Roasted Eggplant and Carmelized Onion Pasta

Extended Shelf Life for: Eggplant, Onions, Parsley and Basil

Living this semi-freegan/living-in-a-foreign-land-with-random-ingredient has taught me a few tricks, such as nearly anything can be made into a pasta dish ^^

When we ended up with a large supply of eggplants I worked some magic and made a variety of Eggplant dishes such as Eggplant M'saa'a, Chinese Style Eggplant and Potatoes, and a simple Eggplant Tomato Pasta dish. Being completely honest, out of the two pasta dishes (the one I'm about to share and that Eggplant Tomato dish you have a link to), the latter was my preference. Regardless, knowing how to make any random set of ingredients into dinner is a skill that cannot be replaced, so if you happen to have surplus onions and an eggplant lying around, this just might work for you!

Ingredients/Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Prick your eggplant with a fork (to prevent explosions) and place on the oven rack for about 30 minutes until it's tender. Scoop out eggplant pulp and mash with a work, season with olive oil, salt and pepper. While eggplant is roasting, slice one large onion and saute in 2-3 Tbsp. of melted butter. Stir frequently for 15-20 minutes until onions are golden and delicious. Meanwhile, bring water to boil for choice of pasta, I used penne pasta for my dish. Mix onions and eggplant together season with fresh parsley and basil, mix in pasta, serve as is or top with shredded Italian cheeses and bake for 15-20 minutes at 350 until cheese is melty and browned.

Chinese Style Eggplant and Potatoes

Extended Shelf Life: Eggplant, Potato, Bell Pepper, Onion, Jalapeno

While living in South Korea we discovered two things: a) Every nation has a different take on Chinese food and b) Authentic Chinese food, when discovered, is absolutely, friggin' fantastic! While living in Daejeon, we discovered a fantastic little Chinese restaurant which our British friend described as being 'Proper". Within minutes of having our plates set before us we realized that 'Proper Chinese' was the best Chinese. 

So, when a wealth of eggplants landed in my sink, I was quick to remember a tasty eggplant and potato dish and went to searching for a recipe which would bless our taste buds and remind us of a meal, and people, we dearly loved.

Ingredients/Directions:

Original Recipe and inspiration from MiJoRecipes

Heat oil (enough to nearly cover potatoes and eggplants when being fried, you'll definitely need to be adding more throughout the process) over medium heat. When oil is ready (sizzles when sprinkled with water) deep fry the potato until golden and crispy. Next, fry the eggplant until beautifully browned. In a wok, heat 1 Tbsp. Oil, saute the bell pepper and 1 diced Jalapeno until tender. Add the previously fried potatoes and eggplant. In a small dish, mix together 1 1/2 Tbsp. Soy Sauce, 1/2 Tbsp. Sugar, and 2 cloves minced Garlic. Pour over vegetables and heat through until aromatic. Serve over rice and bust out the chopsticks!

For more on Eggplants and other recipe inspiration check out my more detailed and interactive Squidoo Lens: The Art of Salvaging {Eggplant}

Eggplant Tomato Pasta

Extended Shelf Life for: Eggplant, Basil, Onion and Tomatoes

I absolutely LOVE salvaging eggplants, they have quickly become one of my favorite vegetables to experiment with and discover, this dish came together quickly and easily and left both Mike and I feeling quite content and satisfied!

Ingredients/Directions:
 
In a large skillet, heat about 2 Tbsp. Olive Oil over medium-high heat, add 2 Eggplants worth of cubes, saute about 10 minutes until tender. If needed, add additional olive oil. Saute 1/2 of a chopped Onion with eggplant for about 5 minutes, add 2-4 cloves, minced garlic, saute another 2-3 minutes. Add 6 diced Roma Tomatoes to the skillet, reduce heat and cook until tomatoes are tender and break down slightly. Mix the eggplant sauce with the pasta seasoning with salt and pepper and additional olive oil if needed. Tear fresh Basil and sprinkle over pasta mix, top with your choice of Italian cheese, enjoy!

