Almost Eggs Benedict

 The pile of veg waiting for me at home

I wasn't all together pleased to be leaving Washington and heading back to the east coast.  I was sad to leave my friends and Bellingham with all it's cafés, friendly people, and glorious produce.  The blow was softened - at least in the produce department - however by the box of fresh vegetables from my family's CSA membership waiting for me when I arrived home.  * I should also perhaps mention that it was wonderful to see my family again too! *
So my first morning home, as I saw it I had two options for breakfast: massive pile of vegetables in a heap OR massive pile of vegetables in the form of a something.  It speaks to the comfortableness of my bed and the 14 hours of sleep I had just gotten that I didn't skip all thought and creativity part all together and go for the former.  It also speaks to the fact that I had been on the road for the past 7 days that this was the best I could come up with... but armed with very little else in the refrigerator I set to work deciding what the something would be that the vegetables would take the form of.
I can't in good conscience call this any kind of eggs benedict because really the only resemblance it shares with a benny is that there are both eggs and english muffins involved.  Most of all, the lack of any kind of hollandaise sauce, disqualifies it entirely from the benedict category, at least in my mind.  It doesn't fit neatly into any other category either though, because its certainly not a sandwich.  It's really more a pile of good things in something of a deliberate order.  Anyway, regardless of what you call it, this is what I made:

Eggs for Benedict's Hippie Cousin

Ingredients:

1 medium zucchini/summer squash

a heep of chard or kale

2 egg whites

1 whole wheat english muffin

splash of olive oil

salsa

Cut up the summer squash into thick chunks and cook them in a pan with a little bit of olive oil.  When they have gotten soft enough to eat, add a little bit of water to the pan and the add the heep of leafy greens on top. Steam until cooked, mixing it around a little every once and a while.  Meanwhile fry your two egg whites and toast your english muffins.

To assemble, drizzle a little bit of olive oil onto each english muffin.  Pile greens and summer squash on top of each half of the english muffins in any way that seems to work. Cut the egg whites in half and place on top. Add salsa and enjoy!

This could really be done with any vegetables. The more the merrier!  If they had been available I probably would have added chopped tomatos to the mix.  Additionally, if I'm being honest, I think whole eggs would have probably tasted better, I was just trying to counterbalance the road food I had been eating the last couple of days. Next time...

Raw Beet Salad

A Little Beet Juice to go with Breakfast

Beets, beets, glorious beets!

I have a quasi-religious devotion to beets.  They seem to me to be the very essence of life - their earthy sweet smell, the impossible brightness of their juice, the greens that taste of health in a way only leafy greens can, and the wonderful sweetness of their roots... They are vital and vibrant and earthy.
I have spent the last week in a passionate whirlwind romance with this particular root vegetable - roasting, juicing, consuming them by pound.  This recipe was my favorite invention of the week.  Before I tried this salad I wasn't entirely sure that you could eat beets raw and I was so happily surprised by how sweet, juicy and flavorful they are even before roasting.  This salad is super easy, filled with vitamins, and raw in every sense of the word! You can add grated carrots or chopped celery to suit your fancy.

This Salad will make you Smile from the Inside Out

Raw Beet Salad with Lemon and Tomato

Ingredients:
1 red beet with greens
1/2 lemon's worth of juice
1/4 cup of tomato sauce
salt & pepper
1 clove of garlic



Cut the greens off where the stems meet the root.  Grate the root with a cheese grater into a large bowl. Chop the stems into small pieces (1/4 to 1/2inch in length) and the greens into slightly thicker strips and mix in with grated root.  Add salt (you need a goo amount of this to wilt the greens) and pepper to taste and allow to wilt for about 5 minutes.  Squeeze in lemon juice and mix in tomato sauce and crushed or finely chopped garlic clove.  Enjoy! :)

~ Makes one large or two small portions ~

A Sunny Sunday Dinner: Eggplant Parmesan

Delicious vegetable goodness on a hot summer evening

I was able to buy all of these ingredients either at the Saturday farmers market or at the co-op, which made me feel very pleased with myself.  Dinner - and the whole weekend - was a celebration of sunshine and things that grow.
This version of eggplant parmesan is based on the dish they serve at Mario Batali's restaurant, The Tarry Lodge, in Port Chester NY.  It's a lot lighter than most eggplant parmesan's I've tried and the eggplant is left un-breaded, and cut into thick chunks, so it still actually tastes like eggplant. [The Food Network recipe for Mr. Batali's parm is here]  I added extra vegetables and a somewhat improvised tomato sauce recipe for a greater summer to bite ratio.
I decided to make my own tomato sauce for this recipe because I like doing it - though it would still certainly taste delicious with jarred sauce.  I used canned tomatoes because tomatoes aren't in season yet here :(  I once read on the Paupered Chef that using carrots in your tomato sauce makes it twice as good - and it does - so I have included them in my sauces since.  [For a more pulled-together recipe for tomato sauce I recommend Blake Royer's Basic Tomato Sauce]  However here is my version made from what I already had in the kitchen.

Eggplant Parmesan

Ingredients for Super Easy Tomato Sauce:

- 1 medium carrot

- 1 medium onion

- 2 cloves of garlic

 - 28oz can of peeled whole tomatoes

- 1 tbsp of tomato paste

- about 6 basil leaves

- salt and pepper to taste

All the other Ingredients:

- 2 medium sized egg plants

- 3/4 cup of fresh grated parmesan

- 2 cups of sliced fresh mozzarella

- 1 bunch of basil

- ~3 oz of spinach

- 2 cups of chopped green beans

- 1/2 cup of course bread crumbs

- a couple tbsps of olive oil

For Tomato Sauce: 

Using a cheese grater, grate the onion and the carrot into a large pot.  Sauté until onion becomes transparent.  Add garlic, either finely chopped or crushed.   Add entire can of tomatoes and crush with spatula until in small manageable chunks.  Mix in the tomato paste and let simmer.  Season with salt and pepper.  Tear up basil leaves and stir in.  Turn down the heat until it is just barely simmering and cover - let cook for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile...

Preheat oven to 440°.

Cut eggplant into 3/4 inch thick disks.  Salt both sides and arrange in an oiled baking sheet.  Bake for ten minutes - or until beginning to turn brown; flip pieces and bake for another 5 minutes.  Take the sheet out and set aside.  Meanwhile chop and blanch the green beans until bright green but not squishy.

The final layer, ready to bake.

In a baking dish arrange the largest pieces next to one another until the cover the bottom (I had a large shallow dish so it took 8 pieces to cover the bottom, if your dish is smaller and deeper however you can maker fewer, taller stacks.)  On each disk place some mozzarella, a sprinkle of parmesan and a leaf or two of basil.  Make a layer of spinach that covers all of the eggplant.  Place another disk of eggplant on top of the ones already in the pan.  Repeat the same process until all of the spinach, and eggplant are used up.  Spoon drained green beans into the spaces between the stacks of eggplant and anywhere they will fit.  Then, pour tomato sauce over the stacks of eggplant, cheese, spinach etc.  Distribute remaining cheese, and basil over the top.  Sprinkle with breadcrumbs.

Decrease oven temp to 350°.

Bake in oven for 20-30 minutes until cheese is melty and beginning to brown.

Makes 8 servings.