Building a Nest: Roasted Eggplant Dip

I know people can be stumped at ways to use eggplant... I've used it in eggplant parm, roasted for orzo salad and pizza. I haven't made baba ganoush but I plan to soon as I really enjoy eggplant. This recipe is yet another Ina Garten recipe winner. My family absolutely loves this recipe. It's versatile and easy to prepare. If I have extra, I toss it in with pasta or cook it with chicken. It's really delicious!

Roasted Eggplant Dip
Adapted from Ina Garten

Ingredients


1 medium eggplant
2 red bell peppers, seeded
1 red onion, peeled
2 garlic cloves, minced (I used 3)
3 tablespoons good olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar (or more)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes


Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut the eggplant, bell pepper, and onion into 1-inch cubes. Toss them in a large bowl with the garlic, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread them on a baking sheet. Roast for 45 minutes, until the vegetables are lightly browned and soft, tossing once during cooking.

Cool completely (placing hot items in the food processor is not recommended due to BPA chemicals in the food processor bowl).

Place the vegetables in a food processor fitted with a steel blade, add the tomato paste, balsamic vinegar and red pepper flakes, and pulse 3 or 4 times to blend. Taste for salt and pepper.

Grilled Pizza

Have you ever grilled pizza before? Will you ever go back to cooking it in the oven again? I doubt we will! Holy amazingness. Danimal was manning the grill outside and kept saying how amazing it smelled as well as that it smelled like a pizzeria.

Grilling pizza is a quick, great solution for dinner. The only thing that takes some time is prepping the toppings. Most of my ingredients for this pizza needed to be cooked ahead of time so it took a little bit of time. Otherwise, it moves fast and is just incredible.

In absolutely love the toppings I chose for this pizza too. They complimented each other and it was a great treat. We decided on pizza at the last minute, but next time, I'm going to make sure I have homemade dough on hand. The dough I used was pretty good though-- it's from Portland Pizza Co or something. It was easy to work with and had a great flavor.

Danimal wouldn't let me photograph his pizza but he had regular white pizza dough, chicken, artichokes, red peppers and garlic. He thoroughly enjoyed his too! I see this as a regular part of meal during the grilling season!


Grilled Pizza with Chicken, Red Peppers, Eggplant & Carmelized Onions

diced chicken, cooked
carmelized onions
thiny sliced red pepper
sliced, roasted eggplant
1 wheat pizza dough (I used dough from the deli section)
pizza sauce
mozzerella cheese


1) Place dough on the counter to rise and come to room temperature

2) Dice chicken and sautee until cooked

3) Slice onions and sautee on medium-low for 20-30 minutes. Add a splash of balsamic vinegar and sautee for another couple of minutes.

4) Slice eggplant in 1/2 inch rounds and roast at 400-425 for 20 minutes. I then sliced each eggplant round in half so they were half-circles.

5) Preheat grill around the medium setting and oil the grates.

6) Roll or stretch the dough out until thin- mine was the size of a cookie sheet

7) Make sure you have all toppings prepared and at the grill as the dough cookes fast. The grill has to be warm enough so that the dough cooks fast and doesn't stick to the grates.

8) Place the dough on the grill, making sure it's stretched out. Close the grill cover and let cook for 1-2 minutes. Flip the dough and add the toppings on to the cooked side.

9) Let the pizza cook for another minute or so in order for the cheese to melt.

10) Remove, slice and enjoy!

Roasted Vegetables Rock

Christmas Day is spent at Danimal's aunt & uncle's house. I woke up (not early... but early for my in-laws!) and made this fresh for the day... before presents and breakfast! I really love this dish and could make it every week and not get sick of it! It's so easy to prepare and pretty to serve.

