Smashing Eggplants

It's Meatless Monday and I have a perfect little summer dish that uses up those fat eggplants taking up room in your vegetable drawer. What is it about eggplant? I can't resist that shiny purple skin - they just look so luscious! This is a dish I made up basically using ingredients that happened to be in my fridge, so I'd suggest that the variations are endless. I call it "Grilled Eggplant Cheese Pie". Here's my version:

You will need:
Eggplants, thinly sliced
Selection of cherry tomatoes
Olive oil, garlic, s&p
Fresh basil
Cheese for centre layer (some kind of soft, fresh cheese or ricotta - I used Farmhouse fresh cheese & some gruyere)
Grated cheese for top (I used gruyere, asiago & parmesan)
Tomatoe sauce (your own or from a jar)


Thinly slice med-small eggplants longways. Salt and layer in strainer with a weight on top to express bitterness (Meanwhile, make a blueberry cake - ha! - that recipe to come in a future blog, cuz blueberry season is here!). After about 30-45 mins, rinse thoroughly and pat dry. Lay out on a baking sheet and brush both sides with olive oil that has been mixed with crushed garlic.

Roast eggplant slices on a hot barbecue until almost completely cooked. Roast a mixture of cherry tomatoes alongside. Spread a layer of tomatoes sauce in the bottom of a greased baking dish. Layer grilled eggplant slices along bottom. Mix roasted tomatoes with fresh basil leaves and arrange on top of eggplant slices. Add freshly grated pepper & salt to taste. Add layer of cheese
Cover with another layer of roasted eggplant. Press down. Spread a layer of tomatoe sauce over all. Sprinkle top with a generous layer of grated cheese. Bake covered in foil in a preheated 350 degree oven. Remove foil and bake another 10 minutes or so until top browns or quickly finish under broiler. Let stand for 10-15 mins before serving.





It is smashing. Serve with a fresh green salad and garlic-asiago bread. Mmmmmmmm.

Gaga Over Goats

I have a bit of a secret. I love goats. I am also inordinately fond of chickens. I have a very active fantasy life in which I have a backyard chicken coop producing wonderful free range eggs, a couple of handsome and wise-looking goats and a milking cow named, very creatively, Daisy. (The chickens and goats have names, too but we won't go into that).

What is prompting me to muse affectionately about goats? I spent the Canada Day long weekend visiting the Courtenay-Comox valley and was thrilled to encounter almond-eyed goats gazing from roadside fields and an abundance of chicken coops dotting backyards. I even managed a visit to a sleepy little petting zoo where my aunt and I got up close & personal with these amusing critters - not to mention meeting a crabby pig named Patti-Cake, a timid turkey and some rather friendly sheep.

We made a special stop at Coombs Country Market, famous for the family of gregarious goats that live on the roof. We purchased fresh island strawberries, raspberries and a wicked balsamic reduction and then carried on to a family BBQ hosted by my sister and her husband, the King of Ribs.

My farmyard fantasies extend into the cyber-world where I am an enthusiastic Farmville fan. I started my cartoon farm a few months ago while recovering from a surgery. What started as a few cartoon plots growing a few cartoon pumpkins has become a lively little rural dream including a nursery barn, orchard, and - of course - a chicken coop and a flock of goats.

When I received my first Farmville goat, I celebrated by baking a goat-cheese tart and serving it to my sister-in-law. She called it a little taste of heaven. I call it eating the dream.


Visit Coombs BC http://www.oldcountrymarket.com/

It's Meatless Monday. Goat Cheese Tart makes a great main, especially accompanied by a fresh salad and crusty bread. Tune in later this week for the recipe!

Addicted To Asparagus

There are few things on the planet that make me as happy as fresh asparagus. (It's my one weakness). Last week we travelled through the beautiful Okanagan Valley, a few hours from where we live in BC, where the fruit trees are beginning to blossom and the vineyards are greening. There isn't a lot of produce available yet - (just wait til summer when hands and faces are sticky with cherry juice, cheeks are stuffed with fresh peaches and the apples and plums literally fall off the trees), but one thing that is available in abundance in mid-June in the OK Valley is asparagus.

We bought a bumper batch of it and I spent the remaining drive home daydreaming and drooling over all the possible ways I might prepare it in the upcoming week. Cream of Asparagus Soup, Asparagus Frittata, Asparagus Pastry Puffs, Creamy Risotto with Asparagus, Penne with Asparagus and Lemon, Roasted Asparagus...mmmmm. Those slender green spears had their way with me all the way home. Pity my travelling companions who wanted to converse or point out breathtaking scenery or curious wildlife. Not a chance.

While I did drop off a bouquet of the little green beauties to a neighbour as a thank-you for help proferred during a recent recuperation, hubby and I basically spent the week in an asparagus chow down.

How did we serve it? Steamed. No salt. No pepper. No butter. Naked. Vegetable heaven.

It's Meatless Monday. Make something delicious with vegetables. Begin with the A's....

Cauliflower Dreamin'

I have to admit, I am a cauliflower fan - there is something about it that I love - both the taste and the texture - so I frequently have a head of it in the crisper. I'm not alone in the adulation of these milky florets. Louis XIV was one of the first to serve it on the grander tables and I like to imagine that one of my favourite ways to serve it - as a gratin, was also one of his. A gratin is a great complement to just about anything and you can make one from any number or combination of vegetables. I like gratins as a main course. For this one, I usually combine the cauliflower with potatoes to make it a heartier dish and then serve it with a big salad and some steamed asparagus with lemon alongside. I make it with lots of cream and fresh chives and my secret is finishing it with freshly-grated nutmeg. Gruyere, swiss, and asiago are all good, although any cheese you have on hand will certainly do nicely. It is one of my favourites for Meatless Monday, a habit hubby and I have agreed to adopt as a way to do our bit to reduce our footprint on the planet.

I was inspired last summer while reading Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food to consider more carefully what I buy, cook and eat (well, inspired might not be quite the right word - those I told about the book would probably say I was more like 'fervently zealous'). I love all kinds of food and cookery and while I have embraced vegetarianism at different stages of my life, I've become a pretty committed omnivore. So, Meatless Mondays are a way of making a difference, eating a little lighter and getting to dream up new ways with cauliflower...and since I'm posting this on Sunday night, what might you dream up for Monday?

Meatless Mondays in Canada: http://meatlessmondays.ca/?page_id=2

Michael Pollan: http://www.michaelpollan.com/

Cauliflowers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cauliflower