I love eggplant and I love peppers, but on a day when I’m in a huge hurry and don’t have time to fry the eggplant (actually, I really don’t even like to fry eggplant because it seems to just eat up oil if you don’t pre-salt it). I usually don’t have time to pre-salt the eggplant either (it takes out excess moisture). So, instead I tend to cube it, and bring out the sliced peppers I have in the freezer. This makes things so much faster, easier and super-deliciousness is not sacrificed.
This is how I make it:
If using frozen peppers, you need to take out any excess water, so what I do is put them in a frying pan on low and keep a keen eye on the pan, making sure all the excess water is evaporated before putting them into the baking dish with the cubed eggplant.
Season with salt, pepper, olive oil and dried parsley.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes- at the 20 minute mark, pull it out and mix it all up to move the oil around and be sure nothing dries up.
After 40 minutes or so, it should look like this.
Our favorite way is to eat it over rice, but you could also serve it with pasta or rustic bread.
Roasted Eggplant & Pepper On Rice
This is such a straightforward, mess-free dish to make.
Makes 4 servings
INGREDIENTS
1 eggplant, half peeled
4 cups sliced peppers- mixed colors or just green ones
Mix the eggplant and peppers so they are thoroughly combined and place them in an oven-safe dish large enough to spread it out so that they’re not too crowded.
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Last New Year’s Eve was a quiet affair, and very lovely at that. We decided to stay home and invite friends for something simple, and I offered to do the cooking- a chance to entertain and nourish is something I usually jump on, particularly when I know they’ll appreciate even the smallest of gestures surrounding food. It’s always nice to feel that way. All the recipes I made were such a hit that I promised to share them, but I’m only now getting around to sharing them- sorry! Better late than never, righ?
So, my original plan was to make Sicilian style dishes since eating seafood is traditional on New Year’s Eve. That and maybe a calamari salad. A tuna pasta. Such great dishes, but it just wasn’t going to work. And that turned actually out for the best.
I needed to make vegan food because one of our friends is strictly vegan. I was quite worried about cross-contamination of ingredients so I just decided that everything I made that night would be vegan.
Then, I panicked just a little. I thought about how difficult this might be since I am so accustomed to using dairy in my cooking, especially in pastas (except things with fish and seafood).
I thought it would be best to buy some vegan products for this meal so I intended to look into cashew butter, vegan dairy and anything else that might go with appetizers or pasta-making. Then I ran out of time to do so, but to be honest, the purist in me just doesn’t want to go near that processed stuff – and I certainly didn’t have time to figure out cashew butter making at home. I was a bit lost about all of those substitutes, and after being in the food industry and Halal industry for so long, I’ve learned my fair share about food science and what’s in our food, so I tend to be uber skeptical about everything processed. It takes a lot for me to buy something pre-made or “processed”.
After all of these conversations in my head, I decided to just go for traditional Italian dishes that don’t even have meat or dairy in them to begin with. What I didn’t realize is that there are more traditional dishes that are just naturally vegan than I can even count. All I needed was a little inspiration and memory-jogging, which I got from these two books:
So, I made several things from whatever I already had in the fridge: Bruschetta with Roasted Peppers
Stuffed Zucchini (and Peppers)
Roasted Carrots with Cumin
Mushroom Pasta
Everything was vegan, and very easy to make. I’ll share the other recipes in later posts, but the pasta was the main course, so that’s the one I’d like to share now. Get yourself some fresh Spring mushrooms and make this over the weekend for lunch or dinner. It will be so satisfying, so tasty and so inspiring – and you don’t need to be vegan to try it and love it.
Vegan Mushroom Pasta
Note: It is best to time this dish so that the pasta is just about to finish cooking so that you can use some of the pasta water in the mushrooms; otherwise, simply finish cooking the pasta and drain most of the water, reserving about 1-2 cups of the pasta water for the dish. If cooking and reserving the pasta ahead of time, be sure to drizzle some olive oil on top to keep it from sticking.
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 pound egg noodle or Papardelle pasta, cooked al dente.
1/2 bunch fresh flat Italian parsley, roughly chopped
Directions
Prepare the pasta or arrange for it to cook around the time you start cooking the mushrooms.
In a large saute pan, gently heat the olive oil. Add the mushrooms and cook until well-browned on one side and flip all of them over, making sure to cook out any water moisture created in the pan. Next, add the onions and cook until translucent. Add a little more olive oil if and when necessary. Add the garlic, salt, pepper.
Continue to saute the ingredients until well-blended and everything is nicely browned. Ladle about 1/4 cup pasta water into the pan and stir to combine. Add all of the drained noodles into the pan and combine everything well. If it is the consistency that you would like, don’t add any more pasta water; if not, add a little more until it reaches what you like.
And that’s it! We (non-vegans) were going to add some Parmesano or Pecorino cheese to the mix, but it didn’t need it at all. The mushrooms are so rich and meaty that the dish tastes and feels complete just as it is.
Buon Appetito!
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For those of you who saw my video interview with Mustafa Koita, Entrepreneur and Founder of Koita foods (plant-based nut milks), you may have watched till the end when I made this pretty tasty smoothie that contains the Koita Oat Milk product and just a few other things. Here’s the recipe all laid out and a few notes on the substitutions at the end.
To a blender, add the banana and pour in the Koita Oat Milk. Add the tahini and mix well on high. Add the Medjool date and almonds and mix again on the highest setting to finely chop and blend both ingredients.
Pour into one tall glass or two small cups and garnish with chopped pistachios, if desired.
NOTES
Try to consume this drink soon after making it, as refrigerating it may not taste as good since the banana is quick to degrade.
