Eggplant Parmesan

Comfort food, YUM! Can’t wait for leftovers, but the exciting thing about this dish – I felt like there were surprisingly few prep dishes to clean up.

Meatless Monday Menu – Eggplant Parmesan
Local Produce – Eggplant, Basil

Eggplant Parmesan
Based on http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=2011044

Eggplant:
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 T water
2 cups panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
¼ cup parmesan cheese
2 pounds eggplant, peeled and sliced ½ inch thick
Cooking spray

Filing:
½ cup fresh basil, roughly sliced
¼ cup parmesan cheese
½ t crushed red pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
¼ t salt
16 oz. Ricotta cheese (original suggests and I used part-skim)
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Other ingredients:
24 oz Crushed Tomatoes (My favorite – Furmano’s) or premium pasta sauce
2 T olive oil (not needed if using pasta sauce)
Salt and pepper to taste (not needed if using pasta sauce)
8 oz. thinly sliced fresh mozzarella cheese
¾ cup provolone cheese
Additional torn basil leaves
Crushed red pepper, for sprinkling

Eggplant:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In one dish combine eggs and water. In a second dish combine panko and ¼ cup parmesan cheese. Dip eggplant in egg mixture; dredge in panko mixture and place slices on baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake for 30 minutes, turning once and rotating baking sheets after 15 minutes.

Filling:
Combine filling ingredients.

Sauce:
If using crushed tomatoes – combine tomatoes olive oil, salt and pepper.

Assembly:
In a 13x9-inch glass baking dish coated with cooking spray, spoon ½ cup pasta sauce and spread around. Layer ½ eggplant slices, sprinkle with salt, and top with another ¾ cup of sauce. Spread ½ of the filling mixture and top with 1/3 of mozzarella and ¼ Provolone. Repeat this layering with the other half of the eggplant. End with 1 cup of sauce and top with 1/3 of mozzarella and ¼ cup of Provolone. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes. Remove foil top with remaining 1/3 of mozzarella and ¼ cup of Provolone. Bake an additional 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes before serving. Sprinkle additional torn basil and crushed red pepper on top.

NOTE: original recipe calls for whole wheat panko. I would love to try this, I just had regular on hand. They found that the regular panko got soggy and that is why they preferred the whole wheat. I did not find this to be true.

Guesstimate Week 13

Next week’s guesstimate…

Winter squash, Italia sweet peppers, bell peppers, salad mix, broccoli rabe, potatoes,
green beans, sweet corn, beefsteak tomatoes, small tomatoes, hot peppers, and basil.

Fruit – peaches

Please send any favorites ideas or recipes for these items. I would love to include reader suggestions in my menu planning and on the blog. Contact me through the comments or e-mail me at purplecook8@gmail.com

Tomato, Cucumber, and Pita Salad

Wednesday Menu – Grilled Chicken, Corn on the Cob, Tomato, Cucumber, and Pita Salad
Farm Share Produce – Corn, Golden Rave Tomatoes, Cilantro
Other Local Produce – Cucumber

This salad was a perfect “piece meal” for kids. When I break a dish into its pieces and give those to the kids, I call it a “piece meal”. They had a pile of pita chips (big hit) and a salad of bare cucumber and tomato. I’m hoping someday they’ll enjoy food that touches other food!

Tomato, Cucumber and Pita Salad
Based on http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1906366

3 whole wheat pitas
Olive oil
2 small cucumber, diced
½ pint Golden Rave Tomatoes, diced
1/3 cup of Feta Cheese
½ medium onion, diced
¼ cilantro, chopped
3 T lemon juice
½ t sugar
Fresh ground pepper and kosher salt
3 T extra virgin olive oil

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cut pitas into bite size pieces and arrange on baking sheet. Sprinkle olive oil and salt on pita, toss. Bake 14 minutes, turning after 7 minutes. Cool and set aside.

In a medium bowl combine cucumber, tomatoes, feta, onion, and cilantro.

In a small bowl make the dressing. Mix lemon juice, sugar, salt and pepper. Slowly whisk in the extra virgin olive oil.

Add the cooled pita chips to the vegetables and toss with the dressing.

