eggplant

Four Courses

June 26, 2010 by greg Leave a Comment

I was inspired reading food blogs to make a light and healthy multi-course dinner that would please the palate but not pack on the pounds. I think I succeeded.

First up: Tomato and Rhubarb Salad with Taragon

This salad exceeded all my expectations. For two servings I used one half of a tomato, chopped, and two thin stalks of celery. To this was added a couple tablespoons of fresh French tarragon – the kind that has that nice anisey bite to it. A couple tablespoons of olive oil, a splash of rice vinegar, a sprinkle of sugar, salt and pepper and that was all it took to create this salad. I served it on a bed of shredded romaine lettuce. The tarragon married beautifully with the tomato and rhubarb.

Second course: Eggplant and Tomato over Shiratake Tofu Noodles

I have fallen in love with Shiratake noodles. They are made from soybeans, have very low carbs and essentially no calories (20 per serving). I took one Asian eggplant and the other half of that tomato and stewed it up with salt, pepper and garlic. I added a splash of balsamic vinegar and finished the dish with fresh oregano.

Third course: Chicken and Herb Sausage with Sprouted Peas and Carrots

I have been experimenting with sprouts lately. One of the things I have discovered are the dried green and yellow whole peas from my local Indian market sprout beautifully. I just soak them overnight in water, drain them and then rinse the peas two or three times a day. After a few days the start to show their roots. I love them at this stage. They are not quite as sweet as a fresh pea but not as starchy as the dried peas. They are alive and the starches are being acted upon by enzymes to convert the starch to the plants food, sugar. They cook up nicely. This dish was a simple sauté of the peas, carrots and sausage. What really made the dish was the addition of dried chipotle pepper. It provided a wonderful spicy smokiness that tied it all together.

Last but not least: Spicy Garlic Shrimp and Soba

I just threw together some shrimp, garlic, commercial chili flakes in oil, salt and pepper and flash sautéed them. Just as the shrimp were about done I threw in cooked soba noodles and tossed them all together in the pan. YUMMY!

Hope you enjoyed this. You CAN make great tasting food without the fat and calories.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: chicken sausage, eggplant, light and healthy, rhubarb, salad, shiratake, shrimp, soba, sprouted peas, tomato

Tofu and eggplant stir fry

March 11, 2009 by greg 2 Comments

If I may say so, this stir fry was absolutely fantastic! I love the slender Asian eggplant and it was perfect paired with tofu.

Here you can see my pan cubed tofu. I first threw in chopped garlic and ginger into the pan. That was followed by the tofu which I seasoned with a little soy sauce and some of that wonderful chili flakes in oil. You can see what half a teaspoon of it does to color this dish.

I stir fried the tofu on high heat until it was browned on all sides. This was removed from the pan and set aside.

Into the pan, still with the flavored oil from frying the tofu, I added more chopped garlic and ginger, onions and that delicious Asian eggplant.

The eggplant was fried until it began to get tender. The tofu was added back to the dish and it was seasoned with some sesame oil and soy sauce. One last thing I added was a teaspoon of Szechuan black bean and garlic paste. Oh, what a flavor! I was pleased with how the sauce clung to the food and not the pan! I definitely have to make this again.

Filed Under: asian Tagged With: eggplant, stir fry, tofu

Pappardelle with mushroom and eggplant ragu

February 20, 2009 by greg 3 Comments

I know ragu is traditionally a meat-based sauce but I think these mushrooms are ‘meaty’ enough to consider this sauce a ragu. Combined with homemade semolina pappardelle, this was a home run hit for dinner. My sauce started with a combination of baby portobello and button mushrooms.

They were halved and sliced.

I also cubed up a whole eggplant for this dish.

Of course you can’t have a pasta sauce without garlic and onions!

First the onions and the mushrooms were cooked down until softened and tender. Then the garlic was added to the pan.

The eggplant was combined with the cooked onions and mushrooms.

Everything was sautéed until the eggplant began to soften.

A bit of red wine was added to the pan.

And a can of tomato paste was stirred into the sauce.

