eggplant

{Recipe} Baby Eggplant & Potato Curry

3 Comments

I had planned to write a more personal post today however after a crazy weekend of solo parenting (Neil was away at a conference for work) I am running on fumes and have a number of deadlines to meet for work, baby yoga today and oh yeah that whole finding time to sleep thing.  I will be back with an update soon but until then here is a recipe to keep you busy.

While shopping at the farmers market I came across the cutest baby eggplant and I knew I just had to pick some up.  I decided to pair them with a few other farmers market finds which included yellow beans and new potatoes and cook them all up in a yummy curry coconut broth.
Serves 4-6

Ingredients

  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 3 carrots, peeled and diced
  • 1 lb yellow beans or green beans, rinsed and halved
  • 1 lb whole new potatoes quartered, rinsed
  • 1.25 lbs baby eggplants, stems removed
  • 1 tablespoon red curry paste
  • 1 vegetable bouillion cube
  • 2 (15oz) cans of coconut milk
  • 1 teaspoon umeboshi plum vinegar (optional)

Directions

  1. Heat a large heavy bottom pot over medium-high heat; add the 1/4 cup water and onion and carrot, cover and cook 7 minutes.
  2. Stir in the potatoes and beans, cover and cook for 8 minutes.
  3. Stir in the eggplant and red curry paste. Then stir in the boullion and coconut milk.
  4. Bring to a simmer and then cover and cook on medium for 15 minutes.
  5. Stir in the umeboshi plum vinegar (if using). Return the lid and cook for 10 more minutes or until vegetables are tender.
  6. Serve with brown rice or your favorite grain.

_______________________________________________

Over on Naturally Family we take a look at our past weekend in numbers.

Eggplant Lasagna

1 Comment

Preheat oven to 375F

For the Eggplant:

  • 1 large eggplant, thinly slice
  • olive oil
  • salt and pepper

Heat a 1/2 T in large skillet over medium-high heat and saute the eggplant on each side for 2-3 minutes. Repeat until all the eggplant has been sauteed, adding olive oil as needed. 

For the Sauce:

  • 1 small onion, minced
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1T olive oil
  • 1-15oz can no-salt added diced tomatoes
  • 1-8oz can tomato paste
  • salt and pepper

In a small sauce pan heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Add the onion and saute for 3-4 minutes until soft; stir in the garlic- cook one minute.  Stir in the remaining ingredients and simmer on low until ready to use. 

For the Nutty-Bean Parsley Cheeze:

  • 1-15oz can white beans
  • 2 T olive oil
  • 1 bunch flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
  • 1 jalapeno, chopped
  • 2T each of macadamia nuts & cashews
  • 2T nutritional yeast (optional)
  • 1t salt
  • 1/2t pepper

Place everything in a food processor and process until smooth. 

1 large tomato, sliced into 4 rounds

Assembly: 
You will need an 8×8 baking dish.

  1. Spoon in 1/3 of the sauce and evenly distribute across the bottom of the baking dish.
  2. Place one single layer of eggplant over the sauce, some of the eggplant will over lap-that is fine.
  3. On top of the eggplant spread 1/3 of the cheeze mixture in one even layer.
  4. Top the cheeze layer with sauce.
  5. Repeat steps 2-4.
  6. Repeat steps 2 & 3.
  7. Top with the slices of tomato and a drizzle of olive oil. Bake for 30 minutes, until bubbly and lightly browned.

Recipe: Tempeh Bolognese Napoleon

6 Comments

This week all of my recipes are based on dishes from local Vermont restaurants that I have either always wanted to try or love.  The first dish I made was based on a dish from Leunig’s Bistro in Burlington Vermont.  I went here about 7 years ago and have wanted to return for years however the place is a little pricey so I decided tonight that I would try my own interpretation of a dish off their menu.

Tempeh Bolognese Napoleon

This dish is tempeh bolognese with a white wine tomato sauce topped with sauteed spinach and crispy eggplant over spaghetti.

Tempeh Bolognese:

  • 1-8oz package of tempeh, grated
  • 2 carrots, small dice
  • 2 celery stalks, small dice
  • 8oz mixture of mushrooms sliced (I used shiitake and baby bella)
  • White Wine Tomato Sauce:
    • 28oz can of crushed tomatoes
    • 1T olive oil
    • 1 small onion, minced
    • 2 cloves garlic, minced
    • 1/2 cup white wine
    • 1t Italian seasoning
    • salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350F.

For the Sauce: Heat the olive oil in a medium pot over medium-high and add onion; saute for 5-7 minutes.  Stir in garlic; 30 seconds.  Add the italian seasoning and white wine; cook 3 minutes.  Add the tomatoes and salt and pepper.

Toss the tempeh with the veggies and tomato sauce and place in a casserole dish.  Bake for 30-40 minutes until vegetable are soft.

Sauteed Spinach:

  • 1T olive oil
  • 10oz frozen spinach
  • 2 garlic cloves, sliced
  • salt and pepper

In a cold pan add the garlic and olive oil and heat until garlic is warmed. Add the spinach, salt and pepper and toss together until heated through and well coated.

Crispy Eggplant:

  • 1 small eggplant, thinly sliced
  • 1T olive oil
  • 1/4 cup of flour mixed with 1t each of salt, pepper and Italian seasoning.
  • 1T salt

Toss the eggplant with the salt and place in a colander and let sit for 30 minutes.  Rise the eggplant and drain.  Pat out on paper towel until mostly dry and then dredge in the flour. Heat the olive oil in a large sautee pan over medium high and fry the eggplant until crispy.

4 servings of cooked spaghetti


To assemble:

On the based put the spaghetti, top with bolognese then the spinach, then the eggplant and sprinkle with vegan parmesan or nutritional yeast.

Serve with Italian wine and a yummy side salad.