Spinach Salad with Grilled Eggplant and Feta

Ingredients

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon minced garlic

2 teaspoons chopped marjoram or oregano

1 (1 1/4-pounds) eggplant, trimmed and cut into 8 (1-inch-thick) rounds

10 ounces baby spinach

1 cup crumbled feta (1/4 pound)

1/4 cup pine nuts (1 ounce), lightly toasted

Directions

Prepare grill for direct-heat cooking over hot charcoal (high heat for gas); see Grilling Procedure . Whisk together oil, lemon juice, garlic, marjoram, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper in a small bowl.  Brush both sides of eggplant slices with some of dressing. Season with 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Oil grill rack, then grill eggplant, covered only if using a gas grill, turning occasionally, until tender, 12 to 15 minutes total. Cut into pieces. Toss spinach with enough dressing to coat and season with salt and pepper. Add eggplant, feta, and pine nuts and toss again.

·Eggplant can be grilled, in batches if necessary, in a lightly oiled hot grill pan over medium-high heat.

Pepper and Eggplant Sauté for Pasta, etc.

This is less of a recipe and just an idea for a good treatment of these two items. By all means add some spicy pork sausage if you’d like—it’s a great combination.

Dice the eggplant (no need to salt, soak and drain as many recipe say—these are tender, fresh eggplants and I generally think that step is unnecessary). Clean and cut the peppers into 1-inch long strips. Saute both in a large skillet generously coated with olive oil over high to medium-high heat until browned and tender. Add 1 -2  cups diced tomatoes (depending on how saucy you want it) and bring to a simmer. Cook gently for about 10 minutes until the tomatoes reduce. Turn down heat and cover if the veggies start getting to dark. Salt to taste.

Add some minced garlic a minute or two before the veggies are done. Serve with a sprinkling of chopped parsley and a drizzle of good olive oil, tossed with pasta, on toasted bread, over rice, as a side to grilled meat or fish. . .

Baked Orzo with Eggplant and Mozzarella

from the Smitten Kitchen

Adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi

I made a couple changes to this recipe due to personal preferences. The original called for a lot of carrots and celery (4 carrots, 3 celery stalks) but I wanted them to just be a background flavor, not main ingredient. I also chopped them more finely. I used a lot less lemon zest and oregano than was suggested because I was nervous but ended up wishing for more of each so I’ve listed the range from my amount to the suggested one below. Finally, the tomatoes were intended to be sliced and then arranged across the top of the dish as it baked. If you’d like to do it this way, sprinkle them with a teaspoon of dried oregano, salt and pepper before you bake it. I chopped them for two reasons: I wanted the tomatoes inside the dish and I also like the crunchy lid of a baked pasta dish. A layer of tomatoes would protect you from that if you’re not into it. (You probably don’t like pudding skin either, do you? It’s okay. We can still be friends.)

You could easily use whole wheat orzo here, or I suspect, another grain. However, you’ll have to do a bit of fiddling with the broth level to adjust for each one. Grains that take longer than pasta to cook (just about all of them) would probably benefit from par-cooking before they go in.

A few other substitions: I didn’t have any vegetable broth and used water. I felt it wasn’t lacking at all for flavor. If you don’t have fresh tomatoes, you can use canned ones (though fresh will hold up better on top). If you don’t have fresh oregano, use half the amount of dried oregano. If you don’t like or don’t have either, thyme, fresh or dried, would work well here but it’s much stronger in flavor and only half as much should be needed.

Serves 4

1 large (mine was just over 1 1/4 pounds/570 grams) eggplant, cut into 3/4-inch dice
Salt and black pepper
1/4 cup (60 ml) olive oil
1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 celery stalk, in a 1/4-inch dice
1 medium onion, finely diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
8 ounces (225 grams) orzo, a rice-shaped pasta, rinsed
1 teaspoon (6 grams) tomato paste
1 1/2 cups (355 ml) vegetable stock
1 to 3 tablespoons fresh oregano, chopped
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest or more to taste, up to the zest of a whole lemon
4 ounces (115 grams) mozzarella, firmer is better here, cut into 1/3-inch dice
1 1/2 ounces (a generous 1/2 cup or 45 grams) parmesan, grated
3 medium tomatoes, diced

Sprinkle your eggplant generously with salt and let it drain in a colander for 30 minutes. I used this time to get the rest of my ingredients ready. After 30 minutes, rinse it well and pat it dry on towels.

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the oil and once the oil is shimmering, add the eggplant. Fry for 8 minutes, stirring pieces occasionally. Using a slotted spoon or spatula, transfer them to paper towels to drain. Add celery and carrots to remaining oil and cook for 3 minutes before adding onion and garlic. Cook together for 5 more minutes on medium heat. Stir in the orzo and tomato paste and cook for two minutes more. Off the heat, add the oregano, mozzarella, parmesan, tomatoes, fried eggplant, lemon zest, 1 teaspoon table salt, many grinds of black pepper and the stock and mix well.

