Amarand Journal

Presentation is everything.

When we picked up our produce from the CSA farmer last week, there was a lone, teeny eggplant included in the mix.  I had actually been craving eggplant for a couple of weeks, but I never bothered to buy one because it’s not one of Sean’s favorite vegetables.  And as much as I wanted some, I just couldn’t fathom eating an entire eggplant by myself.  So this tiny one was a perfect opportunity to get my fix and to give just a little sampling to everyone else.

After perusing my favorite VegWeb site for a while, I really wasn’t finding anything that jumped out at me.  I finally adapted one recipe to fit what I had and what I felt like doing.  Since the eggplant was really small (think large banana-sized, maybe), I sliced it into rounds.  I dipped the rounds into some soymilk and then dredged them in whole wheat breadcrumbs that I seasoned with Italian seasoning, ground black pepper, and a little chili powder.  The breadcrumbs really didn’t stick very well, but I kept going anyway.  I heated up some safflower oil and fried the eggplant.  It really soaked up the oil, so now I’m wishing I had used olive oil instead of safflower just because I think it would have tasted better.

To accompany my eggplant, I made a homemade spaghetti sauce with fresh tomatoes, oregano, parsley, minced onion, garlic, olive oil, about a tablespoon of sugar (to cut through the acidity) and more Italian seasoning.  I put about 4 or 5 quartered tomatoes in the blender until they were pulverized; then I added two more, but I just pulsed it a little bit so there would be some tomato chunks, too.  I put everything in a skillet and heated it up to boiling, then let it simmer for about 20 minutes to give the flavors time to blend and to cook down a bit.

Just to make sure that the kids ate more veggies than the two eggplant rounds I was planning to give them, I also steamed some fresh asparagus.  To serve, I made whole wheat spaghetti, topped it with the sauce, arrange the eggplant along the edge of the pasta, and the filled in the extra space with the asparagus.  This is probably the prettiest dinner I’ve given them in a long while.

The verdict:  Sylvie finished her eggplant before she started on anything else and said she liked it a lot.  Daniel took some coaxing, but he finally gulped it down—chased with plenty of water.  Sean got 5 rounds because he is, after all, a grownup.  He delayed a bit, but finally finished them all.  I think he’s hoping for a different recipe for the next time, though; they were really oily this time around.  Surprisingly enough, Sylvie didn’t want to finish her asparagus, even though she usually loves it.  I think she may have just been full.

In an effort to get the kids more involved with meal planning, we gave Sylvie a stack of cookbooks from the library and told her that she could help choose what we’re having for dinner tomorrow night.  Unfortunately, there weren’t a whole lot of pictures in the books that I picked out, so now she’s determined that there aren’t any recipes to be found in the 7 or 8 cookbooks I gave her to look through.  Silly girl…  ☺

I think that I may make some brownies tomorrow.  I got Ghiradelli double chocolate brownie mix (it’s vegan!!!), and I think I may make them with a can of pureed black beans to help keep the fat and calorie count down while increasing the protein and fiber.  Thank you Weight Watchers for that little trick!