seed
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. fennel seed
3/4 tsp. salt
1- 14.5 oz can organic tomatoes
1-2 Tbsp. flax oil, optional

Preheat oven to 375 F. Toss everything together (except flax oil) in a glass baking dish and cover with foil. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Then remove foil cover and bake an additional 10-20 minutes, until liquid has evaporated and eggplant is falling apart. Drizzle with flax oil if desired.

Yellow Split Pea Dal

Everytime I make dal I use a different made-up recipe. Here is today's recipe which uses a pressure cooker. It makes enough to pack in your lunches all week. And I know it has kind of a lot of oil in it- but it really carries the spices' flavor.

2 cups split peas
4.5 cups water
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. salt
3 Tbsp. oil
1 tsp. black mustard seeds
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 tsp. cumin seeds

Combine peas, water, ground cumin, ground coriander, salt, and 1 Tbsp. oil in a pressure cooker. Bring up to pressure and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let pressure release slowly to finish cooking. Meanwhile, heat 2 Tbsp. oil in a small pan. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, and red pepper flakes. Cook until seeds begin to pop and then remove from heat. When you open the pressure cooker, pour the hot oil and spices over the dal. Stir to combine and adjust salt to taste.

Fragrant Brown Rice
I know, I know. Long grain brown rice is not very authentic. But it's what I had in the kitchen and it's so good for you!

1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp garam masala
1.5 cups long grain brown rice
3 cups water
1/4 cup raw cashew pieces
2-3 Tbsp. raisins
1-2 Tbsp. cilantro (optional)

In a dry saucepan, toast the cashews until fragrant and lightly browned. Remove the cashews and set aside. Add the oil, rice, and garam masala and heat until rice is coated in oil and smells fragrant. Then add water and cover, brining water to a boil. Then reduce heat to simmer rice for about 40 minutes or until tender. When done, stir in cashews and raisins. Garnish with cilantro.

Here's how beautiful the spices look when you are frying them in oil for the dal: