Roasted Eggplant with Garlic Pasta

Ever since I tasted baba ghanoush I've wanted to make some.  Last week I got an eggplant in my produce delivery, and that was my plan.  But, as I've never made anything with eggplant before, I thought I'd try roasting it first and see how that went.  Well, by then I had an idea for a pasta dish in my head.  I admit I was influenced by the desire to try some garlic a friend picked up at a garlic festival a few weeks ago.

Ingredients:
Eggplant mixture

1 large eggplant
1 med onion
Oregano
Basil
Olive oil
1 can diced tomatoes
Salt, pepper to taste

Garlic pasta

4 cloves garlic; minced, pressed or crushed
1 lb. angel hair pasta
1-2 tbsp butter
Salt, pepper to taste

Instructions
1.  Heat oven to 425° F.  Prepare a shallow pan with non-stick spray or parchment liner. 
2.  Wash eggplant.  Cut off top stem and bottom bump.  Slice at an angle into 1/4 inch slices.  Arrange the slices on the pan--try to not overlap them.
3.  Cut top stem and bottom roots off onion.  Peel off the outer thin layers.  Slice straight across  to get 1/4 inch wide rounds.  Separate the rings and arrange over the eggplant.
4.  Liberally sprinkle dried oregano and basil over onion and eggplant.  Drizzle 2 tbsp of olive oil over the spices.
5.  Pour diced tomatoes over all, drizzle a bit more oil and season with salt and pepper.
6.  Roast in hot oven for 20 min.
7.  Mince garlic with a knife, press through a garlic press or crush with a mortar and pestle.
8.  Boil water with a sprinkle of salt, but only add pasta once it's to a rolling boil and only cook it as long as directions indicate.  (We used "fresh" angel hair that only needed to cook 45 seconds.  We had the water ready but didn't put pasta in until eggplant was done.)
9.  Once pasta is drained return to pot and mix in the minced/crushed garlic and butter.
10.  Serve eggplant mixture over pasta.

Don't be turned off by the strange color of the eggplant.  It really is quite tasty.

Tips
1. Use a big sharp knife for the eggplant.
2. Use a garlic infused olive oil to add more flavor to the roasted eggplant.
3. Crush garlic cloves with flat side of knife--this aids in peeling them. 
4. Use an electric tea kettle to have boiled water ready to cook pasta.
5. The butter in the pasta is to keep it from sticking.  You can use oil instead.
6. Feel free to reduce the amount of oil to your taste.  The eggplant soaks it up easily so you may just want to drizzle after adding the tomatoes.
7. I put the seasonings on before the tomatoes to make sure the eggplant got the flavor.
8. You could also "roast" the veggies under a broiler, but keep your eye on it so they don't burn.
9. I found the tomato wasn't enough for my taste.  I will use 2 cans next time.
10. Add some parmesan or pecorino cheese over tomato.
Baffling fact:  angel hair pasta should be cooked to a core temperature of 160° F.  No idea how you're supposed to check that.

Experimental Hors D'oeuvres

Since I'm house sitting at a friend's, I went rummaging through the fridge to see what I could throw together for dinner.  This is what I found:

4 large mushrooms
1 small onion
1 slice ham
1 tube crescent roll dough
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan
garlic salt
chili powder

1.  Pre-heat oven to 350° F.
2.  Wipe mushrooms clean with a towel, instead of washing them -- it's a trick I learned from Julia Child.  Cut off hard stems and dice.
3.  Heat pan over med heat.  Dice the onion. To be healthy I browned the mushrooms and onion dry.  Stir occasionally.
4.  Cut slice of ham to small squares and add to mushrooms and onions.
5.  Sprinkle with chili and garlic salt and keep stirring occasionally.
6.  Pop open the tube of crescent dough.  Roll out the dough and cut the triangles in half -- pizza cutter makes it easy.
7.  Press the smaller triangles into the mini muffin pan -- alternative: use regular sized triangles for regular muffin pan. I started with a dowel, but found it easier to do with my fingers.

8.  Spoon 1/2 teaspoon shredded mozzarella into bottom of dough "cups"

 9.  Spoon a teaspoon amount of the mushroom mixture into each cup and sprinkle some parmesan over the top.

10.  Bake for 12 min.  Crust should be golden brown.
11.  Remove from oven and let cool in pan for no more than 5 min and remove to plate to finish cooling -- if you leave them in longer the moisture will make the bottoms soggy.

12.  Plate up and serve.  Goes great with some ranch dressing on the side (but then, what doesn't?).

Things I would try differently:
1.  I think some mild sausage would be great in lieu of the ham, but then I used what I had.
2.  Use some oregano and basil seasoning instead of the chili powder.
3.  Forget reducing fat and use a teaspoon of butter to saute onions and mushrooms.  Also, add a splash of white wine.
4.  Use more cheese and mix it into mushroom mixture to melt before adding it to the dough.
5.  Forget the pre-perforated triangles.  Roll out dough with pin to be thinner and cut into 2 - 2 1/2 inch squares.  You'll get more out of it, so up the amount of ingredients.
6.  Egg-lovers -- I don't include myself among you -- feel free to scramble an egg or two to the mushroom mixture.
7.  Add a clove or two of garlic, pressed, of course.

