Eggplant Sandwiches

I am SO far behind with this blog. We have had so much delicious food lately (think pan-fried fish with squash salsa and salad greens, angel hair pasta with tomato and basil...) that I haven't had time or energy to blog about. (And some of it, no pictures.)

Before I talk about all that though, I have a book recommendation. 

(source here)

Warning: this book may very well change your life. It might also make you cry, laugh, and possibly both at the same time. It might make your heart swell so much you think it'll burst. It might make you want to go to Italy so bad you can taste it. You may, after reading this book, find yourself tearing up over oranges at the grocery store, understanding fully what you're doing by buying oranges from California when you live in Alabama, but not knowing what else to do at this point. You may, after reading this book, go completely insane and want to buy a farm.

All of the above? Yep. That's me.

Luckily, I can assuage some of my orange-guilt soon, because we're going to start subscribing to a local CSA (community-supported agriculture) called GrowAlabama. It makes my heart happy. We will get a box of fruits and veggies every week, all grown locally and organically, for about the same price as I pay for a weeks' worth of (not-organic, not-local) veggies at my nearby grocery store. Plus, farm eggs!!! So exciting.

Anyway, onto the food. How appropriate, after talking about CSA, that my recipe comes from the Real Simple article about Farmer's Market recipes. I know some of you have made this, and some of you have actually blogged about it, but I wanted to make it as well. And blog about it. Mainly because it's just so darn pretty. 

(Yes, I am one of THOSE people. The people who think vegetables are some of the most beautiful things on God's green earth. The people who love to shop for these healthy treats, because they're not only yummy, but aesthetically pleasing as well.)

Without further ado:

Eggplant Sandwiches:

First, you want to find a really pretty eggplant. (Or an ugly one, even.) Slice it into 8 slices.

Like so.

Then measure into 3 bowls 1/2 c. flour, 2 beaten large eggs, and a cup of Panko bread crumbs. You're gonna dip those eggplant slices into the flour first, and coat them really well, then go to the egg, and let it drip a bit, and then the breadcrumbs, mashing them gently so they'll stick.

(my bowls, post-dipping)

And then, into a frying pan they go! You'll use 1/4 c. canola oil for the first four...

...then when they get all nice and brown...

...put them on a paper towel, and wipe out the pan, and do the same thing with another 1/4 c. canola oil and the other four eggplant slices.

Salt the eggplant while it's still hot, and then you can make them into sandwiches. The recipe suggests using 2 eggplant slices as your "bun," and layering tomato slices, roamine lettuce, goat cheese, and basil in between. We didn't have any romaine, so I used spinach. And I figure any sort of cheese would be pretty awesome, even though we did use the goat cheese it called for. They were so yummy, and a great vegetarian dish!

(I really do eat meat. I know it doesn't look like it, but I do. I just have happened to have some really, really awesome meatless recipes lately!)

And there you have it. The sandwich in all its glory.

Now, is that pretty, or what??

(P.S. Check back tomorrow morning for a pictureless-but-AMAZING recipe from Mrs. Ina Garten!)

Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

The other day, I channeled Ina Garten to make this yummy, yummy lunch. I love that woman. Her food is beautiful, and real, and simple, and good. And her speaking voice is very soothing. I always like voices that sound like they would be good at reading bedtime stories. Hers is one of them. I loved watching her show (back when we had cable TV...)

Anyway, I made this for Mark and myself for lunch this past week (we ate on it for about 3 days), and it was utterly delightful. Here's how:

Start with all of these lovely ingredients:

Put the pasta on to boil per the package instructions, and begin chopping some tomatoes

(Isn't that the prettiest thing you might have ever seen?)

When the tomatoes are chopped, cut up some fresh mozzarella in bite-size pieces.

(Be still, my heart.)

Then, when the pasta's done, drain all the liquid out of it. Run some cold water over it to help it cool off.

And put it in a big bowl

Then add the tomatoes and the cheese that you just cut up.

(Yummmmm.)

Then, get a jar of sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, take out about 6 of 'em, and pat the oil off (mostly.)

Then chop them up, and put them in the bowl too, and stir it all up together.

Then you'll need a food processor for the dressing. It really helps if you have a food processor instead of a blender, like I have, because then everything won't get wedged in the very bottom and you spend about 5 minutes trying to scrape it out with a spatula. Just sayin'. 

I sadly don't have any pictures of the dressing process, because I was in a super-crazy hurry and it was about 7:30 in the morning, and I was trying to make muffins at the same time, and the pictures just never got taken. You can just refer to the recipe I'll be posting below in a minute for that part.

After you do the dressing, pour it over the pasta, and stir THAT up really well.

(Hello, gorgeous.)

Then, it can sit in the fridge for a while ... ours lasted a good 3 days (at which point it was all eaten up, so I don't know how much longer it would've lasted after that.)

When you're ready to eat it, I just snipped off a basil leaf or two from my basil plant, tore it up, stirred it in, and grated parmesan cheese over the top. But you can do it however you want.

Voila!

And now, the actual recipe from Mrs. Ina Garten herself. (Have I said that I love that woman?)

Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

1/2 lb. fusilli (spirals) pasta

kosher salt

olive oil

1 lb. ripe tomatoes, medium-diced

3/4 c. good black olives (such as kalamata) pitted and diced (I omitted these, cause I'm not an olive fan)

1 lb. fresh mozzarella, medium-diced

6 sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, chopped and drained

For the Dressing:

5 sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, drained

2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

6 Tbsp. good olive oil

1 garlic clove, diced

1 tsp. capers, drained

2 tsp. kosher salt

3/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 c. packed basil leaves, julienned

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water with a splash of oil to keep it from sticking together. Boil for 12 minutes, or according to the directions on the package. Drain well and allow to cool. Place the pasta in a bowl and add the tomatoes, olives, mozzarella, and chopped sun-dried tomatoes.

For the dressing, combine the sun-dried tomatoes, vinegar, olive oil, garlic, capers, salt, and pepper in a food processor until almost smooth.

Pour the dressing over the pasta, sprinkle with the Parmesan and basil, and toss well.

And there you go. It's super easy (especially if you have a food processor instead of a blender!) and super tasty. My husband raved about it - he asked if we could eat it all the time. Always a good sign :) Enjoy!!