Bell Pepper Egg-in-a-Hole

Meatless Monday Menu – Bell Pepper Egg-in-a-Hole, Salad, Crusty Dinner Roll
Farm Share Produce - Bell Pepper, Salad Mix
Other Local Produce – Cucumbers, Tomatoes

I really enjoyed this dinner. My husband said he would rather have eggs and bell peppers together in a western omelet. Okay, fair enough – I’ll make it when he is out of town or away for dinner.

Bell Pepper Egg-in-a-Hole
Adapted from http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/bell-pepper-egg-in-a-hole

1 t olive oil
1 t butter
Bell Pepper, cut into ½ inch slices (I got 4)
4 eggs
Salt and pepper

Heat oil and butter in a non-stick skillet. Add pepper slice and then crack 1 egg into each pepper ring. Cook until whites are mostly set, 2-3 minutes. Gently slip and cook 1 minute more for over easy. Remove from skillet to plate and season with salt and pepper.

NOTE: the original recipe has parmesan cheese sprinkled on the top. YUM! Wish I would have remembered.

Week 12 of 2010

We got….

Chard, Corn, Head Lettuce, Peppers – Bell, Italia Sweet, Mariachi, Potatoes, Tomatoes – Beefsteak, Golden Rave, Roma, Cilantro

Fruit - Peaches

My plans…

Chard
I wait for summer to make this Skillet Lasagna. I'll use the Chard to replace the spinach.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/skillet-lasagna-recipe/index.html


Peppers
This skewer of sausage, peppers, onions, and tomatoes looks good.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/sausage-and-pepper-skewers-recipe/index.html

Tomatoes
I want to try this Tomato Galette
http://blog.cookingchanneltv.com/2010/08/25/easy-summer-tomato-tart/

I think I’ll make some variation on this pita, tomato, and cucumber salad.
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1906366

I’m also craving a good BLT.

Tarka Dal

I spent the day Saturday at our CSA farm. It was a beautiful day. It was the largest work day ever on the farm. We harvested four varieties of potatoes – baking, red, russet, and one I don’t remember. After working we ended with a potluck. I took this Tarka Dal. Tarka, according to Wikipedia is a common word in Indian cuisine used to describe the word seasoning. I wanted to use produce from the farm for the potluck, so I used poblanos, tomatoes, and cilantro from the farm to provide seasoning. So excited, it was practically gone before I got to it in the potluck line!

Saturday Potluck Contribution – Tarka Dal
Farm Share Produce – Beefsteak Tomato, Poblano, Cilantro

Tarka Dal
Adapted from http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/anjum-anand/tarka-dal-recipe/index.html

9 oz. dried yellow split peas, rinsed
3 T olive oil
1 T cumin
1 small onion, chopped
1 poblano pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 inch piece of ginger, grated
3 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole
3 tomatoes, roughly chopped
¾ t turmeric
¾ t garam masala
1 ½ t ground coriander
Salt and pepper
Handful chopped fresh cilantro (I used frozen cubes I had prepared earlier)

Put split peas in Dutch Oven and cover with 1 inch of water. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer, and cook covered for 30-40 minutes, until tender. Add more water if necessary. Set aside.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a pan. Add cumin and fry 20-30 seconds. Add onion, poblano, and ginger, fry for 4-5 minutes.

Blend garlic and tomatoes together with immersion blender or food processor. Add purée to the pan and stir to combine. Add turmeric, garam masala, coriander, and some water to the pan. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Add tomato mixture to the lentils and warm through for serving. Add cilantro before serving. If serving right away, fresh cilantro will be perfect. Since I was serving this much later the frozen cubes worked just fine.

FROZEN HERBS - http://purplecook.blogspot.com/2010/07/freezing-herbs.html

Guesstimate Week 12

Next week’s guesstimate…

Chard, Cucumbers, Green Beans, Head Lettuce, Peppers – Bell, Italia Sweet, Hot, Potatoes, Sweet Corn, Tomatoes – Beefsteak, Golden Rave, Juliet, Cilantro

Fruit – Peaches

Please send any favorites ideas or recipes for these items. I would love to include reader suggestions in my menu planning and on the blog. Contact me through the comments or e-mail me at purplecook8@gmail.com