Grilled Eggplant and Goat Cheese Salad

I love summer. Not only for the abundance of deliciously ripe local produce and pleasant temperatures, but also for the light. The light that streams in through our living room windows until 7 or 8 at night at the height of summer. Pictures like these just don’t happen in December. Sucks, but its true. Our giant windows are all but useless after the clocks change. I treasure the summer light, and as the sun sets earlier and earlier, we slowly start cooking earlier and earlier to continue to catch the last breath of light at dinnertime, but I know it won’t last. And it makes me sad. Because no matter what I do, the track lights in our kitchen just don’t cut it. No tripod, no steady hand, no amount of photoshopping can fake this kind of light. But you know what? It’s ok, we’re not going to cook less just because it gets dark sooner. Because that would be silly. And not fair to all of you.

Continuing our exploration into the world of eggplant varieties… as we were perusing the farmers’ market this last week I picked up another variety of eggplant, but this time was lucky enough to find out exactly what it was called. Similar to the sicilian-ish (dark purple tomato-looking) fruit from the eggplant experiment, this one was slightly larger and had white streaks (and silly me got so excited to cook with it I forgot to photograph it until after the fact). This particular eggplant was called a Pomerosa, a variety of Heirloom eggplant (which I wasn’t even aware existed!). And like our previous experiment, the texture was more firm than your typical eggplant, which made it perfect for this dish.

I consider us pretty healthy eaters. We don’t eat a ton of meat (maybe once a week, twice at the most). And ok, aside from the baked goods that are always plentiful, our dinners tend to skew towards the healthier side of things. But that doesn’t stop Taylor from craving burgers and sausages and greasy pizza. And when dinner time rolls around, and I tell him what we’re cooking, he sours as the thought of eggplant and pine nuts. Sounds like hippie food. Of course, until I told him it was a Giada recipe… well, that changed his opinion of things quite quickly. That’s ok, I won’t take it personally that he has a thing for Giada, so long as she keeps coming up with delicious recipes like this one. Because I agree, it is hard to make eggplant as deliciously satisfying as, say, a cheeseburger, but somehow she manages to do it with this one.

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Grilled Eggplant and Goat Cheese Salad

Makes 4-6 servings. Recipe from Food Network.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive oil
7 Japanese eggplant, ends trimmed, cut into 1-inch wide slices
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
3 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
1/3 cup basil, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons chopped mint
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Place a grill pan or heavy skillet over medium-high heat or preheat a gas or charcoal grill. Drizzle the olive oil over the slices of eggplant and toss to coat. Grill the eggplants until tender and grill marks appear, about 3 to 4 minutes per side.

Place the eggplants side-by-side on a serving platter. Sprinkle with the pine nuts, goat cheese, basil, and mint. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper.

The Summer Squash Experiment

With the huge success of the eggplant experiment (was it? did we really learn anything except that eggplant all tastes kind of the same? either way, it was still fun), we decided to test our tastebuds on another summer favorite: squash. Zucchini we all know. Yellow squash maybe too. But have you ever had a pattypan? Neither had we.

Lucky for all of us, squash are a bit easier to identify than eggplants. In the image above, clockwise from top left: zucchini, globe/eight-ball, yellow crookneck, sunburst, yellow globe/one-ball, pattypan (center).

As our test recipe, we used a delicious and superbly simple recipe that originally called for zucchini. We had made it the week before, and the quick prep and fresh flavor made it a perfect recipe to bring out the subtleties (or lack thereof) in the different varieties of squash.

Once again, we used drawings of the respective squashes to tell them apart, as once they were cut you couldn’t tell the Sunburst from the One-Ball even if you tried. The post-its stayed with the squash from the time it was cut, to the pan, to when it was served on the plate.

It was a lot of squash for two people to eat (we had leftovers). Varieties clockwise from top left: pattypan, eight-ball, one-ball, yellow crookneck, sunburst, zucchini (center).

The winner? Surprisingly enough, it was what the recipe originally called for, zucchini. It had the freshest and mildest flavor of the lot, allowing the essence of the almonds, olive oil, salt and pepper to shine through. (We added the cheese after the official tasting, as we thought it would overpower any flavor subtleties in the squash).

