Fancy Mac and Cheese? Oh yes.

Hot Damn if I don't feel fancy every time I say Gratin. This dish is simple to make, and can be as fancy, or as simple as you want. I chose to make my own sauce because it was Saturday and I had the time. Feel free to use store bought sauce, just pick out a good quality one. I loved the smoky flavor the Sofrito added to the dish, but again it's up to you how complicated you want to get, jarred sauce saves you a good amount of time. I used goat cheese because I ran out of parmesan, but again this is a flexible dish, so use cheese you know and love. I love dishes that make it easy to eat vegetables, and since its similar to mac and cheese this is wonderful to serve to both kids and adults.

Penne and Cauliflower Gratin with a Spicy Tomato Cream Sauce

The Goods: Serves 4-5 as main dish
1/4 cup goat cheese or parmesan
1 small cauliflower (about 4 cups), cut into small florets
1/2 pound whole wheat penne
1 1/4 cups chunky Sofrito or store bought marinara sauce
1 cup half and half or 2% milk
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup finely chopped basil or parsley
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup fresh bread crumbs
1 tablespoon olive oil

The Deal: 
1. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Drop in the cauliflower and cook five minutes, or until just tender. Scoop it out with a strainer and drop it into a 2 1/2 quart casserole. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Drop the penne into the water and cook until al dente, about 10 minutes. Drain it in a colander and shake to remove all moisture. Mix it into the cauliflower.

3. In a large bowl mix together tomato sauce, milk, garlic, red pepper flakes, basil, cheese and salt. Pour the sauce into the casserole dish and toss well to mix the sauce, pasta and cauliflower.

4. Combine the bread crumbs and olive oil in a small bowl and mix until evenly moistened. Sprinkle all over the gratin. Bake 20-25 minutes, or until hot, bubbly and golden on top. Let it sit for 5 minutes before serving.

Edie Beets Salad

Hello Everyone! I'm Lissa's cousin Dorothy, and I'm doing a little guest spot on her food glorious food blog for your viewing (and cooking?) pleasure today. I've been thinking of starting my own foodie blog and my sweet cous' generously donated her space for me test the waters, so here we go!

Today we are making "Edie Beets Salad," which is named in honor of my parents' cat Edie Beats, the Small, Mean Thing. The reason its not "Easy Beet Salad" is because, while it is easy, there are a lot of little steps, and is a wee bit time consuming so I like to make a big batch of everything and store it in the fridge so I can easily assemble it throughout the week.

Beet salads are especially abundant in the summer and fall on Martha's Vineyard, MA, where I'm originally from, and I spent a lot of time in my early(er) 20s during and after college working in several cafes and restaurants that served them, all different varieties. This recipe takes a little something from the best and leaves out things I'm not wild about like... lettuce or raw baby spinach - don't get me wrong I adore almost all fruits and vegetables, but for some reason salad greens I could take or leave. I've been known to order greek salad on a bed of baby sprouts instead of its traditional Romaine. So we're leaving salad greens out of this, but by all means, add 'em if you want 'em! Beets are nature's candy, and they are one of the most nutritious vegetables you can put in your body. They are especially good for cleansing your blood and detoxifying your liver, which makes this the perfect dish to kick-start any new years resolutions to lose any excess holiday wobble (which I personally need to do - I'm tall and fine-boned and that means any extra weight hangs on my frame in all the unflattering places and its worn out its welcome thankyouverymuch. But I digress. This salad is healthy, filling, and satisfyingly sweet and savory. All food should be this good).

The goods: makes approximately 4-5 servings as an entree and twice that as a side salad:

2 bunches of beets (12-13 small to medium or 7-8 large beets) steamed, peeled, and cubed

1 small bunch of chives, chopped

1 pickled red onion (recipe follows)

sweet red onion vinegarette (ditto)

1 can of mandarin oranges, drained

sweet and spicy candied walnuts (recipe follows, or you could just use regular walnuts, almonds, whatever you have, i bet sunflower seeds would be good in this too. Use your imagination!)

goat cheese (or feta, gorganzola, bleu... any crumbled cheese would work, they're all good and you won't be using more than a tablespoon at a time)

freshly ground black pepper to taste

the first deal:

Rinse and trim any greens and tails from the beets (don't peel them yet! you'll do this when they're done steaming, you don't want to lose the nutrients from the skins). Place in a large pot and fill with water 3/4s of the way up the beets:

Bring water to a boil, then simmer until beets are soft when gently poked with a fork, 45 minutes to an hour, depending on size. check the water level occasionally to make sure it hasn't all boiled off (this happens quicker than you might think!). Add water as needed.

