Category Archives: Recipes

1…2…ready, Eggplant!

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Eggplant! One of my favorite vegetables, so versatile, meaty and can take on just about any role you need it to (fries, pasta, meat…). One of my favorite ways of making it, is just plain roasted with a little oil, kosher salt/pepp, and that’s it. I typically roast at high heat, usually around 425 degrees, and it tends to brown quicker.

I used to cube it and roast it, but had minimal success. Now, I just slice it real thin, and decide what I’m going to do with it after it’s done. Slicing thin seems to be so much more consistent for me than other methods:Fun Eggplant Ideas:

  • It keeps really well, so consider chilling it, and serving it at a party with roasted red peppers and fresh mozzarella
  • Make lasagna, using the thin sliced and roasted eggplant as your pasta
  • Layer it in a baking dish with fresh herbs and vegetables and roast altogether
  • Bake it with a little organic or homemade marinara with some chicken
  • Cut it and toss it in an egg scramble or omelet with garlic and Mediterranean veggies
  • Heck, cook some bacon and make eggplant bacon wraps (this wouldn’t be a proper post without the mention of bacon)
  • Or, just eat it plain!!

 

My Favorite Egg Scramble

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This is one of my favorite go-to meals, when I don’t feel like cooking and am feeling rushed; breakfast, lunch, or dinner, included. So easy and so flavorful!

Egg Scramble

  • Mushrooms (I prefer baby crimini)
  • Whole garlic
  • Sun dried tomatoes (I use Melissa’s, no added salt or sulfites)
  • Crumbled herb goat cheese
  • Kosher salt/pepp
  • Eggs

Start the mushrooms and whole garlic in a little butter/oil of your choice over medium heat, until garlic cloves start to brown:

Take kitchen shears and cut the sun-dried tomatoes into pieces right into the pan (so much easier than cutting!) Continue sautéing until the tomatoes warm up and soften a bit:

Add eggs (number of your choice, last night I added 5, so I could have leftovers for breakfast) and scramble until they reach your preferred done-ness:

Top with crumbles of herb goat cheese (I was out of goat cheese, but had some Gorgonzola leftover from a party, so I used that. Normally, I don’t add cows milk):

When it’s hot…

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You need a cool, colorful meal! It makes me sad (being the seasons person I am) when it’s in the mid-90’s in mid-October. Either way, a refreshing light meal made me feel better: Grilled Ahi, Salad and Strawberries:

We made a trip to Whole Foods last weekend to pick-up quality meat (grass-fed beef), but as we know, once in that store, you wonder and end up with more (paleo treats, organic honeycrisp apples, humane pastured chicken…). We bought ahi steaks that looked amazing (which might explain the cost @$29.99/lb, ouch!). They were sustainable, wild caught, and deep red in color. Seth grilled them with nothing more than kosher salt/pepp and little oil. Some of the better tuna, I’ve ever had.

I added different flavors to the salad this time, I’m getting back into my carrot obsession (again, wanting Fall, maybe?). They’re so versatile, and much to my surprise, the commissary now sells large carrots in big bags, for $.79! WIN!

Colors in this light, refreshing meal: orange, red, green, purple with lots of protein and omega fish oils 🙂

Baked Apples

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One of the reasons I love this time of year (I used to call it Fall, but I’m not feeling the Fall love this year in San Diego), are the root vegetables and crisp apples. I look forward to being in the kitchen more, roasting vegetables, and finding healthy alternatives to baked desserts that are a little more quick (like apple crisp, pies, etc.).

Concoctions like this often come from, “oh these are getting soft, better use them before they spoil,” or “what needs to be used first.” Sunday, it was apples. I had six Gala apples that were not as crisp as they were initially, and needed to be used. I decided to bake them and see what I ended up with.

Baked Apples

  • 6 (organic) Gala apples
  • Cinnamon
  • Ground cloves
  • Butter pats (I use Organic Valley salted, pastured)
  • Kosher salt

I put 4 pats of butter in the bottom of a pyrex 8×8 dish and popped it in the oven to melt the butter. I took it back out and layered apples, cinnamon, ground cloves, butter pats, and kosher salt, until the pan was full:

I cooked them for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees, but cook them until the apples have the texture you prefer. Mine weren’t crisp, but they weren’t mushy either. The butter had formed to a thick rich sauce, that was bubbly:

I loved them (in part because the house smelled wonderful), they reheated so well, and with no added sugar. The options here are endless-I thought about adding bacon, cheese, onion, sage, on and on 🙂

Bacon Fat Kale

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Yup, that’s what I said, BACON FAT KALE!

I had a bag of Kale that needed to be used, so I decided to toss it in a sauté pan and sauté away…but instead of oil, I decided to sauté it in our reserved uncured bacon fat. I have to tell you, if you have an aversion to kale, or “green things” this is your method to try! Turn the heat on in the pan, give the bacon fat a head start, toss in the kale, sprinkle with kosher salt/pepp, and voilà! Kale that tastes like bacon.