If you require a little more sweetener to this drink, you can add about 1/2 teaspoon honey or grape molasses (will change the color slightly). (The honey would make this smoothie vegetarian instead of vegan).
For a different topping, you can garnish with any type of chopped nut or coconut flakes and it would be equally delish!
Nothing is better than a bowl of hot soup on a cold winter day, would you agree? You’d be amazed what you can put together with what you’ve already got in your fridge and pantry, so why waste food by going out to get any extra special ingredients for something a little more complicated or time-consuming? This type of soup is so quick and easy, too.
Let me tell you how it’s made: use what you’ve already got.
In my case, in the fridge, I had one carrot, a bit of spinach, and a couple cherry tomatoes that would have been on their way out if I waited another day to consume them. Just that alone, however, didn’t feel filling enough, so I looked in my pantry for something to bulk it up, like small pasta noodles or rice and that’s what I had. I actually had a very small amount of rice left and didn’t even use it all – remember, it expands quite a bit in water (and in your belly), so I added about 3 tablespoons- that’s it! Spices are up to you, but I’ll list the ones I used in the recipe instructions below.
I love how the recipe is very #zerowaste, a common hashtag circling around these days, but it’s true- why waste food? Are we addicted to grocery store shopping? Are we so busy we can’t go to the grocery store more than once a week? I chalk these things up to boredom and lack of priorities, and believe me I have definitely been there. I would go to the grocery store just to have something to do. To look for novel things. That I didn’t need. I probably went more than the average person because I write about food, but nevertheless, I should have prioritized freshness of food and not wasting it, more than I did.
Here in Turkey, things don’t operate the same way. I go to the market two times per week to buy fresh produce, but it also goes bad rather quickly, so I don’t buy too much of it. That’s a good thing, hopefully indicating fewer or no pesticides, but also that I am way more careful about using up all the leafy greens and fresh fruits and vegetables I’ve bought in between market days; and if I don’t, then I don’t buy more of it at the next market day.
I think things are changing in the U.S. for the better, as well. There are more outdoor markets in the Spring or Summer and in the winter there are indoor markets that can be utilized to buy a lot of greenhouse-grown produce. Check your Local Harvest website for markets near you.
The complete recipe instructions and ingredients are below, and some of the ingredients you may want to get for this recipe are also listed here. Enjoy!
Recipe: Zero Waste Winter Vegetable Soup
The point of this recipe is to use what you have so if you have anything similar to these ingredients, use them. If you have less or more of the ingredients, use those. The amount of water or broth added to the ingredients is totally dependent upon the amount of other ingredients you have, so adjust accordingly and always remember that the rice/pasta/tarhana expands when boiled.
Sauté half of a small onion in olive oil, heated very gently. Next add the carrots and cook until the carrots are softened, mixing often so as not to burn the onions. Add the tomatoes and cook until soft.
Add the water and bring the pot to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, covered, for about 10-15 minutes. Add the rice or pasta or tarhana and continue to cook until the grains are soft. The time will vary depending upon which type of grains are used.
Remove from heat and serve with grated Parmesan or a sprinkle of Turkish oregano or crushed red pepper, if desired.
Summer food is equivalent to grilling, right? Well, in the intense heat we’re feeling here in the Midwest I’m not sure everyone is so excited about firing up the grills all the time. I mean, it’s really hot- even in the evenings I’ve seen temps at 98° F. That said, with all the amazing summer produce to be found at farmers markets and in our own gardens, there still needs to be a way to use up your favorite summer veggies even if it means staying indoors and NOT turning on the oven.
I can’t think of a more perfect fast food dish that’s homemade and healthy. Roasted vegetables warm up the house in the winter while warming up our plates, too. They add such great color, nutrition and taste to other dishes served alongside main courses. Additionally, roasted vegetables can be puréed and blended into soups or used an incredible flavor base for soups, stews and braised meat dishes.
The great thing about roasted vegetables is that just about any type of vegetable tastes wonderful when roasted, especially when dried herbs, salt and pepper are added. To me, it seems like you can hardly go wrong- take your pick.
Here’s how I generally do the roasting:
Wash and dry your choice of vegetables. Wthout drying them well, they will steam instead of roast and you won’t get that nice caramelization that is so appealing in roasted foods.
These are a few that roast really well:
Peppers (of all kinds)
Onions (especially white and yellow onions) & shallots
Additonally, things like garlic, olivesand capers roast surprisingly well, but should generally be added later in the roasting to prevent them from burning and tasting bitter.
Roughly chop large vegetables so that they are in semi-large pieces. If they’re too small, they’ll curl up and cook faster than those that are larger, leaving you with uneven cooking times for those veggies in the same pan.
Place the veggies on a parchment-paper lined baking/cookie sheet. The parchment paper will help to save some precious oil when you’re done cooking because it’s easy to roll up and pour into something else so that it isn’t wasted (much harder to do with a large, square roasting pan).
Salt the veggies, then add your choice of dried herbs (my favorite mixture is dried basil, parsley, and thyme but I also love to add marjoram and mint when I have them).
Drizzle the vegetables with olive oil and place in a hot oven (around 350º F). Depending on the thickness of the vegetables, I usually roast them for about 35-50 minutes, keeping an eye on them and watching for that nice browning I want to see throughout.
Allow them to cool once removed from the oven. If you want to blend them down into soups, or add them to any other dishes, you can do that; alternatively, they’ll keep in the fridge for several days until you determine how many different ways you want to or can serve them up to your family.
Enjoy!
What are your favorite vegetables to roast and how do you serve them?