While the beets are steaming, make your pickled red onion:

more goods: adapted from a Bobby Flay recipe for Creamy Potato Salad with Pickled Red Onions on foodnetwork.com

1 red onion

1 bottle of Red Star red wine vinegar (save the bottle, you'll use it as a vessel to hold the dressing)

1 tablespoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon ground mustard, or mustard seeds

2 tablespoons olive oil

the second deal:

Quarter and slice the onion 1/4 inch thick slices

combine vinegar, salt, sugar, and mustard together in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, whisking constantly, about 1 minute until sugar and salt are completely dissolved. Remove from heat. Add onion slices, submerge, cover, and put in the fridge for an hour (or put it outside on a cold winter's day - I should point out that I'm writing this from upstate NY, where we are having a rather Southern, mild winter this year).

At the end of the hour, remove the onion slices to their own container, and reserve the liquid in the vinegar bottle, adding 2 tablespoons of olive oil. This will be your dressing for the salad.

While the onions are pickling, check on water level for the beets, and then make the sweet and spicy walnuts:

even more goods: makes 2 cups of candied nuts

2 cups walnuts

1 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

the third deal:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Blanch the walnuts in boiling water 1-2 minutes. While nuts are blanching combine sugar, salt, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper in a medium sized bowl. Drain the nuts and immediately combine with sugar mixture until fully coated. Evenly spread on a cookie sheet lightly coated in cooking spray:

...and bake for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally until nuts are golden brown. Be careful near the end, powdered sugar can burn quickly! Remove from oven:

...stir the nuts to prevent sticking, cool, and store in an air tight container.

the final deal: assembling the fruits of your labor :)

Check the beets with a fork to test tenderness. When the tines of the fork slide in the beet gently, without any effort, they are done:

Reserve the beet juice if you like (I'm still trying to figure out what to do with it, its just too gorgeous to pour down the drain! side note: I'm thinking of making beet juice ice cubes for summertime lemonade) Rinse with cool water, and peel the beets - the skin will slide off easily with the slightest pressure from your fingertips, you probably won't need to use a veggie peeler (unless you've used organic beets which have a slightly tougher skin. Don't let this deter you from organic, its worth breaking out the peeler if need be, they tend to be a little smaller and sweeter than the average grocery store variety).

Cube the beets, and store in an air tight container:

time to assemble!

for 1 entree

throw a handful or so of beets in a bowl:

top with 1-2 tablespoons of chives:

add the pickled onion:

and mandarin oranges:

dress with sweet red onion vinegarette and toss together:

top with 1 tablespoon of goat cheese:

sprinkle with candied nuts and season with freshly ground black pepper:

Enjoy!

Thanks for reading, and Thank you, Lissa for letting me in on your wonderful blog! I'm off to start my own!

Happy New Year!

xoxoxox

Dorothy

I like to quiche and tell

Quiches and Hugs. I must be stopped. 

"Baby, put the books up, it's time for sleeping," Healthy boyfriend yawns as he begins to close the mini fortress of cookbooks I have stacked around me in bed.
"I gotta figure out something to do with this eggplant and chard. Five more minutes, promise."
 After another 20 minutes he forces me to put the books away and lay down. Our bodies mold to each other and I attempt to shut my brain down, beginning my calming yoga breathes.
 "Quiche! Why don't you make me a quiche!" He whisper shouts, poking me in the sides with his excited fingers.
"Those are kinda time consuming babe, I would have to-"
"Yes! Great! A quiche it is. Thanks baby." He smiles and hugs me close, knowing I'll be dreaming of quiche all night.

And how did this quiche turn out you wonder? Really fucking good is how. Possibly one of the best things I've made so far for my blog. I have made a few quiches in my day, but never one this tasty. There are a few tips that, if followed correctly, ensure a creamy center and crispy flakey crust every time. The ingredients I used were all local vegetables I needed to cook before they spoiled, and I think they worked beautifully together. Even though plain saute chard really bothered my taste buds, I loved it in the quiche. Cream and goat cheese helps plenty of things go down easier. I used fairy tale eggplant, because that's what I had, but traditional or japanese would work as well.

