Eggplant Parm - lightened.

I just stumbled upon a recipe I had made a while back and it reminded me that soon we'll be getting boat loads of eggplant from greensgrow CSA. Last year we made supped up tomato mozzarella salads and we're definitely going to make them again this summer - but we'll also be making this eggplant parm rolls - it's a perfect dish to make on a Sunday and bring to lunch all week long. The recipe is from Bon Appetit and it's a bit time consuming but makes a ton and it's way better for you than the standard fried eggplant parm - especially when you sub in some part skim ingredients.

First you slice and salt the eggplant, put it into colanders until the water beads on top of it - rinse and dry the eggplant then broil it for about 3-4 minutes per side until it starts to brown. While the eggplant cools make the stuffing - blanched, chopped greens (recipes calls for swiss chard, I think I used kale), egg, parmesan, mint and pepper. Pour tomato sauce on the bottom of a greased pan then start stuffing!

Once all the eggplant is stuffed top the eggplant with more sauce and mozzarella.

Bake at 350 covered for about 40 minutes then uncover and cook for another 15-20 minutes until the top start to brown. Then eat, and eat, and eat.

Baked (not fried!) Eggplant

I'm not a huge eggplant fan. It's not the taste that I don't like (it doesn't really taste like anything - right?) it's a texture thing. I'm not interested in mushy eggplant but I am interested in crispy, greasy, fried eggplant. When Ron said he wanted fried eggplant for dinner I remembered this recipe my mom used to make for eggplant parm where she baked the eggplant first before layering it in a casserole dish with mozzarella and tomato sauce. The eggplant was always crispy and good and so much better for you then the fried stuff. I baked mine and Ron fried his - I must admit that his looked better than mine and probably tasted a little better too BUT if you're looking for a good eggplant recipe without all the grease, this is a pretty good substitute.

I peeled and sliced the eggplant and set up a little egg wash/bread crumb assembly line. I used a whisked egg white and italian bread crumbs because they're what I had on hand. If you use plain bread crumbs be sure to season them with salt and pepper.

Dip the eggplant in the egg then the bread crumb then put them on a sheet pan sprayed with cooking spray. Put the breaded eggplant in a preheated 425 degree oven for about 30 minutes then flip the eggplant over and cook for another 10 minutes. It seems like a long time but it ensures that they're get crispy and not mushy!

We didn't want to go italian and cover these with sauce and cheese, that seemed too heavy for a summer meal. Instead we went sort of middle eastern. I made a tzatziki sauce by mixing grated cucumber and onion with lemon zest, minced garlic, chopped fresh mint, salt, pepper and nonfat greek yogurt. I also made a chickpea salad with a can of drained chickpeas, green peppers, tomatoes, red onion, cucumbers, black olives, salt, pepper, lemon juice and olive oil.

This was REALLY good. I'm excited to eat leftovers for lunch tomorrow!

Meat Free, High Protein #1

I received a pleading email from my sister the other day saying that she's desperate for recipes that don't have meat or vegetables but that are actually good for you. Tall order right? Well, she's pregnant and has developed a fair amount of food aversions so I guess I can forgive her for her pickyness. Since she's pretty picky even when she's not pregnant I'll have to take into account her normal dislikes too. Oh and she has a two year old running around so nothing can be too time consuming and she lives in Florida so the recipe shouldn't require hanging around a hot stove for too long either. This is getting more difficult.

My first suggestion actually came from my mom and involves tofu. I know, I know - I'm a carnivore damn it why don't I act like one? I've only posted a dozen or so posts and TWO of them are with TOFU. Well I'm sorry but this has hidden tofu and it's for the nutritional value more than anything else.

I love peanut butter and I'm pretty sure my sister does too so she should be able to stomach this peanut butter and banana smoothie*. Peanut butter and tofu = lots of protein.

Get out your blender or immersion blender and puree a couple of tablespoons of peanut butter, a half of a banana, a quarter of a block or so of silken tofu and some ice. If it needs liquid (mine didn't) add some milk, if it needs to be sweetened add some sugar or honey.

This makes a super easy snack or breakfast with lots of protein and potassium. Oh and cocoa or a squeeze of chocolate syrup would make this even better.  And chocolate has flavonoids! I don't know what that means, it sounds made up, but mmm flavonoids!

I also read about a PB&J smoothie recently that has peanut butter, tofu and grapes - I'll try that next time I have grapes on hand but today I had those just-about-to-go-bad bananas that I'll probably end up making bread or muffins with.

I'll talk easy salads with whole grains and beans in Meat Free, High Protein part deux - coming soon!

*My nephew calls them Mooies - isn't that so stinkin' cute?

Sweet Chili Lime, um, Stuff

Okay, Okay - it's tofu but I thought I'd lose you if I told you in the title. It's delicious, really it is! I was actually embarrassed in the store today when Ron asked "What's for dinner tonight?" and I replied (in a whisper) "tofu". If I was grocery shopping and heard someone say that to their boyfriend I'd think "Oh that poor guy. His health nut girlfriend is feeding him tofu - someone get him a nice flank steak". But the strangest part was Ron's response "Oh good, I love that stuff!".

I'm just about as carnivorous as it gets but I'm attempting to become a more conscious eater and eat a little bit less meat. While searching for a vegetarian dinner I stumbled upon VeganYumYum and this delicious recipe. Thanks to Lolo and her blog I've found the easiest and healthiest way to make tofu not taste like mushy nothing. It's all about the dry fry. Yes, the dry-no-oil-needed-fry. Check out her step by step instructions - they're informative and beautiful!

I've made this twice so far - both times with brown rice. Last time I made bok choy as a side and this time I made green beans with enoki mushrooms.

I've never used enoki mushrooms before but if you can find them (I got mine at the local asian market) use them! They're sort of weirdly spaghetti like when you cook them up. I took pictures but my crappy camera doesn't like to take good pictures on the stove top but this is what they look like.

I followed the vegan yum yum recipe pretty closely. I did deveganize it by using 2Tbs of honey instead of 3Tbs of sugar. I like the taste of honey with soy and the heat of the chili flakes. I never ate honey as a kid, my mom is allergic, and I've only recently realized how awesome it is in cooking. Now I can't get enough - thanks Bobby Flay! For this recipe I had some great orange blossom honey that my friend Rochelle gave me, I finished the bottle on this meal! But if you're allergic or vegan go for the sugar - I bet this would be good with brown sugar too.

I added a touch of soy and lime to the brown rice to add some flavor. For the green beans and mushrooms I just steamed the beans for a few minutes, I like mine with some crunch left in them. I sauteed the mushrooms in a little oil, added the beans, soy, sesame oil, honey and red pepper flake. The whole thing was delicious even though I was multitasking in the kitchen trying to make pretzels at the same time as dinner - not the best idea! I'll post about them later.