The one ball and sunburst squashes were surprisingly rich – you would have thought they were cooked in butter and not olive oil. The yellow crookneck had an almost fruity taste to it, and was probably our second favorite. All three were significantly nutty (though whether that was just the almonds speaking, I can’t say). Poor Mr. Pattypan, though, just felt a bit out of place, with a harder (almost applelike?) texture, it was probably our least favorite. But unlike the eggplant experiment, with the squash, we could really taste differences between the different varieties. And while, for this particular recipe, the zucchini may have prevailed, that’s not to say the others don’t have their own delicious uses just waiting to be discovered. Just another reason to make the most of summer squash while it’s still around.

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Quick Sauté of Zucchini with Toasted Almonds and Pecorino

Makes 2 side servings. Recipe from The Red Cat Cookbook, via Kitchenography.

Ingredients:

2 small zucchini
2 tablespoons sliced almonds
Salt & pepper, to taste
2oz freshly shaved Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Cut the zucchini lengthwise into thin (1/8") slices, then cut crosswise into matchsticks. You should have around 2 1/2 cups.

Heat the oil over medium heat, then add the almonds and cook until they are barely golden (about 30 seconds). Add zucchini, and cook for about 30 seconds. Season with salt and pepper, saute for another 30 seconds or so. As soon as they begin to give off moisture, they're done. Remove from heat. (Note: If you want to do this for more than two servings, cook the batches separately, if you pile too much zucchini in your pan you'll end up steaming it rather than sauteing it.)

Divide between two plates, sprinkle with cheese, and serve immediately.

Crispy Tofu, Strawberry, & Mango Salad

This recipe was an attempt to duplicate an absolutely delicious salad I had while back home in Colorado. And I have to say, this salad would win over the tofu haters (yes, all of you). By using soft tofu (and we may even try silken tofu next time), and lightly dredging in rice flour before quickly frying, the tofu practically melts in your mouth.

I have no idea what the restaurant used for their dressing, in fact I don’t really even remember what the dressing tasted like (the tofu really stole the show). So, I whipped up a sweet orange ginger dressing that is light, yet still just tangy enough to tie the whole dish together.

I’ll have some more, please!

(PS: check out the new “Share” button added to the bottom of every post. You can now easily share posts, email a recipe to a friend, post a recipe to your social networking account, or bookmark the site through any popular bookmarking tool. Pretty cool!!)

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Crispy Tofu, Strawberry, & Mango Salad

Makes 2-3 servings.

Ingredients:

1 lb. soft tofu, cut into 1/2 thick triangles
1/2 cup rice flour
vegetable oil

1 ripe mango, cubed
1 cup strawberries, sliced
3 oz. baby spinach

Dressing:
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
2 tablespoons honey

Directions:

Prepare dressing by whisking all ingredients together in a small bowl. Set aside.

Pat tofu dry, and dredge in rice flour. Tap off excess.

Heat vegetable oil in heavy saucepan over medium low heat. You want the oil to come approximately 1/2" up the side of the pan (you'll be flipping the tofu pieces, so it doesn't need to completely cover them). Prepare a landing pad for fried tofu (baking rack set over a cookie sheet lined with paper towels).

Fry tofu 4 pieces at a time for approximately 3-4 minutes per side, or until crisp and very lightly golden. Don't crowd the pan, you don't want your tofu pieces touching each other. Remove with slotted spoon and place on baking rack to drain. Repeat with remaining tofu pieces.

Toss spinach with 1/2 of dressing and arrange on plates. Top with fruit pieces and tofu and serve.

Bake Me a Cake.

Cue sugar craving.

I want to bake a cake. I NEED to bake a cake. A full on, 3 layer, fondant covered masterpiece.

I have some fondant leftover from my cupcake topper experiments and I want to use it up before it goes south. I’ve never done a fondant covered cake before, so why not now?

So, I’m asking you, dear readers, to share. What is your favorite layer cake recipe? Post it (or a link) here. I’ll pick the one that sounds the most delectable and put it to the test over the long weekend. And I’m sure Taylor will more than oblige to help me eat it. All of it. :)

Ready, GO!