Don't they look right out of a fairy tale? They have hats! 

Does making your own crust take a while? Yes. Does everyone have that kind of time? No. Does a light, flakey homemade crust set your quiche apart and encourage you and your dining companions to high five each other in a victory that can only be described as a Quiche-ictory? Hell yes! Make your own crust, your life will be better for it.

If you are making your own crust, then you have plenty of time to carmelize the onions. I started cooking the onions about 15 minutes after I put the crust in the freezer. That way they were done before I had to cook all the other vegetables. If you buy a pre-baked crust you can always just saute the onions until lightly browned, which takes about 5 minutes. The caramelized onions were succulent, sweet and added a real pop to the quiche, so I highly encourage the additional effort. Earthy garlicky chard, sweet onions, salty eggplant, finished with creamy goat cheese. What more could a quiche ask for?

I debated whether you really need heavy cream AND whole milk. That is what I used because I happened to have both on hand. Healthy boyfriend drinks whole milk (still not a ounce of fat on his beautiful body) so he always has some handy. Next time I will try 1/2 and 1/2 and perhaps 2% milk.


All the vegetables and eggs were local. The thyme was from my tiny herb garden. Fall has incredible vegetables to offer, so go explore your local farmer's market. It's likely you can find all these vegetables. You don't have to quiche and tell if you don't want to :)

Quiche with Carmelized Onion, Eggplant, Chard, and Goat Cheese
Adapted from America's Best Test Kitchen

Having your crust be still warm when you pour the quiche batter in is crucial to having a firm bottom crust.
The Goods: Makes one 9 inch quiche
1 9 inch pie crust partially baked and still warm
2 medium yellow onions, halved then cut into 1/4 inch slices
1 1/2 cups swiss chard, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup eggplant, peeled and diced in 3/4 inch cubes
1/4 cup goat cheese, crumbled
2 tablespoons olive oil
5 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, minced
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt, plus extra for sprinkling
Dash nutmeg

The Deal:
1. Start by Caramelizing your onions (click on the link to get step by step instructions). If you are pre-baking your crust, you can carmelize while your crust pre-bakes. The onions should be ready before the pie crust finishes pre-baking. Once you get your onions started, mix a teaspoon of salt into a bowl with your eggplant and let it dry out for 20-30 minutes.

2. Remove crust from the oven, and decrease oven heat to 350 (oven would be at 375 if blind baking crust). Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a saute pan on medium high heat. When hot but not smoking, add eggplant, tossing frequently to cook until lightly browned, around 4-8 minutes.

Cooking eggplant and chard at the same time

3. At the same time in another saute pan, heat remaining olive oil on medium heat. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about one minute. Add chard and saute, stirring occasionally until wilted, 3-5 minutes. Your onions should be caramelized at this point, just be sure to remove from heat.

4. While your vegetables are cooking in a large bowl whisk eggs, milk, cream, thyme, nutmeg, salt and pepper in a large bowl.

5. Once all your vegetables are ready, sprinkle eggplant, chard, onions and goat cheese on the crust. Open the oven and place your pie plate on the oven rack. Then gently pour the egg mixture into the shell until it reaches about 1/2 inch from the top of the crust (Depending on the depth of your pie shell you may have leftover quiche batter). Bake until the top of the quiche is lightly browned and a knife inserted comes out clean, about 40-50 minutes.

Add vegetables to crust first

Pour egg mixture on once pie is on the oven rack

Leave room at top for quiche to expand, then bake! 

6. Transfer the quiche to a baking rack to cool for about 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Insert fork and prepare for happiness. 

Pizza Two Ways: Peach, Tempeh Bacon, & Goat Cheese or Margarita

Two different pizzas united to defeat bland flavor

Certain foods are a part of me. As much as I try to change my eating habits, more vegetables, less cheese and bread, I am atomically drawn to pizza. Many of my eating habits come from the foods I loved growing up, and I don't think there was a week in our house where we didn't have pizza. Compared to many normal American households, we ate fairly healthy, but my mother is a fan of cheese and bread. And in turn, so am I. Vegetables and healthy food were staples as well, as Mom was a vegetarian most of my childhood.