For more on Eggplants and other recipe inspiration check out my more detailed and interactive Squidoo Lens: The Art of Salvaging {Eggplant}

Egyptian M'saa'a

Extended Shelf Life: Eggplant, Pepper, Tomatoes

My first experiences with eggplants came by way of salvaged eggplants. Since those first moments with the spongy, purple veg I've come to love experimenting and playing with eggplant. Searching through my Kindle brought to the surface this delicious eggplant casserole, it is absolutely fantastic and highly recommended!

Ingreidents/Directions:
Inspired by: Nile Style: Egyptian Style Cuisine and Culture by Amy Riolo

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

 Heat 1 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Saute 1 small Onion until translucent, 3-5 minutes. Add 1 diced Anaheim Pepper and 6 cloves minced Garlic and cook until golden and aromatic. Add 3 cups Tomatoes, 1 tsp. ground Coriander, 1 tsp. ground Cumin and salt and pepper to taste. Bring tomato mixture to a boil, cover and reduce heat, simmer for 20 minutes or until thickened.

While the tomato sauce thickens, prepare the eggplant in a large wide skillet with one inch of vegetable oil over medium-high heat. When oil is hot (a drop of water sizzles when flicked into the oil is one way to test the readiness), add the eggplant slices and fry on both sides, about five minutes, until golden and soft. Drain cooked eggplants on a wire rack or plate covered with paper towels.

Once all pieces are ready, it's time to assemble the Ma'saa'a/Lasagna/Casserole. In a 9 inch cake pan, oval casserole dish or square casserole dish simply layer ingredients starting with eggplant, followed by sauce and cheese until all the ingredients are used and the dish is full. Bake uncovered for 20-30 minutes until cheese and sauce bubbles and a crust begins to form around the edges.

Enjoy with rice or crusty bread!

For more on Eggplants and other recipe inspiration check out my more detailed and interactive Squidoo Lens: The Art of Salvaging {Eggplant}

Grilled Hummus and Veggie Wraps and Sauted Spinach Salad

Neither of these recipes takes a rocket scientist. If anything, you need a fridge full of veggies, some tortillas and a food processor is beneficial as well.

If you need to prepare hummus - throw one or two cups of Chickpeas/Garbanzo Beans into a food processor with olive oil, 2-3 cloves Garlic and 1-2 Tbsp. Tahini and let 'em have it.

I have a thing for roasted veggies, so I threw some eggplant, zuchinni and Onions into our oven while I spread the humus and chopped a tomato. Piece it all together as you would a wrap/burrito. If you have some Feta lying around - I'd TOTALLY throw that into the mix. Enjoy once it's a bit crispy on the outside, you'll feel joyful!

As for the Spinach Salad...I had some left over veggies from a pasta dish that had been 'marinating' in olive oil and balsamic vinegar, I ate the 5 pasta noodle left and wanted to toss the veggies with the spinach...but didn't want the veg sinking to the bottom of the salad. Hence, sauteing...throwing the veg and the spinach into a skillet allowed the spinach to share the dressing and 'grab onto' those veggies a little better than if the Spinach weren't sauted. 

Re-Visited: Baba-ganoush Hummus Pasta

I RAVED about this dish just over a year ago.

I was THRILLED to realize that my fridge and cupboards were all happily storing the ingredients needed to make this dish for our friends Kolt and Holly the other night.

I REALLY love chickpeas.

Babaganoush-Hummus Pasta

Extended Shelf Life for: Eggplant, Lemon, and Nut mix

Plentiful eggplants from one diving trip led me to seek out some new and potentially exciting recipes which feature the purple, spongy vegetable that is always delicious fried and extremely delicious when mixed with the ingredients for this pasta dish which can be found in Rachel Ray’s Big Orange Cookbook. I rarely love meals to the point of closing my eyes and allowing an ‘mmm’ to escape my lips followed by proclamations that ‘this is delicious’ and ‘can you believe how amazing this is?’ and ‘wow, I really like this.’ I tend to take a more critical and humble approach the food that comes from my kitchen, but not on the night of this delicious pasta dish.


