Spicy Szechuan Eggplant with Chicken

Ingredients:

1-2 eggplants, diced (and peeled if you like)
4 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 cup chicken stock
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tbsp cornstarch
4 tbsp water
4 cloves garlic
1/2 red onion
1 tbsp minced ginger
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces


Directions
Cut eggplant into 1 inch cubes. In a separate bowl, combine soy sauce, stock, sugar, and pepper.
In another bowl combine cornstarch and water. Saute garlic, onions, and ginger for a few minutes. Add chicken and stir for a few more minutes. Add eggplant and soy mixture, turn down heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in cornstarch mixture and heat through until thickened. Finally, stir in sesame oil. Serve over rice.

Baked Asian Style Honey Chicken, Spicy Rice, Fried Zucchini

Bad picture, fantastic meal! My husband says that this is his new favorite meal, but he says that pretty much every night. It was awfully tasty, though!

Baked Asian Style Honey Chicken

Ingredients:
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 cloves minced garlic
1 tbsp minced or grated ginger root
2 tbsp honey
2-4 tbsp sesame oil
salt and pepper to taste
2-4 tbsp soy sauce

Mix garlic, ginger, soy sauce, honey, and sesame oil together. Season with salt and pepper. Whisk. Pour over chicken breasts in a ziploc baggie or a baking dish. Let marinate 1 hour, turning chicken over once. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.

Spicy White Rice

Make rice as usual, in rice cooker or stovetop. Add a tsp (or more if you like it super spicy) of crushed red pepper flakes. Easy and yummy!

Fried Zucchini

1-2 zucchini
3-4 eggs
1 tbsp or so of milk
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup corn meal
salt and pepper
oil for frying

Cut zucchini into rounds. In a separate bowl combine eggs and milk, whisk together. In another bowl mix flour, cornmeal, salt and pepper. Dip zucchini rounds into egg wash, then coat with flour mixture. Fry in frying pan with oil (I use canola) until coating is golden and crispy.

Tropical Gazpacho

2 posts in one day?? Oh my!

I'm telling you, I have been avoiding cooking at all costs. 118 degree weather will do that to a girl. This recipe was a perfect NO COOK, cool, refreshing summer dish. This is good as an appetizer, but we just ate it for dinner. I think the recipe came from Everyday Cooking. I think.

Tropical Gazpacho

Ingredients:

3 mangoes, peeled, pitted, cut into chunks
2 cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and chopped
2 cups low fat buttermilk
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tsp rice vinegar
coarse salt
hot sauce (optional)
mint, basil, or lime for garnish.

Working in batches, place mangoes, cucumbers, buttermilk, lime juice, and vinegar in blender. Puree until smooth. Season with salt and hot sauce (if using) Refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hr. Serve with mint leaves, basil, or lime wedges.

Flat Bread and Baba Ghanoush

OMG, an update! It has been quite awhile.

We have so much eggplant in the garden it's insane, so we made baba ghanoush and flat bread today. So simple, so tasty! This recipe for flat bread was from an old Martha Stewart Living magazine, not sure which issue. It is the best flat bread I've ever had, really good.

Baba Ghanoush

Ingredients:

• 1 eggplant
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet.
2. Place eggplant on baking sheet, and make holes in the skin with a fork. Roast it for 30 to 40 minutes, turning occasionally, or until soft. Remove from oven, and place into a large bowl of cold water. Remove from water, and peel skin off.
3. Place eggplant, lemon juice, tahini, sesame seeds, and garlic in an electric blender, and puree. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer eggplant mixture to a medium size mixing bowl, and slowly mix in olive oil. Refrigerate for 3 hours before serving.

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Flat Bread

Ingredients:

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
3/4 cup warm water
2 cups all purpose flour, plus more for surface
course sea salt
pinch of sugar
1 tbsp plus 1 1/2 tsp olive oil, plus more for bowl and drizzling

Combine yeast, sugar, and warm water. Let sit 10 minutes, until foamy. Stir well. Combine flour and salt. Add yeast mixture and oil. Mix until dough forms, then begin to knead on lightly floursed surface. Knead 3-5 minutes. Shape into ball and place into oiled bowl. Cover and let rise in warm place until doubled in size, about an hour. Punch dough, divide into 4 pieces. Roll into 6 inch rounds. Drizzle each round with olive oil and sprinkle with coarse sea salt. Place on inverted baking sheet and let cook in 450 degree oven for approx 12 minutes. Let cool, then cut each in half crosswise and serve.

It's been awhile !

Ugh, the weather has been so awful around these parts that I haven't felt like cooking! I will do an update tomorrow, I promise! I just customized my blog with a new header, come take a look if you're viewing me on Reader. Cute cute!

Fresh Chili

It's no secret that I'm a HUGE fan of chili. I make it all the time. Vegetarian chili, meaty chili, I like them all. I came across a lighter version of chili in the Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine and modified it quite a bit. It came out great! Perfect summertime chili.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup lime juice
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 7 tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1 cup corn
• 1 red onion, half chopped and half cut into slices
  
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 small zucchini, chopped
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 1/2 tbsp paprika
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
  
• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 tomato, diced
• 1 cup Mexican 4 cheese shredded blend

Combine lime, cilantro, whisk in 6 tbsp of olive oil to emulsify. Salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Heat remaining tbsp of olive oil in skillet. Add onions, garlic, and chili powder. Saute until onion starts to become translucent. Add beef, season with salt and pepper and paprika. Brown beef, drain excess fat from pan. Add the beans, corn, zucchini, tomatoes, red onion slices, and lime mixture. Cover, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top and serve.

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Fruity Macaroons

These were good, but I kind of screwed them up. I'm not sure what happened! I only had about 4 salvageable cookies, the rest fell apart. The ones that made it were delicious.

Ingredients:

• 1 package sweetened coconut flakes
• 3 egg whites
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup dried fruit, chopped (papaya, pineapple, apricots)

Preheat oven to 325. Whisk together egg whites, sugar, and salt until frothy. Add coconut and dried fruits. Combine. Shape two tbsp of mixture into mounds and placed on greased baking sheet 1/2 inch apart. Bake until golden, 25-30 minutes. Transfer to wire rack until cool.

Ratatoille

This meal included about 95% ingredients from our garden. Exciting! I modified a few different recipes that I found.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 lg zucchini, cubed
• 1 lg sweet pepper, diced
• 2 tomatoes, diced
• 3 tbsp wine, chicken stock, or veg stock (I used chicken)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• fresh basil and oregano
• salt and pepper to taste

Slice the eggplant in 1/2 inch slices, lightly salt and lay on a paper towel. This will draw out excess moisture and any bitterness in the eggplant. Let sit for about an hour, then rinse and pat dry and cut into cubes.

Saute the onions and garlic in the olive oil, until the onion is translucent. Add the eggplant, zucchini, pepper, tomatoes, stock, salt and pepper to taste. Bring to boil, lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Uncover and stir, then add the herbs. Let cook for another 5-7 minutes until the veggies are tender and serve! Great with brown rice or couscous!