 My poor mother had a the most stoubborn daughter (that's me) when it came to eating vegetables. If it wasn't fried, smothered in cheese, or involving barbecue sauce I refused to eat it. Even when forced to eat vegetables, I would often go to the bathroom after dinner and vomit them up. REEEEE. DICULOUS. Thank goodness I had other good qualities, because I have no clue how she put up with me all those years. I was a terror at the dinner table. Not until college and traveling did I open my culinary mouth to all the remarkable tastes out there. I remember my mother came to visit me in Holland, where I studied abroad for a semester, and was shocked to see me eat food without knowing what it was. A mother's patience finally rewarded.

Holy peaches this was a good pie.

Margarita (with needed to be used mushrooms)

All that being said, it still feels wrong to go a week without pizza. Im always working on making them healthier, but I still like cheese on my pizza. I see those vegan almost all vegetable pizzas out there; well done to those who can eat them and be satisfied, but a pizza without cheese is like summer without strawberries. Now making my own sauce and dough, and using all vegetarian toppings does makes it healthier, but it's still no salad on a tortilla. Yes, I saw a recipe for "pizza" that was literally a whole wheat tortilla with a tablespoon of sauce, mixed greens and like 5 different steamed vegetables. Call me fat, but that AINT pizza to me. Thats a salad with a tortilla bowl. 

Margarita pizza is the most classic type of pizza, showcasing what makes a pizza great. Good mozzarella, quality sauce and basil, its all you need. I added mushrooms because I had some about to be wasted, as always better to eat it then trash it. 

The second pizza was possibly one of the best pizzas I've ever had. For someone who's eaten pizza almost every week for 27 years, thats SAYING something. Peaches, goat cheese and tempeh bacon, my mouth is literally mouth dreaming about it right now. Healthy boyfriend was skeptical, in fact said "Peaches on pizza? Really?" To which I replied, "Really!" and the rest was delicious history. He hates pineapple on pizza ( I know who IS this guy?) but he loved this peach pizza creation. Combined with the goat cheese and tempeh bacon, yall I am telling you, you NEED to make this pizza. You're mouth and happy tummy will thank you. 

Never thought you would make your own pizza crust and sauce? Well neither did I! Honestly it was cheaper than buying the same pre-made items, and just took a little time and effort. Dough does have to rise for at least an hour, but it only takes 10 minutes to make, so you can let it rise while preparing the rest of your meal. Use bread flour if you can, it has the most protein of any other flour, which makes a difference in the oven. All purpose will work, just not as well. Nothing was difficult, just needed a little forethought. If you are one for potlucking or cooking with friends, making your own pizzas never fails. Everyone brings ingredients, you prepare the sauce and crust, and viola, fun times ahead!

Pizza Two Ways: Peach, Tempeh Bacon, & Goat Cheese or Margarita

The Goods: Makes two 10 inch pizzas
1 recipe homemade pizza dough (see below) or store bought

Quick Pizza Sauce:
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
2-3 small cloves garlic
salt and pepper to taste
Crushed red pepper (optional)

Toppings:
12 ozs of fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan
1 large ripe peach, peeled and sliced 1/4
1/2 cup mushrooms, thinly sliced (optional)
4 slices hickory smoked Tempeh Bacon
1/2 cup goat cheese
1/2 cup fresh basil, chiffonade

The Deal: 
1. On medium heat, place olive oil in a large pot with garlic and crushed red pepper, if using. Saute until aromatic, about one minute. Add onions and saute until translucent, about 10 minutes. Add crushed tomatoes and simmer until sauce thickens about 20 minutes.

Sauteing onions

Sauce! 

2. While you sauce is cooking, fry your bacon. Heat a dash of grapeseed oil in a medium saute pan on meduim high heat. When oil is shimmering, add bacon and fry until crispy, about 2 minutes on each side. Set aside to cool and then crumble. Begin to roll out your dough into two 10 inch round doughs. Be sure to make an inch border. Brush each dough with around a teaspoon of olive oil, being sure to get the edges. Preheat oven to 450 degrees, and place your cookie sheets or pizza pan in oven to warm.

