Better For You (read not fried) Eggplant Parmesan

eggplant parmesan

Both Pat and I are pretty picky about eggplant. I almost never like it, neither does he. But, we got two large eggplants in a local produce box, so here's our healthier version that we both actually enjoy. And yes, it is a little time consuming, but tastes great.

First, let me say that we don't buy spaghetti sauce, we always make it and freeze what we don't eat. It's more economical, and always tastes better than most brands I've tried. That was a big part of what made this so time consuming, because we didn't have any in the freezer, so I had to make sauce.

So, the most important thing to this recipe is how thick the eggplant is cut. I always believe the thinner the better. It doesn't matter if you cut the eggplant lengthwise or into circles, if you use a knife or a mandolin, as long as the slices are thin.

Then, you lay the slices out on towels, sprinkle with salt, let them sit for about 10 minutes, flip, repeat, wait, rinse, pat dry, and you're ready to go. This pulls all the excess moisture from the eggplant, and helps to make them less bitter, but this step isn't necessary if you use small eggplants because they tend to be less bitter (because they have fewer seeds).

This is the part where many people batter and fry the eggplant, but where we veered off course. We put the eggplant into the oven (about 10 minutes per side at about 350F). Some of the eggplant burnt a little, but we used it anyway (and you couldn't taste any burnt).

I used a 9x9" glass baking dish, and layered marinara sauce, eggplant, mozzarella, parmesan and panko (in that order) until the pan was filled, and left a layer of marinara on top.

We ate this a few days later (it kept well in the fridge, but I know it also keeps well in the freezer), so we cooked this at 350F for about 25 minutes, then added a little panko to the top, set the broiler to high, and cooked for about five more minutes, until the breadcrumbs were brown.

Great to make over the weekend, and save for a week night.

Pan Seared Salmon with Corn Risotto and Peach Salsa

corn and squash risotto with seared salmon

For dinner, we decided to make risotto with some corn and butternut squash we got locally, and topped it off with pan seared salmon. (Sorry for the poor quality photo, my camera battery was dead and I had to use my cell phone.)

Pat actually made the risotto, I helped a little, but I was working on making the salsa and something else.

So, to start, I peeled and cubed a butternut squash, tossed it in a little olive oil, and roasted it at 350 for about a half hour. While that was roasting, I put 2 ears of corn (leave on husks, but get them damp) on the grill for about 12 minutes, then cut the kernels off the cob.

For the risotto itself, we heated about 5 cups of veggie stock in a small pot. In a deep pan, we heated some olive oil, then added about half of an onion and about a cup (maybe a cup and a half) arborio rice, toasting it until the rice started to turn translucent, then added about a half cup of dry white wine, and started adding the stock, stirring constantly, slowly adding stock until it was all incorporated.

After about a 25 minutes, we mixed in the corn, butternut squash, a little butter, pepper, and parmesan cheese.

While we were finishing the risotto, we started the salmon, citing it into probably 3oz portions (so it would cook more evenly), adding a little pepper and salt, and cooking it, skin side down, flipping it to the flesh side once I could see that it was cooked about halfway up on the side. I only seared it on the flesh side because I like my salmon cooked to medium rare (or even a little less).

After we plated dinner, we decided it needed something else, so that's why we added the peach and corn salsa from my last post.

Grilled Sweet and Spicy Salsa

quick and easy salsa

Pat had a peach craving yesterday, so he went to the farm and got about 5 lbs of peaches, again, and a few ears of corn.

So, we turned on the grill and got to work. We threw two ears (leave husks on, but get them damp, this helps to steam the corn inside), one peach, cut in half, and one big tomato from the garden, cut into thick slices, right onto the grill.

On our gas grill (turned to med-high) the corn took about 12 minutes, the peach about eight, and the tomato about five, just make sure you flip everything.

Once everything was cooked, I husked the corn, and cut it off the cob, peeled the skin off the tomato, and cut it and the peach into chunks a little larger than the size of the corn kernels.

The peach and corn held together well, and the tomato started to break down to make the salsa nice and juicy. I added the juice of half a lime, and some of our ghost salt to give it a kick (from Princeton, NJ's Savory Spice Shop, an awesome store that has every spice you can imagine, dried mushrooms, spice blends, and tons of stuff I would never have imagined). You can just use chili or cayenne powder instead, but then make sure you add some salt too.

The final result was sweet, spicy and acidic. You can use it on dinner (I'll show you soon what we added it to, yum!) or let it cool and eat it with chips.

Tomato and Eggplant Salad

tomato, eggplant and herb salad

I love Caprese salads, but with all the tomatoes out in the garden, I'm trying out a few healthier options (all that mozzarella!). Plus, I have other things growing out there that need to be eaten too!

So, I cooked one of my mini eggplants by slicing it in half, and cooking it flesh side down in a pan with a little olive oil until it was soft and a little brown, then I flipped it until the skin side had just a little color.

