Oven baked Eggplant Parmesan

I improvised this recipe from Martha Stewart because I wanted to put the Eggplant over pasta, not in a casserole. 

Ingredients

• Olive oil or cooking spray, for baking sheets
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup plain dry breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 large eggplants, sliced into 1/2-inch rounds
• store-bought spaghetti sauce
• Fresh sliced shredded mozzarella
• angel hair pasta

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush 2 baking sheets with oil; set aside. In a wide, shallow bowl, whisk together eggs and 2 tablespoons water. 
   In another bowl, combine 1/2 cup breadcrumbs, 1/2 cup Parmesan, oregano, and basil; season with salt and pepper.
2. Dip eggplant slices in egg mixture, letting excess drip off, then dredge in breadcrumb mixture, coating well; place on baking sheets. Bake until golden brown on bottom, 20 to 25 minutes. 
   While the eggplant is in the oven, cook the pasta per box instructions. After draining pasta, add the store-bought sauce and stir to mix. 
   Turn the eggplant slices; continue baking until browned on other side, 20 to 25 minutes more. 

Kale Chips

I guess I'm in a snacky mood. I finally made kale chips & I am so happy that I did! They are fantastic.

1 bunch (about 6 ounces) kale

1 tbsp of olive oil
Sea salt, to taste

Preheat oven to 300°F. Rinse and dry the kale, then remove the stems and tough center ribs. Cut into large pieces, toss with olive oil in a bowl then sprinkle with salt. 

Arrange leaves in a single layer on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper (for easy clean up). Bake for 20 minutes, or until crisp. Place baking sheet on a rack to cool.

Then enjoy-- they are SO EASY!

Dark Chocolate Banana Ice Cream

Here is the perfect sweet snack without the guilt. Make this with leftover bananas from the bunch on the counter (before they go bad.) It's a great way to minimize the amount of waste each week. 

makes 2 servings

1 1/2 peeled medium bananas, sliced into coins and frozen until solid
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Blend bananas in food processor until they are the consistency of soft serve ice cream. Blend in cocoa powder, cream, and vanilla. Transfer to a freezer container and freeze until solid.

Makes me wish we had endless summers.

Honey-Jalapeño Roasted Acorn Squash

This recipe was from Naturally Ella, a blog that focuses on seasonal vegetarian dishes. She separates recipes not only by seasons, but also by vegetable/fruit. She also gives great advice for people wanting to cook vegetarian. Other notable fall recipes include: Butternut Squash Ravioli, Chipotle Butternut Squash, Black beans & goat cheese tostadas, and Roasted Sweet Potato and Apple Salad. Very good blog! 

So from our CSA share this week, we were able to use the acorn squash & cilantro in this recipe. The recipe from the blog cooked the acorn squash with rice as a main dish but we decided to lose the extra starch. The acorn squash were smaller in size, so we decide to make it as a side to a delicious, fall potato & carrot soup. 

Ingredients

•               1 acorn squash

•               1 jalapeño pepper

•               2 cloves garlic

•               2 tablespoons olive oil

•               2 tablespoons honey

•               2 tablespoons lime

•               ½ teaspoon salt

•               ½ cup uncooked brown rice (or other grain)

•               cilantro, for topping

Instructions

1.            Preheat oven to 400˚.

2.            Cut acorn squash in half, scoop out insides, and cut each half into four wedges. Place shell side down in the baking pan.

3.            Mince jalapeño and garlic. Whisk with olive oil, honey, lime, and salt. Brush over acorn squash.

4.            Bake squash for 20 minutes and brush extra jalapeño mixture over acorn squash. Bake for another 10-20 minutes until squash is tender and golden brown.

5.            Cover rice with water and bring to a boil. Cook for 30-35 minutes until tender.
Layer roasted squash over rice. Drizzle with juice from the bottom of the pan and sprinkle with cilantro.

CSA Week #3

I get so excited for Saturday when I get to pick up my bin from the CSA (community supported agriculture). This week however, I had to work on Saturday so one of my lovely friends picked it up for me this week. (I still, totally owe you one!) I was pleasantly surprised with the produce this week. 