3. Once your sauce is ready, remove from heat and let cool 5 minutes. To make margarita pizza, spread a thin layer of sauce over first dough, add mozzarella slices, mushrooms if using, and finish with parmesan. You will add the basil after the pizza is cooked. To make other pizza, spread sauce, then mozzarella, sprinkle peaches evenly, tempeh bacon, then finish with goat cheese.

Pizza One

Pizza Two

4. Place both your pizzas in the oven on pizza pans, or inverted cookie sheets. Cook for 12-16 minutes, rotating half way through to ensure even cooking. Remove from heat when crust and cheese are lightly golden brown. Sprinkle Margarita pizza with basil. Serve hot! But be careful of burning.

Simple Pizza Dough
The Goods: 
3 cups bread flour (all purpose will work), plus extra for sprinkling
1 teaspoon instant or rapid rise yeast
2 tablespoon olive oil, plus one teaspoon
1-1 1/4 cups warm water
2 teaspoon coarse kosher sea salt

The Deal: 
1. Combine the yeast, flour, and 2 teaspoons salt in a food processor or standing mixer. Turn the machine on and add one cup of water and 2 tablespoons of oil through the feed tube. Process for about 30 seconds, adding more water a little at a time until the mixture forms a ball and is slightly sticky to the touch. If dry, add water a little at at time.

2. Turn dough onto a floured work surface and knead by hand a few seconds to form a smooth round dough ball. Grease a bowl with remaining olive oil and place dough in it. Cover with plastic wrap or damp cloth and let rise in a warm, draft free spot until the dough doubles in size, 1-2 hours.

Caramelized Leeks, Tempeh Bacon, Goat Cheese & Basil Frittata

Frittata in the Hizzy! 

Another Frittata!  So simple and delicious, there is no end to the creativity. Saturday morning I woke up to my beautiful boyfriend who had come down with a case of the sniffles. He loves eggs, so I happily popped up and told him to stay in bed while I went to the farmers market to get healthy vegetables and local eggs to make us omelets.

Of course when I got to the market my brain started tinkering with other ideas, and I decided to make a frittata. I've been wanting to work with leeks for a while but been waiting until I could try local ones. Leeks are from the onion family, and since I have an obsession with caramelizing things I figured I should do that with leeks. There isn't much difference in caramelizing leeks and onions, except leeks have less moisture so may require a bit of water, to avoid burning. I added the basil, because Im trying to basil it up while I still can, anticipating the many winter months where basil is unavailable and/or super expensive.

The goat cheese and tempeh bacon where items I had in the fridge and both added a delicious flavor. In fact they worked so well I used both in a pizza I made on Monday(that post soon to come).

Leeks! Only use the bottoms, the tops are too tough

When cooking your leeks be sure to use a pan that works on the stove top and in the oven. Frittatas cook best when cooked both on the stove and oven, making sure the top bakes without burning the bottom. As always use ingredients you have and BE CREATIVE. Frittatas are a great way to use up eggs and vegetables that are headed for the trash can. They also sound fancy, while being easy as egg pie.

Caramelized Leeks, Tempeh Bacon, Goat Cheese & Basil Frittata

The Goods: Serves 3-4
6 extra large eggs
5-6 large leeks, leaves removed, white and light green parts thinly sliced
4 slices hickory smoked Tempeh bacon
1/4 cup goat cheese
1/4 cup basil, thinly sliced
2-3 tablespoons 1/2 & 1/2
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil (olive oil is fine)
Salt and Pepper to taste

The Deal:
1. First you need to caramelize your leeks. Place 1 tablespoon of butter in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Once butter is melted add your leeks and evenly coat with butter. Saute, stirring occasionally until lightly browned. Reduce heat to medium low, and add a teaspoon or so of brown sugar. If the leeks are sticking, you can also add a splash of water. Saute leeks until lightly browned, 30-40 minutes.

Leeks part one

Brown and Caramelized

2. While your leeks are sautéing prepare tempeh bacon. Heat a tablespoon of grapeseed oil in a medium saute pan until the oil is shimmering. Fry your tempeh until browned on each side, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Crumble into bits. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

3. Once your leeks are crispy, start to prepare your frittata. Whisk eggs, 1/2 & 1/2, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Add goat cheese, basil and crumbled tempeh and lightly mix. Pour egg mixture into the leeks pan, then slowly move the eggs around to make sure they coat evenly. Once the bottom sets, place egg pan in the oven and cook until the top sets, 5-7 minutes. Watch carefully, a frittata is easy to burn.

