Easy Eggplant

The garden is producing eggplant finally, black beauty and the japanese eggplant.  Our easiest, favorite way to eat it is such a simple recipe that it hardly deserves its own post.   Although, the taste makes up for it enough to earn a solo spot.   To make matters worse, I have no pictures of the finished dish, but I'll post them the next time I make it. 





Recipe -

1 or more Eggplant, any variety
optional - zucchini or yellow squash

1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced

olive oil or ground flax seed or tahini sauce*
seasonings - pepper, garlic powder, etc.


Chop the onion and garlic and water saute until the onions are nearly translucent. 
Meanwhile, peel the eggplant and dice it into cubes.   Do the same with the zucchini unless you're okay eating the skins (we do because it's from the garden - organic).   Add these to the onions and cook until soft.   Season and stir, remove from heat.

At this point, we add the oil or seed.   If using olive oil, toss about 2 teaspoons into the dish and serve.   For ground flax, sprinkle it over the top, toss and serve.  With the tahini sauce, we just pour it over and serve.

*Tahini sauce is simply 1-2 tablespoons of tahini (ground sesame seeds), a squeeze of lemon, about 1/2 teaspoon of roasted garlic, and a tiny dash of cayenne.   Mix this with a bit of water to thin.   It's basically hummus without the chickpeas.

Banana Oat Bars

This is the latest refinement of our original banana bread recipe.





Recipe -

3 ripe bananas, mashed
1 large apple, diced  (or other fruit - pears work well)
      or 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1-2 eggs or 1-2 chia/flax eggs
2-1/2 cups oatmeal  (you can use whole wheat or other flour)
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup minced dried pineapple or other dried fruit
1/2 cup crushed walnuts (or pecans, etc)
1/2 cup seeds (pumpkin, sesame)
Cinnamon and vanilla, about a teaspoon of each


optional - 1/2 cup sweetener, your choice *

Mix together well and bake for 20 minutes in a 350 degree oven, in a 9x12 pan. 

* we no longer use any sweetener other than the raisins.  If I have time, I soak the raisins overnight to let them release their sweetness.

Pear, Apple, Cinnamon Pancakes

Necessity being the mother of invention, and me being low on applesauce, I fell into a delicious pancake recipe this morning completely by accident.

The secret is in the fruit purée that I used in place of my usual applesauce.  It made the cakes sweet and moist with no need for added sugars in the form of maple syrup or molasses.



Recipe:

1 cup flour (oat, whole wheat, etc)
1/2 cup whole oats
1 egg or chia/flax egg
1-1/2 large apple
2 ripe pears
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk, more or less as needed for correct consistency
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Optional - 1 teaspoon baking powder (if desired for fluffiness, can omit)
Optional - 1/4 cup raisins or dates
Optional - 1/4 cup minced pecans

Chop the apples and pears and process in a food processor until smooth or nearly so.  Add all ingredients into a bowl and mix just until combined well.   Cook as usual, in a pan or waffle iron.

Mock Chicken Salad

I've been meaning to give the various mock tuna/chicken salad recipes a try and finally did today.  There are many variations depending on your preferences...this one closely resembles our old favorite, minus the chicken/tuna, and it received three of four thumbs up (the 8 year old wouldn't even taste it, of course).




Ingredients :

2cups garbanzo beans
1 tablespoon fat source,  your choice, or eliminate this if desired
     ...options are olive oil, mayo, tahini, etc.  or none.
1/2 cup finely chopped onions or green onions
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced
1 tablespoon relish
1 tablespoon mustard, your choice
Pepper, garlic powder, dash of cayenne

Mash half the chickpeas with a fork, add all other ingredients and toss well.  Serve on a whole grain pita or crackers or on top of a bed of lettuce.  It's also good just eaten out of the bowl, with a fork.

Zucchini bars

The garden is prolifically producing zucchini now, and when I miss one, it grows until it's impossible to miss.   We're eating zucchini many nights, grilled, baked, or sautéed, and now, as zucchini bars. 





Recipe:

3 cups shredded zucchini
2 large bananas, very ripe
1/2 cup applesauce
2 cups oats
1/2 cup flour (oat flour, whole wheat, etc).
1/2 cup raisins
1/4-1/2 cup other sweetener (dates, date sugar/syrup, etc.)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs or 2 flax eggs

Mix all ingredients together and bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes, depending on your oven.  Ours were a bit moist when we took them out, but they firmed up as they cooled. 

They got a thumbs up from the kids - an easy way to eat your veggies