Eggplant and Sun-dried Tomato Pasta

I can't think of a more creative name for this dish besides eggplant and sun-dried tomato pasta. I guess because it's really simple and there isn't much more to the dish, so any other name would be too complicated for such an easy and quick meal to make.

This meal can be adapted to other vegetables, such as broccoli. There is no real "recipe", but here are some steps to make this dish:

1. Sauté 1 chopped onion and 1 garlic clove over medium heat in a preheated pan with oil, until soft.
2. Add chopped eggplant, that has been presalted to drain some of the water content. Cook 10-15 minutes, until soft and the eggplant turns brown. Season with salt, pepper, and chili pepper.
3. When eggplant is cooked through, add sun-dried tomatoes (in oil). Stir until warm.
4. Add to pasta, cooked according to package directions. Top with fresh mozzarella balls. Enjoy!

Pretty simple, right?

Best Thing I Ever Made: CSA Edition

Have you ever seen the show "The Best Thing I Ever Made" on Food Network? It is a neat concept - chefs and hosts of various shows on the Food Network share their favorite thing that they make. It's usually easy and it's always fun to see what chefs like to make when they don't have to cook for others. Anyway, this post is all about the BEST THING I EVER MADE. Not to toot my own horn, but this is definitely my favorite thing that has come from our CSA. It would be more impressive if the recipe itself was also my own creation, but I can't take credit for it.

Without further ado, here's what you've all been waiting to see: Eggplant Caponata Sandwiches!

Eggplant Caponata is a Sicilian recipe - it can be eaten as a spread, on sandwiches, or even on meat. This sandwich was kind of like a "healthy" sloppy Joe - it was full of veggies (eggplant, peppers, and mushrooms). It was really hearty and filling, but it didn't leave you feeling like all you could do for the next few hours was sit on the couch. It was really easy to make, and in the future, it would be a great dish to make to serve on crostini as an appetizer.  

Here's a link to the recipe: Eggplant Caponata Sandwiches - use with caution! You may never want to cook anything besides this ever again :)

E is for Eggplant

When I was in graduate school, my cohort and I would often have potluck dinners as an excuse to stop studying and be social. Potlucks were easy - maybe it was because we were poor grad students - and everyone always made delicious food. To spice things up, we always tried to come up with different themes for our potlucks - favorite comfort food, traditional cultural/religious dish, etc. One of our more "creative" themes was make a dish that either starts with the first letter of your name or a dish with a main ingredient that starts with the first letter of your name. My name, if you did not know by now, is Elisabeth...so I chose a dish with eggplant. Enter baba ganoush:

Baba Ganoush

Ingredients:

• 1 medium/large or 2 small eggplants
• 1 garlic clove
• 2 Tbl olive oil
• 1/4 cup tahina
•  dash of cumin
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
1. Slice eggplants vertically and rub with olive oil. Place face down on a baking sheet. Roast eggplants for 20 minutes in an oven heated to 350 degrees, or until soft.

2. In a food processor, chop 1 clove of garlic with 2 Tbl of extra virgin olive oil. Add roasted eggplant, and chop. Transfer to a bowl.

3. Add 1/4 cup of tahina (sesame paste), salt and pepper to taste, a dash of cumin, and the juice from 1 half lemon. Stir well and enjoy - more lemon juice, salt, pepper, or garlic can be added based on personal preference.

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Prep Time!

Our CSA share came with 3 small eggplants - the first two were used for baba ganoush, and the third one was grilled, with a balsamic vinegar marinade. A marinade was made using equal parts olive oil and vinegar, oregano, garlic, salt, and pepper. The eggplant was sliced, and then grilled on our grill pan for about 7 minutes on each side. We ate it with baked chicken and sautéed spinach and garlic. Delicious!

Grilled Eggplant

CSA Week #5

Wow - I was shocked at how much produce was available this week at the Farmer's Market!  What a difference a week makes! I have not seen this many options since our CSA began. It's definitely prime picking time at the farm...3 types of squash, eggplants, kohlrabi, beets, spinach, broccoli, collard greens, 2 types of cucumbers, lettuce...and much more. Here's what I picked on my first week back:

I already have LOTS of idea for what to make with these veggies! Recipes to be posted soon :)

For those of you keeping track, last week I was not able to pick up the produce because we were on vacation. A dear friend picked up our share as to not let any food go to waste....and she picked cauliflower, yellow squash, turnips, and garlic scapes. Her updates will also be posted at a later date!

Happy 4th of July to all my readers from the United States! Hope you have a great celebration full of BBQs & fireworks!