Ingredients:

1 lb. Whole Wheat Penne
1/4 cup Olive Oil
4 Garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
1 (15 oz) can Chickpeas
1 med. Eggplant, peeled and chopped
2 tsps. Ground Cumin
2 tsps. Ground Coriander
Black Pepper
1 cup Broth
1/4 cup Tahini paste
Juice of 1 Lemon
1/2 cup fresh Parsley
1/4 cup pine nuts or soy nuts mixed with sunflower seeds

Directions:

Bring large pot of water to boil and prepare the pasta according to package directions. Be prepared to save 1 ladle-full of pasta water before draining pasta.

While boiling water, heat the olive oil in a deep skillet or wok. Add garlic and red papper, cook for 1-2 minutes, then add the chickpeas and eggplant and stir to cover with the garlicky oil. Season this mix with cumin, coriander, salt and pepper, then stir in stock (or the liquid from the chickpeas). Cover and cook for 10 minutes until the eggpland is tender. Stir in the tahini paste and lemon juice and transfer to blender or food processor. Process the chickpea and eggplant mixture until almost smooth then transfer back into skillet.

Drain pasta, reserve one ladle of liquid. Add pasta water to chickpea sauce, then add the pasta and toss with the sauce. Top with parsley and pine nuts and ENJOY!

Curry Eggplant and Pumpkin Fritters

Extended Life for: Eggplant, Pumpkin, Onion, RadishA while back I made an abundance of Curried Eggplant. The dish was good on it's own, however it held too much heat for me to enjoy it on it's own. Therefore, it went into the freezer with my intentions to discover a better use for this spicy eggplant dish. Not a month later, I received my favorite magazine, Vegetarian Times which was showcasing veggie patties...my inspiration for this creation. I recognize you may not have leftover ingredients to put into these patties, therefore, I'll attempt to suggest alternatives...


Ingredients:

3 large Eggs
4 cups mashed Curried Eggplant
(I used a food chopper, a food processor would work as well, if you don't have frozen curried eggplant, just roast some eggplant, season with curry and jalapeno and let me know how it turns out!)
1/2 cup Bread Crumbs
2 shakes of Curry Powder (unless your eggplant wasn't already curried...)
2 spoonfuls of Curry Pumpkin soup should you happen to have some on hand, otherwise, omit
1/2 cup Onion, diced
1/2 cup Radish, diced
1/2 cup celery, diced
1/4 cup Mango Chutney
2-3 cups prepared Rice

Directions:

Whisk eggs. Mix in following seven ingredients. Drop by spoonful onto hot griddle, cooke on each side for 4-5 minutes or until crisp and brown. Serve veggie patties on top of prepared rice and Mango Chutney. Enjoy!

"Easiest Eggplant" with "Fresh" Marinara

Extended Life for: Eggplant, Tomatoes and Mushroom

A recent abundance of eggplant has provided a great opportunity to experiment with this great veggie. However, this recipe for "Easiest Eggplant" is one of my favorites: http://http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Easiest-Eggplant/Detail.aspx. This round, I teamed it with a home-made marinara using some tomatoes I had boiled, skinned and froze as well as as some scavenged mushrooms.

Ingredients:

One recipe Easiest Eggplant (eggplant, mayonnaise, bread crumbs)

Linguine or Spaghetti Noodles.

2 cups diced Tomatoes

2 cans Tomato Sauce

4-5 white Mushrooms; chopped

1 small Onion

2 Garlic cloves; minced

Shakes of the following:

Salt

Pepper

Basil

Oregano

Italian Seasoning

Directions:

Prepare noodles and eggplant as directed on package and at allrecipes.com respectively. Saute mushroom, onion and garlic in olive oil for 5-6 minutes. Add tomatoes and tomato sauce. Bring to boil, reduce heat and add seasonings to taste. Simmer 10-15 minutes or until rest of meal is ready. Serve eggplant on bed of noodles with marinara and parmesan cheese. Find satisfaction.