Move the eggs around until a bottom forms

4. Once the top is set, remove frittata from oven and place on a plate. Cut into slices and serve warm or at room temperature.

Fried Green Maters with Basil, Goat Cheese, and Caramelized Onions

It is, in fact, easy being a green tomato

Seasonal food is currently my greatest inspiration in the kitchen. Often I feel horribly overwhelmed when  trying to teach myself to cook. With each day I feel more confidant in the kitchen and at the same time completely clueless given the oceans of knowledge that exist about the culinary arts. One day at a time feels too slow sometimes DAMMIT!
Farmers market provide me such joy, that I know buying what is in season must be my guide for now. Time and effort are the only two things that can really improve my skill and knowledge base in the kitchen, so why not cook with the freshest ingredients available. Triple bonus that fresh food also means local and good for the environment. There is no reason to bite off more than I can chew, pun intented, by getting myself worked up over all the things I have yet to learn.

Tomatoes are spilling over tables at the farmer's market right now. Given I don't like eating them, I am forcing myself to find recipes that include the lovely fruit/vegetable. More importantly I'm a southern girl and think its required by law to know how to make a good fried green tomato.

No, its even better than it looks. Even BETTER. 

I will try these again, tinkering with the coating a bit, but I really liked the mix of cornmeal and panko breadcrumbs. I was afraid only breadcrumbs would be to bready, but only cornmeal wouldn't give me the hearty crunch I was after. Combining the two was perfect, though I'll always look for a new way of breading.

The goat cheese idea came from a fantastic sandwich at one of my favorite local restaurants, Sunny Point. They serve a goat cheese, fried green tomato and bacon sandwich that is deadly. Basil is also common when serving green maters as an appetizer, so I took bits and pieces of dishes I like and combined them. The onions just happened to be occupying space in the kitchen so I decided to caramelize them. What a wonderful random accident that turned out to be.

Caramelizing onions is easy, just a bit time consuming. If you have never done it, check out this website that goes into a lot of details and has some nice tips: Caramelizing Onions Again, its not hard, but can be easy to mess up. Once you've done it a few times, it's easy to become a go to for a simple way to jazz up any dish. Bummer cooking onions down that much strips them of almost all their nutritional value. But sometimes flavor wins out, and caramelized onions will make grown men weep with joy. And not just because they were chopping them.


You can always just fry green tomatoes and serve with an aioli or on a bed of cheese grits. Caramelizing the onions took the most time, breading and frying the tomatoes, probably only about 15 minutes. Make sure you use firm green tomatoes, so they don't fall apart when fried.

Fried Green Maters with Basil, Goat Cheese, and Caramelized Onions

The Goods: Serves 2-3 as main dish

Fried Green Tomatoes: 

3 medium, firm green tomatoes
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup panko crumbs (or other fine bread crumbs)
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 egg
1/2 cup milk

Onions and Sandwich:
2 large onions, cut in half and sliced 1/4 inch

1 tablespoonish brown sugar

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

6 ounces goat cheese, softened
6 slices of whole wheat bakery bread, sliced 1/2 inch thick
1/2 cup fresh basil
1/4 cup grapeseed oil(or other flavorless oil), for frying
Salt and Pepper

The Deal: 
1. Heat olive oil on medium high heat in a medium non-stick skillet until oil is shimmering. Add onions and stir to coat. Spread onions evenly and saute, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes, or until they are browning. Watch carefully to prevent them from burning. Add brown sugar, a pinch of salt, and reduce heat to medium low. They will take 30-40 minutes to caramelize, stir occasionally and reduce heat if they begin to burn.

2. While your onions are cooking, prep your tomatoes. Slice each tomato into 1/2 inch slices. Sprinkle with salt and place on a plate with a paper towel (or dish towel) and cover with another paper towel. Let sit for at least 10 minutes or up to 30.

3. Next set up your breading station. Place the flour and about a teaspoon of salt and pepper in shallow bowl and mix. Next beat the egg and milk in another bowl. Lastly combine the cornmeal and breadcrumbs in bowl.

Time to bread! 