The ragu was covered and cooked down until the eggplant dissolved and the sauce was rich and delicious. A little water was added during the cooking to keep the sauce from getting to dry.

Meanwhile, a pasta dough made from all purpose flour, semolina flour and eggs was prepared and rolled out into sheets using my pasta roller.

The pappardelle was cut by hand into wide noodles.

The noodles were boiled until al dente and tossed with the ragu. Finally I topped it off with some parmigiano reggiano.

Filed Under: pasta, vegetarian Tagged With: eggplant, mushroom, pappardelle, ragu

Soup and Salad – Mediterranean Inspiration

February 5, 2008 by greg 5 Comments

I’ve been on kind of a Mediterranean kick the last couple days. Soup and salad usually go together but I actually made these on different nights. This evening I made a really wonderful soup. The other day I roasted an eggplant in a hot oven until it was soft and tender. I was thinking maybe baba ganoush would be on my menu soon. But there it sat in the fridge neglected. Tonight I decided to make a soup out of it. I started with a hot pot and a couple tablespoons of olive oil. In went a couple of chopped up onions, salt and pepper. These were sautéed until they were just starting to caramelize. Next I added a good dose of chopped garlic, about 6-8 cloves worth. These were cooked for about a minute or so with the onions. In went a can of diced tomatoes, 2 cans of chicken broth, the flesh of the roasted eggplant, and some seasonings. I added the juice of a lemon, about a teaspoon each of dried thyme and dried oregano, and a healthy pinch of spicy red chili pepper flakes. This was simmered for about 20 minutes until all the flavors were mingling together and the veggies were all well cooked. I wanted it to be on the creamy side so I added one can of evaporated nonfat milk. This is a good healthy alternative to adding cream. Of course cream would be over the top better, but this was pretty good. The soup was puréed with my hand blender. All I can say is YUM! The herbs and lemon along with the eggplant and onions. Delicious!

Last night started everything off with this Greek inspired salad. This was also very satisfying. I started with a bed of chopped romayne and green leaf lettuces. These were dressed with a lemon, oregano and olive oil dressing. On top are some sliced cucumber, sliced carrots, artichoke hearts, celery, sliced chicken breast, kalamata olives and lots of feta cheese. Another drizzle of the lemon dressing and a dusting of sumac and the salad was ready to go. It reminded me of the lemony greek salads from a local mom & pop shop I used to get when I was a graduate student.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: eggplant, Greek salad, salad, soup

Eggplant and Chicken Extraordinaire

January 23, 2008 by greg 2 Comments

Lately I have been eating a lot of Asian inspired dishes. But on Monday I was in a mediterranean mood. I had these two eggplants and didn’t quite know what to do with them. I was thinking about the baked eggplant slices with tomato I have made before, but I wanted something a bit more substantial. I wanted a one-dish meal. I ended up with this chicken and eggplant dish. It was quite simple to make and it still is low fat and low in calories. This HUGE dish of food split into six very generous portions packs less than 200 calories per serving.

I cut up two eggplants into 1 inch cubs which resulted in about 6 cups of eggplant. I also cubed up 16 oz of boneless skinless chicken breast. This was tossed together with 1 large onion, chopped, about a half cup of chopped garlic-stuffed green olives, 1 whole head of chopped garlic, 2 cans of diced tomatoes, a couple tablespoons of dried oregano, salt and pepper. This was all placed in my large wide porcelain pan and drizzled with just a scant tablespoon of olive oil on the top. Now, normally I would have soaked the dish with olive oil but I’m trying to be light. This was baked in a 400F oven until all the vegetables and chicken were cooked through, the juices were bubbling up, and the top was beginning to caramelize. This took about an hour. You can see I served it with some of my mixed beans and grains. The garlic, olives and oregano really make this dish sing.

Filed Under: chicken Tagged With: eggplant, low fat

Four Courses

Tofu and eggplant stir fry

Pappardelle with mushroom and eggplant ragu

Soup and Salad – Mediterranean Inspiration

Eggplant and Chicken Extraordinaire

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