teacher by day - chef by night
Baba Ganoush is a traditional Mid Eastern dish – similar to Hummus, only instead of being made with Chick Peas – you make it with Eggplant. BUT – cooking is all about being creative, so when life hands you Zucchini you get creative like Hannah …
Dad’s birthday is reason enough to celebrate – but we have another reason to celebrate here at Teacher by Day – Chef by Night! One year ago: August 17, 2010 I posted my very first blog post. I have come so far in this year… taking the plunge getting pictures posted on FoodGawker, gaining readers, being willing to experiment more, and the list goes on.
I do not remember seeing this in my Food & Wine (either that or I did not have lots of fresh veggies sitting around at the time so it didn’t catch my eye). Right now we (as I am sure you do too) have a lot of fresh veggies sitting around on the counter (and my counters are not too spacious, so it is making cooking even more challenging) – but it is a “problem”I am willing to face!! This casserole is so easily adaptable – do not feel the need to run out to the store to get any new ingredients! If you don’t have eggplant ’cause you didn’t grow it: leave it out! If you want to add some other veggies to roast – go for it!
WARNING: You house will smell AWESOME while this is cooking, so you will be hungry the whole time this is baking (so you might want to have a fresh dip & veggies or Cucumber Boats or something ready while this is cooking so you can not starve).
If anyone can figure out a way to bottle the smell of roasting veggies, please let me know! Or maybe even a candle that smells like veggies and garlic roasting in the oven could be awesome?!? In search of such an amazing item, I was browsing and found “The Roasted Vegetable” cookbook which will at least allow for the smells of roasted vegetables to fill the house every day, anyone own it/opinions?
(as adapted from Food & Wine)
Preheat the oven to 425°. Oil 2 large rimmed baking sheets. Put the zucchini slices on one sheet and the eggplant on the other. Brush the slices all over with oil and season with salt and pepper. Arrange the slices on each sheet in a slightly overlapping layer. Bake for 15 minutes, until tender.
Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil. Add the shallot and cook over moderate heat until softened, 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook over high heat until slightly softened and bubbling, 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper.
Oil a large, shallow baking dish (about 10 by 15 inches). Lay half of the eggplant in the dish and spread one-fourth of the tomatoes on top. Scatter with half of the cheese and basil. Layer half of the zucchini on top, followed by another one-fourth of the tomato and the remaining basil, eggplant and zucchini. Top with the remaining tomato and cheese. Mix the panko with the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and sprinkle over the casserole. Bake in the upper third of the oven for 20 minutes, until bubbling and crisp. Let stand for 5 minutes, then serve hot or warm (perfect for leftovers too)
And I leave you with this, today’s Survey Question of the Day… What smell[s] do you love to have filling the house?
I’ve said it before & I’ll say it again: NOW is the Season of Garden Fresh Veggies! If you have a garden I’m sure your are rolling in it’s bounty and if you are shopping for your produce than I am sure that you love …
This is the season of carefree entertaining and although I love me some roasted veggies (the house smells awesome from roasted veggies right now – look forward to those posts in the coming days & weeks) we don’t always want/need to heat up the house! This recipe easily serves 1 or 2 as an appetizer, but is obviously very easy to adapt for more. Just count (about) a whole cucumber person as you adapt this for your next gathering.
Stuffed Peppers – I am sure that many of you have a go-to recipe for these. How many of you have a Stuffed Pepper recipe that would help you use up some of the over-abundance of Zucchini you are now faced with!? Well, this recipe is a lighter version and also nice & healthy because some of your filling is a super healthy zucchini.
Feel free to adapt this as needed – I really think that this is one of those recipes where the ingredient amounts (and even what you put in) are totally up to you!
So its time to get creative with Stuffed Peppers… Make this vegetarian by leaving out the sausage. No Orzo – no problem, use brown rice. Want it more spicy: add it. You get the idea. Get out in the garden & then get into the kitchen!
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Cook your orzo about a minute shy of the package directions. Drain and set aside. Begin to brown your sausage in a large saute pan with a drizzle of olive oil. When the sausage is just about cooked through, add the onion and chili flakes. Allow the onion to soften and become translucent, just a couple of minutes. Then deglaze the pan with a good splash of wine, making sure to scrape up any browned bits on the bottom. Add the zucchini and tomato sauce and let cook for another minute or two, until the zucchini starts to soften. Turn off the heat and stir the cooked orzo your grated cheese. Taste & adjust seasoning as necessary.
When you set your peppers into a pan, make sure they are setting flat (either in a loaf pan OR by slicing a tiny bit off of the bottom [being sure to not leave a hole in the bottom of your pepper]) OR set the peppers into their own little foil beds in the pan. Arrange the pepper halves upon the oven-bound vessel of your choosing and sprinkle the insides with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stuff (tightly) the sausage and orzo mixture into each pepper half. Feel free to pile it up. Once your peppers are stuffed, put some more grated cheese atop the peppers and pop them in the oven for anywhere between 20 and 30 minutes, depending on your desired level of pepper doneness. It was perfect for us at about 20 minutes – the peppers still have a crispness to them, if you like them softer – feel free to do it that way!
* Any extra stuffing is great the next day on its own or even over some pasta!
And I leave you with this, today’s Question of the Day… What is your favorite food to stuff (shells, peppers, tomatoes, etc) AND what do you love to stuff them with?