While this cooked, I went out and got some lemon basil, lemon thyme, orange mint and flat parsley from my garden, and sliced it all. Then I cut the tomatoes and eggplant into smaller pieces, and tossed all of this with olive oil, pepper and some ghost pepper salt we got from this awesome spice store in Princeton, NJ, and added some mixed greens (more for fluff than anything, this was my dinner, after all).

It was good, but I was wishing for some fat in this salad, maybe because I love mozzarella so much, but I think next time this salad is definitely going to have almonds, olives, cheese, or something more on it.

Quinoa and Veggies

quinoa and all the veggies in the fridge

For lunch today, I scoured the fridge and pantry, and, for the life of me couldn't figure out what to eat. I kept thinking, "there's nothing, and I don't want to go to the grocery store..." So, I reminded myself to think outside the box from my every day ideas, and I grabbed the box of quinoa (Peruvian seed that's low in fat, but high in protein and lots of important vitamins and minerals) off the shelf.

I peeled and chopped one carrot, one medium red pepper, one chili pepper, half of a white onion, two cloves of garlic, and tossed them in a pot with just a little olive oil.

After about two minutes on a medium high flame (I just wanted to bring out the flavors a little, not really cook anything through), I added one cup quinoa, one cup water, one cup veggie stock, a little ground mustard, allspice, salt and pepper. I brought this to a boil, then turned the flame to low, covered, and set the timer for 20 minutes.

Then I remembered how awesome couscous is with golden raisins and almonds, so I chopped a handful of each, and tossed them in.

There was so much flavor from all the veggies, and then little bursts of sweetness from the raisins. The only part I would change were the almonds, they were just a little too crunchy, so I would either, cook them longer, leave them out, or add flax seeds instead for a little nutty flavor.

Making and Canning Salsa

A few days ago, Pat bought tomatoes so he could make bruschetta. When I came home from work, I asked him if he was feeling alright, and reminded him about our 30 tomato plants in the yard. He told me he didn't think any were ripe. And that he hadn't even made any bruschetta.

So, needless to say, we have pounds and pounds of tomatoes.

My goal this summer has been to learn more about canning, and to try new recipes with all the produce from our garden.

I thought about making marinara sauce, but we are growing four san marzano tomato plants, and I want to save that adventure for those tomatoes once they are more ripe.

So, instead I decided to make salsa

yummy salsa

Overall, it was pretty easy, but a little time consuming.

First, I took all of the tomatoes we had (maybe 5 pounds, not positive), cut small Xs on them, and dropped them into boiling water in small batches. As the smaller ones started to float, or the larger ones you could see the skin coming off, I scooped them out, and dropped them into ice water (this method is called concasse). I only left them in the ice water for about a minute, because otherwise they got a little water-logged. Now the skin peeled off easily, and the seeds were easy to pull out.

Dump the water, but keep the pot handy, you'll need it in a few minutes.

Once I cleaned all of the tomatoes, I took one medium sized onion, five cloves of garlic, about a tablespoon and a half of chopped cilantro (use more if you like cilantro more), one bell pepper, and five hot peppers (seeds removed, but most of the pith remained, I just didn't want seeds in the salsa), and all of the tomatoes, and chopped them in a food processor. This makes the salsa more smooth, which I prefer, but if you like a chunkier salsa, chop everything with a knife.

Once this was done, I dumped this into the pot, added some cumin, 2 small cans of tomato paste (to give the salsa some body), covered the pot, brought to a boil, turned down the flame, and simmered for about a half hour. If the salsa isn't spicy enough, you can also add more cayenne or chili powder now, or separate into two pots, and make one spicier.

At this point, you can put the salsa in the fridge, and once its chilled, add one and a half tablespoons of lime juice per cup of salsa, and serve it, but it made a lot of salsa, so I decided to can four jars of the salsa.

canned salsa

I don't have a canner, so I took my biggest pasta pot, with the pasta insert, filled it with enough water to cover the jars, and brought it to a boil.

Once the water boiled, I submerged the 8 oz. jars and boiled them for ten minutes. I also put the lids in a separate, small pot of water and boiled these for five minutes. This sanitizes them, and softens the rubber to make it adhere to the jar.

Once the jars were sanitized, I added a tablespoon and a half of fresh lime juice to each jar, and filled it the rest of the way with salsa.

Next, put the lids and rings on, and put them in the pot, with at least an inch of water above the jars. Boil the jars for 20 minutes, bring them out of the water, loosen the rings a little, and turn upside-down. Leave them on the counter over night, and they should be sealed well.

We could have made about seven jars, I think. But I'm glad we didn't because we ate almost all of the extra salsa in one sitting. Its refreshing and just a little spicy.

Caprese Panini

tomato, basil and mozzarella panini

I almost always have fresh mozzarella in the house this time of year because I'm so addicted to Caprese salads. But today I only had one medium sized mozzarella ball left, and I wanted a heartier lunch, so I decided to turn my old standard into a sandwich.

I sliced everything, and then just put it on the George Foreman grill.

The result was a little messy, so next time, I should try to get some of the seeds out of the tomato, and maybe press the bread a little before I make the sandwich so I can get it a little more flat. I would also have loved some sun-dried tomatoes on this (ooh, that gives me an idea for next week...)