roasted eggplant with garlic yogurt and pomegranates…

 

Unusual food combinations are so appealing to me.  One cold afternoon, I went to do one my favourite rainy day things and strolled through a Chapters while sipping a blasphemous over-sugared Starbucks concoction.  I stumbled upon a pile of cookbooks and was immediately drawn to Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi.  The photography is breathtaking and completely inspiring.  I quickly tucked it under my arm and proceeded to the cash register.  I don’t buy cookbooks very often and this one was also entirely vegetarian which is crazy for such a carnivore like myself.

Weeks later I invited a favourite couple of mine over for a loosely Mediterranean style dinner to thank them for graciously storing my off-season tires in their garage all year.

This recipe is the most eye catching and strangely delicious with pops of pomegranate, tangy yogurt sauce and succulent eggplant underneath.  I must admit I did wing some of it because I was missing some of the ingredients but I feel it captured the essence nonetheless.

Here’s the recipe!

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faux stuffed eggplant…

Sometimes faux stuffed things are better than the real thing because a) it’s faster and b) you can be messy about it and looks just about the same 🙂  This hearty dish turned out great with savory lamb with tons of fresh peppers and tomatoes.

Here’s the recipe!

roasted baba ghanoush…

We’ve had a surplus of eggplant lately and to get it all cooked up in one batch I decided to make baba ghanoush.  Once upon a time, this was the only human food that my cat Milo would eat…weird.

It’s a pretty easy endeavor, blacken up some eggplant, cook until it’s soft and blend it with some other delicious things.  It’s not too involved but it makes for a tasty dip for veggies and flat bread or a yummy spread for sandwiches.  It’s perfect for the low-carb diet as you can control what goes in and the bulk of it is eggplant!

I made a larger than normal portion so I could freeze some of it for another day!  Here’s the recipe…

super simple spiced beefy stir fry…

So I realize this dish probably tastes better than it looks since it consists only of brown.  Put it with a salad to liven up the colour palette!  One late night I just wanted something quick and filling so I tossed in some beef and eggplant to make a tasty dish in under 20 minutes.

Here’s the recipe!

baked salmon and veg…

A one dish wonder!  Cut up some veggies that you have on hand and lay some delicious pieces of salmon on top.  Bake in the oven and if you have a delicious dinner and leftovers can be made into yummy sandwiches!  Super easy to do and full of vitamins and minerals!

Here’s the recipe…

fake-out ratatouille…

Ratatouille…a french stewed vegetable dish or an adorable rat?  Only you can decide.  The traditional way of making this dish is to cook each vegetable separately..even Julia Child makes it this way.  So many pans…F*&%@ that.  We have a few french friends that have made it this way and it’s ultra delicious but I decided to take a short cut and put them all in the same casserole dish while maintaining the authentic flavours this dish calls for.

I can officially declare that this dish was made with 100% certified organic veggies!  I started volunteering for an organic farm called Klippers and their produce makes me so happy.

Here’s how to make your own Ratatouille!

roasted eggplant sorta like lasagna casserole thing…

The Public Market on Granville Island had a special on eggplants and before I knew it, I had five at the checkout counter.  What the hell am I going to do with all these eggplants?!?!?  A large casserole thing seemed appropriate since I was going to be busy later in the afternoon, so I prepared it ahead of time so I could just throw it in the oven when I got back.  It’s kind of like lasagna (a lot of the same ingredients) with the exception of having layers of roasted eggplant throughout!

Here’s the recipe!