Chilean Chicken and Rice

This recipe is less detailed than others I’ve posted.  I got it from my Chilean mami, Cecilia.  Each cook has their own version they know by heart and adapt according to what ingredients they have available and how many hungry people they’ll be feeding. 

These are the original notes she gave me, translated to English:

Garlic, onion, green onion, carrot – finely chopped. Heat everything in a little oil until golden.  Brown skinned chicken pieces on both sides. Add water till it barely covers the chicken. Cover and simmer for ½ hour.

I didn’t even include to serve it with rice, because that’s a given.  Here’s my conversion with measurements for newbies and type A people (you know who you are).

Cecilia's Arroz con Pollo al Jugo (rice with chicken cooked in its own juices - literally)
(4 servings)
2 tbsp. olive oil

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 med onion, finely chopped

2 green onion, finely chopped

1 carrot, thinly sliced or shredded

4 pieces of chicken, skinned

2 cups of rice, prepared according to package directions or this recipe

In a pot with a lid, heat oil till shimmery (med heat).  Add veggies and stir occasionally till onions are just past translucent.  Add chicken and brown on both sides.  Add water (I also include ¼ c white wine) to pot to barely cover chicken.  Cover pot with lid and turn down heat to a simmer.  Cook 30 minutes.  Serve over rice.

Reinforced Mac 'n' Cheese

I love food. I love trying new things, but I can be picky and lazy. My laziness leads me to reach for whatever is convenient. My pickiness leads me to stick with the tried and true. I know, bad combination.

And so God, in his wisdom, saw it fit for me to develop more serious consequences than just getting fat. Thanks to a severe iron deficiency, my doctor's litany about "add veggies to your diet" has become a mantra. I began to look at food as fuel and nutrition as more than just fat and calories to avoid (wasn't working anyway). Turns out those leafy green things are one of your body's BFFs.

Sometimes, I challenge myself (a way to stave off the laziness) to see how many veggies I can fit into a meal without turning it into a salad. This weekend I was craving cheesy comfort food. So, this is what I came up with: TA DA!! [Applause]

Reinforced Mac 'n' Cheese (semi-lazy version)

1 pkg. mac n cheese, any brand

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 onion, chopped

1-2 garlic cloves, pressed

1 sm bunch/handful spinach, chopped

3 oz. cooked/seasoned ground beef*

2 tbsp butter

1/4 cup milk

Cook macaroni according to package directions. In a separate pan, heat olive oil till it's shimmery. Over med-high heat, add onion and garlic. Stir around a couple time till they just begin to turn golden. Turn heat down to med. Add spinach and stir till completely wilted. Stir in ground beef and turn down heat. Beef will warm through while you prepare the mac n cheese. Once macaroni is tender -- NOT soft! -- drain and return pasta and saucepan to low heat. Add butter and stir. Once melted, stir in cheese powder packet till evenly coated. Pour in milk and stir until well mixed. If macaroni is still milky, turn up heat to med-low and stir for a minute more. Remove both pans from heat and mix in the meat mixture with the macaroni. Serve.

*Cooked/seasoned ground beef - I feel better when I don't eat a lot of meat. Many times it goes bad while sitting in the fridge. So, I came up with a brilliant plan - cook meat when I get home from store and then freeze it. Here's my recipe:

Heat skillet big enough for quantity of ground beef over med-high heat. Once meat starts sizzling, sprinkle top with cumin, oregano, garlic salt, and maybe some basil or thyme (depends on your taste). Stir and break up chunks making sure pink areas turn brown. Once brown, drain off liquid and let meat cool. Once cool store in a freezer-safe container and place in fridge. You may want to label (masking tape and sharpie) it with the date you cooked it up. I don't date stuff, but freezer burn tends to set in after 3 months or so. For the recipe above, I didn't weigh out 3 oz. I spooned out the quantity that looked a bit smaller than the size of my palm.

Other notes:

1. I called this recipe "semi-lazy" because you start with box mac n cheese, but you do "beef" it up.


2. Any of the ingredients are to taste. I realize that not everyone is a garlic-aholic like me. Be free to modify.


3. I think this would be great with mushrooms, but I didn't have any.


4. I usually skip measuring the milk and pour it slowly into pan until it "looks right". I don't like it runny.


5. Sarah makes her own version of this recipe with tuna, peas and corn.

I may follow this post with a non-lazy version with "made from scratch" cheese sauce. I've never made the actual macaroni.

(I realize that the picture has nothing to do with anything posted. Well, it does show me and my sister Sarah with Polly. We met her at a pet store a few years ago.)