• butternut squash
• acorn squash (we now have two, one left over from last week)
• eggplant
• carrots
• yellow & white onion
• green bell pepper
• spinach
• cilantro
• red potatoes
• lots of sweet potato
• bananas
• oranges
• apples
• persimmon (should be interesting to cook with) 
• We also have some kale and romaine lettuce left over from last week. 

I love having a full fridge, but now I must start planning which recipes to make this week! The most important thing with being part of a CSA is doing your homework. Its important to plan your meals, so you aren't throwing away produce at the end of the two weeks! It is also important to store your vegetables properly. 

Collard Green Soup

In our produce share last week, we got a bunch of collard greens. I wanted to find a recipe that was easy yet more interesting than just sauteing the greens. When I found this soup, I was quite happy because I just had to get a few things from the store. I also was really happy because this colder weather definitely is soup weather! 

I found that this was a versatile recipe, and that I could substitute or add vegetables to make it heartier. You could make it as complex or simple as you wanted. I hope you try this recipe. Not only is it healthy, but it is delicious. This recipe also could be vegetarian (using vegetable stock) or chicken could have been added for extra protein. 

Ingredients

         1 large bunch young collard greens, leaves washed and stripped from stems

         1-2 tablespoons olive oil

         1 sprig plus 1 teaspoon of fresh rosemary, leaves stripped and chopped (finally using fresh herbs from my patio container!) 

         1 medium yellow onion, finely diced

         2 medium carrots, finely diced

         1 medium Yukon Gold potato, (I used two red potatoes)

         1 clove garlic, chopped

         Cannellini beans 1 (14-ounce) can, drained and rinsed well, plus ½ cup fresh water

         2¼ quarts (9 cups) low-sodium chicken stock

Directions

1. Pull the leaves from their stems. Cut the leaves into bite-sized pieces, and set aside.


2. In a large Dutch oven (or large stock pot), heat the oil over a medium-high temperature stove. Add the rosemary. Let it sizzle for a moment, and then add the onion, carrot and potato.  (In addition to the onion, carrots, and potato, I added red pepper. You can add whatever vegetables you want based on what you have. Broccoli or cauliflower would also be great additions.) Mix well.

3. Turn the heat down to medium-low. Cover the vegetables for 8-10 minutes or until they are soft and the onion is slightly golden. Stir every so often to prevent sticking or burning.

4. Turn the heat up to medium high. Add the chopped garlic. Stir and cook for another 2 minutes until you start to smell its aroma. Add the greens and stir-fry until they start to wilt and soften.

5. Add the stock and beans, and ½ cup water. The beans and vegetables should be well covered with liquid but not drowned.  Bring the soup to a boil. Partially cover and turn the heat down to low. Simmer, stirring from time to time, for 20-25 minutes or until the greens are very tender.
 

6. Adjust seasoning, then cook 5 minutes more. Mash some of the beans against the sides of the pan to thicken the soup slightly. Let the soup sit, covered, for 5 minutes. Serve drizzled with a little olive oil, if desired.

Butternut Squash Gnocchi

I LOVE butternut squash. It is probably my favorite of the fall squashes. So when I found a recipe for butternut squash gnocchi, I knew I needed to try it! I was a little disappointed after making it, that you loose a lot of the squash's flavor, but it was still delicious with a kale salad on the side. Next time, I may try to make butternut squash ravioli to try and maintain the sweetness. 

Ingredients:
1 large butternut squash (about 2.5-3 lbs)
3 1/4 cups flour (plus additional for rolling out gnocchi)
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg, slightly beaten
Freshly grated Parmesan for serving

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Peel and slice squash and roast on a lined baking sheet for 30-40 minutes until very tender. Remove and let cool.

2. Once cool, puree squash in a blender or food processor then transfer to a large bowl and add flour, egg and salt. Mix until a dough forms then knead on a heavely floured surface until smooth.

Almost finished kneading

3. Divide gnocchi dough in half and roll each half into a large, thin rope then cut the rope into small one inch slices. At this point you can either proceed to cook the gnocchi or you can freeze the pasta until ready to cook! (I cooked half & froze half)

4. Once the water is boiling, drop the gnocchi in and boil until they float. Then drain the gnocchi, put them back into the pot, add parmesan cheese & the sauce of your choice.