Grilled Eggplant

Extended Life for: Eggplant

Ingredients:

2 large Eggplant; peeled and salted if preferred

Cooking spray - Olive Oil

2 Tbsp. Parmesan Cheese

1 Tbsp. Italian Seasoning

Directions:

Preheat an indoor grill. Spray grill with Olive Oil. Season Eggplant with parmesan and Italian seasoning. Grill 10-15 minutes until grill marks are visible. Serve with dumpster coleslaw or other greens and couscous. Enjoy!

(Also recommend serving these eggplant slices with marinara as a low-fat version of eggplant parmesan - delish!)

Roasted Eggplant Lasagna

Extended Life for: Eggplant, Tomatoes and Hummus

If you're ever searching for some great vegetarian options or a way to use vegetables that you're not so familiar with, check out http://www.vegetariantimes.com/ or subscribe to the magazine, it's definitely worth the investment! This recipe was adapted from the recipe posted on their website, but of course, includes a few substitutions and additions as certain ingredients were present in my home and were needing to be cooked quickly! I doubled this recipe (the ingredients that follow are to prepare as doubled) as well and ended up putting the two 8x8 lasagna's in the freezer for a future night when I want something home-made but lack the energy to be the one making it!

Ingredients:

3 medium Eggplant, bite-size chunks

8 Tomatoes, halved

Basil

18 oz. Spinach or Swiss Chard, steamed

1.5 cups Mozzarella

1.5 cups Ricotta Cheese

1/2 cup Hummus, flavor of choice

1 cup Grated Parmesan and Asiago Mix

12 no-boil Lasagna noodles

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Prepare two roasting pans and two 8x8 or 9x9 square baking dishes with cooking spray. Place eggplant in one roasting pan - sprinkle with salt and pepper, place tomatoes in the other roasting pan. Roast both vegetables until tender, about 30-40 minutes. While roasting, toss eggplant occassionally. When veggies are finished roasting, remove from oven, let tomatoes cool slighty then remove skins. Reserve 1/2 cup tomato juice, add the rest of juice, plus tomatoe halves, eggplant and basil to large bowl to mix and break apart tomatoes. Reduce oven temperature to 375 (if you plan to bake them that day, otherwise turn oven off). Steam spinach or chard 4-6 minutes, set aside to cool, then chop. In another large bowl, mix mozarella, ricotta, half of parm./asiago mix and hummus together. Now, begin layering the lasagna: noodles (2), 1/4 eggplant/tomatoe mix, 1/4 cheese mix, 1/4 spinach or chard, repeat. Do the same in other baking dish. Final layer: noodles (2) 1/4 cup reserved tomatoe juice, 1/2 of remaining parm/asiago cheese mix.
We have not yet enjoyed this dish, so I can't yet rave about the flavors, if you get to eating it before us, let us know how it turned out!

Curried Eggplant

Extended Life for: Eggplant, Jalapenos, and Cilantro

Ingredients:

A few Tbs. olive oil

2 Eggplant, diced

2 seeded Jalapenos

2 gloves Garlic, minced

1/4 bunch of Cilantro (or to taste)

1 can of diced Tomatoes, plus juice

1/2 tsp. Cumin Seeds

To taste:

Curry Powder

Chili Powder

Salt

Turmeric

Directions:

(If you would like to "sweat" and peel the eggplant, go ahead! It helps with flavor, but takes time, so you choose what is important for this meal on this night.)

Heat oil in a large skillet or wok. Add cumin seeds and cumin, heat until aromatic. Saute garlic and jalapeno. Add eggplant, saute about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and cook covered for 30-40 minutes, adding water if necessary, achieving a stew-like consistency. Serve with cilantro sprinkled on top over noodles (we used ramen, because we are classy) and of course, enjoy!