4. Once your onions are done, remove from heat. Dip each tomato slice in the flour mixture, then egg mixture, followed by the breadcrumb mixture. Make sure you evenly coat the tomato in each mixture.
Place on a plate.

5. At medium heat warm grapeseed oil in a large saute pan. Wait until the oil is close to smoking, then add 3-4 tomatoes, being sure not to crowd the pan. Fry for 3-5 minutes on each side, or until browned. Set fried tomatoes on a plate with a paper towel and repeat with remaining tomatoes.

5. Toast the bread in the broiler for 2-3 minutes, until warmed. Assemble your sandwich: Place a good amount of goat cheese in even layer on each slice of bread. Then place 4-5 basil leaves on the goat cheese, followed by 2 tomatoes. Finish with around a tablespoon of onions. Adjust portions to what kind of bread you have, etc.
Serve immediately!

Fried Eggplant with roasted vegetables, goat cheese and strawberries

If only you could eat pictures.....

This dish is a play on what I did last week, because I couldn't stop thinking about how delectable it was. Anytime I find a flavor combo I enjoy that much, I want to try and see if I can improve on it. Making a dish healthier is obviously a goal of mine, so I wanted to replace the bread with a food containing more nutritional value. Whole wheat bread is great, but I never need more bread in my diet, I get PLENTY of that. 

This time I used eggplants and the outcome was extraordinary. The fried eggplants were tender, yet crunchy with the breading. Fried eggplant made a perfect base for this dish, and stepped up the dish in presentation. I think you could serve this to your meat eating friends and they would enjoy as much as any meat dish. The colors and layers look elegant, yet still fun and easy to eat. The combination of goat cheese, vegetables, and strawberries was heavenly as usual, this may be one of my new favorite dishes. 

Again about 50 percent of the ingredients were local, I am LOVING all the access to fresh local food. Makes cooking that much more fun and friendly to our sweet worn out environment. 

I hope you enjoy this as much as I did! 

To Dry an eggplant: Slice into 1/2 inch disks and place on a plate with paper towels. Place a pinch of salt on each slice and rub in on both sides. Place a paper towel over the salted eggplants and let drain for at least 20 minutes or up to 40 minutes. Remove salt from eggplants before cooking. 

Fried Eggplant with roasted vegetables, goat cheese and strawberries

The Goods: Serves 2-3 as main dish

Fried Eggplant:
1 large eggplant, sliced into 1/2 inch slices, dried(see note above)
1 large egg
1/2 cup white unbleached flour
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 cup grated parmesan
2-3 tablespoons grapeseed oil
Salt and Pepper

1 quart strawberries, sliced

8 ounces rosemary and fig goat cheese

1 large yellow onion, roughly chopped

2 medium zucchinis, sliced into 1/2 inch coins

1-2 tablespoons Greek Vinegrette dressing

Salt and Pepper

The Deal: 

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl combine onions, zucchini and 1 tablespoon of greek dressing. Make sure to evenly coat all the vegetables, add more dressing if needed. Set bowl aside.

2. Combine the flour and a good pinch of pepper on one plate. Beat the eggs in a shallow dish with a dash of water. Combine breadcrumbs, parmesan, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt and pepper in a third dish.

Your breading an eggplant station

3. Coat each slice of eggplant with flour and dip into the eggs. Remove the eggplant from the eggs, letting any excess drip off, and then coat evenly with breadcrumbs, pressing the breadcrumbs to adhere. Place on a large plate until all eggplant slices are coated.

Coat in flour

Excess dripping off

Breaded, ready to fry!

4. Place zucchini and onions on large baking sheet and cook for 10-15 minutes, turning twice during cooking time to ensure even browning. Remove once onions and zucchinis are lightly browned and fork slides in easily.

5. While the vegetables are cooking, place a large saute pan on medium-high heat with a tablespoon of grapeseed oil. Once water sizzles on the pan, fry 2-3 slices of eggplants at a time, being sure they do not touch in the pan. Fry for about 3 minutes, then flip to cook other side. Remove when breadcrumbs are slightly browned and fork slides easily in eggplant. Fry the remaining eggplants, adding additional grapeseed oil as needed. 

6. To plate your dish, place fried eggplant, a large dollop of goat cheese, your roasted vegetables, then a few slices of strawberries. Serve warm.

Such lovely spring colors!