Orzo with Roasted Vegetable
adapted from Ina Garten

Ingredients1 small eggplant, 3/4-inch diced
1 red bell pepper, 1-inch diced
1 yellow bell pepper, 1-inch diced
1 red onion, peeled and 1-inch diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
plus additional veggies as desired
1/3 cup good olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 pound orzo or rice-shaped pasta

For the dressing:
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
1/3 cup good olive oil (I use less)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

To assemble:

4 scallions, minced (white and green parts)
1/4 cup pignolis (pine nuts), toasted
3/4 pound good feta, 1/2-inch diced (not crumbled)
15 fresh basil leaves, cut into julienne

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Toss the eggplant, bell peppers, onion, and garlic (and whatever other veggies you want) with the olive oil, salt, and pepper on a large sheet pan. Roast for 40 minutes, until browned, turning once with a spatula.

Meanwhile, cook the orzo in boiling salted water for 7 to 9 minutes, until tender. Drain and transfer to a large serving bowl. Add the roasted vegetables to the pasta, scraping all the liquid and seasonings from the roasting pan into the pasta bowl.


For the dressing, combine the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper and pour on the pasta and vegetables. Let cool to room temperature, then add the scallions, pignolis, feta, and basil. Check the seasonings, and serve at room temperature.

I tend to double-triple this recipe because it's so good. This last time, I used 2 eggplant, 3 red peppers, 3 yellow peppers, 2 onions, a lot of garlic, 1 green pepper, 1 container crimini mushrooms (quartered), and 1/2 butternut squash (cubed). I don't tend to add feta but LOVE the pine nuts so I used a whole bag (probably 1 lb). I don't measure the lemon juice that I add but I do cut back on the oil (probably 1/4 cup vs 1/3 cup).
 

The Maiden Voyage

I discovered food blogs while wedding planning and fell.in.love. The photography, amazing meals and creations people came up with was inspiring! I felt blogging would be a great way to be more creative and test/ stretch my comfort level plus, try new recipes and the added bonus of trying to keep my kitchen clean (for pictures of course!). I do not eat red meats or pork, use very little dairy in my meals (low-fat/fat-free) and mostly whole-wheat products. My poor husband was a meat-and-potato man himself! Poor guy!

My husband, Danimal, and I were married in September 2008 while weakened Tropical Storm Hannah threatened our outdoor ceremony. We live in beautiful New England with our zoo of animals, Simon the Stinky & Dewey the Danger-kitten.

I am going to initiate this blog with an easy & relatively healthy meal of Eggplant Parm- My Way. Danimal is out of town for work & so I'm cooking for myself!

Eggplant Parm- Social Worker Style
Ingredients:
1 eggplant
Kosher salt
2 eggs (1 whole, 1 egg white)
bread crumbs (I use whole wheat)
whole wheat pasta
pasta sauce (bottled- I was in a hurry!)

Supplies:
Knife
Paper towels
Cookie sheets
Aluminum foil
Cooking Spray (Olive Oil)
2 small bowls
Pot for cooking pasta & sauce


Wash & dry the eggplant. Take a nice sharp knife and slice the eggplant into 1/4-1/2 inch rounds. Lay eggplant slices in a single layer on cookie sheets and sprinkle with kosher salt. Let sit for 10 minutes. The salt draws water out of the eggplant.

Take a paper towel, place an eggplant slice on it and fold the towel over. Squeeze gently to absorb some of the water. Put aside and repeat. Preheat oven to 350.

In one bowl, crack one egg and separate the yolk. Keep the egg white and add one whole egg and beat together. In the other bowl, pour in bread crumbs (I just eyeball- I estimate 1 1/2 cups, you can add more as you need it). Line a cookie sheet with tin foil & spray w/olive oil cooking spray (tin foil is option, I find it works better).


Dip eggplant slice in egg covering both sides, shake off excess. Then dip the eggplant slice in breadcrumbs and cover both sides. Place in a single layer on cookie sheet.

If you run out of egg mixture, just mix up more. Repeat dipping in the egg & breadcrumbs until you finish. Place in oven. Cook for 25-30 minutes, turning once, or until slightly browned.
Boil pasta as directed and heat up sauce. Combine as you like. I don't add cheese but feel free to & enjoy!