Transfer mixture to an 8×11-inch (about 2 quarts) ovenproof baking dish. Cover with foil and bake 20 minutes, then bake 20 minutes without the foil. (You can increase the ration of foil-on to foil-off time if you don’t like a crunchy pasta lid.) Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Stir-Fried Eggplant and Ginger With Miso (Nasu no Abura Miso)

From The Oregonian

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons mild miso, such as white miso
• 1 1/2 tablespoons sake (Japanese rice wine)
• 1 pound Japanese eggplants (4 or 5 small)
• 6 tablespoons vegetable oil or light-colored sesame oil (not the toasted variety)
• 2 small dried red chile peppers, torn in half
• 1 tablespoon slivered fresh ginger
• 1 tablespoon finely sliced shiso leaves (see note)

Directions

In a small bowl, muddle the miso with the sake. Slice the eggplant down the middle lengthwise, then diagonally crosswise into slightly less than 1/2-inch slices.

Heat the oil with the dried peppers in a large wok or skillet over medium heat until the peppers turn bright red. Throw in the ginger and eggplant pieces and toss gently for several minutes, until the eggplant slices are shiny and soft. Add the miso-sake mixture, and stir gingerly to evenly coat the slices without smashing or breaking them. Sprinkle in the shiso leaves, toss once, and serve while still blisteringly hot. Makes 6 servings.

Spinach Salad with Grilled Eggplant and Feta

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons chopped marjoram or oregano
• 1 (1 1/4-pounds) eggplant, trimmed and cut into 8 (1-inch-thick) rounds
• 10 ounces baby spinach
• 1 cup crumbled feta (1/4 pound)
• 1/4 cup pine nuts (1 ounce), lightly toasted

Directions

Prepare grill for direct-heat cooking over hot charcoal (high heat for gas); see Grilling Procedure . Whisk together oil, lemon juice, garlic, marjoram, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper in a small bowl.  Brush both sides of eggplant slices with some of dressing. Season with 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Oil grill rack, then grill eggplant, covered only if using a gas grill, turning occasionally, until tender, 12 to 15 minutes total. Cut into pieces. Toss spinach with enough dressing to coat and season with salt and pepper. Add eggplant, feta, and pine nuts and toss again.

·Eggplant can be grilled, in batches if necessary, in a lightly oiled hot grill pan over medium-high heat.

Eggplant and Smoked-Gouda Open-Faced Grilled Sandwiches

Ingredients

• 1 lb tomatoes, finely chopped (2 1/2 cups)
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley [basil would be nice too]
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon white-wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 3/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 (8-oz) piece smoked cheese such as Gouda, mozzarella, or scamorza
• 4 (3/4-inch-thick) slices country-style bread (from an 8-inch round loaf)
• 2 (1-lb) eggplants

Directions

Prepare grill for cooking over direct heat with medium-hot charcoal (moderate heat for gas); see Grilling Procedure.  While grill is heating, stir together tomatoes, parsley, 2 tablespoons oil, vinegar, pepper, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. With a cheese plane or vegetable peeler, shave half of cheese into thin slices (if using mozzarella, thinly slice half of it with a knife) and cover slices with plastic wrap, reserving remaining piece for another use. Brush bread on both sides with 1 tablespoon oil per slice. Trim off top and bottom of each eggplant, then cut 2 (1-inch-thick) slices lengthwise from center of each eggplant, discarding remainder. Brush cut sides with 3 tablespoons oil (total) and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Lightly oil grill rack, then grill eggplant slices (covered only if using a gas grill), loosening with a metal spatula and turning occasionally to avoid over browning, until very tender, 8 to 10 minutes. While eggplant is grilling, grill bread, turning over once, until grill marks form, 1 to 2 minutes total, and transfer to a large platter.  Transfer eggplant to platter, then top evenly with sliced cheese and return to grill and cook, covered for charcoal or gas, without turning, until cheese begins to melt, about 1 minute. Transfer eggplant with spatula to platter. Transfer grilled bread to 4 plates and spoon tomato mixture on top. Drizzle evenly with remaining tablespoon oil and top with eggplant. Season with pepper to taste.

Pesto - Eggplant Dip

Ingredients

• 1 eggplant
• 1 ripe tomato  ( 8oz.)
• 3 - 4 Tbs. olive oil
• 1/2 cup loosely packed basil leaves, washed and dried
• 1 clove garlic 
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/3 cup crumbled feta
• salt and pepper
• 6 toasted pita breads

Directions

Rinse eggplant.  Peel, trim and discard stem end. Rinse and core tomato.  Cut both into 1/2 inch slices. Brush both sides of each slice with the olive oil. Place eggplant and tomato slices in a single layer on two baking sheets.Broil 6 inches from heat, one sheet at a time, turning once until the eggplant is browned on both sides about ten minutes per sheet. In a food processor, whirl basil and garlic until finely chopped. Add eggplant and tomato. Pulse until vegetables are coarsely chopped. Add lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Place in a bowl and garnish with feta.  Serve with pita breads.

Dip can be covered, chilled  and held for one day.