Roasted Eggplant with Fontina, and more

1 eggplant
olive oil
salt
pepper
homemade spaghetti sauce
whole wheat angel hair
fontina
madrigal baby swiss
some kind of stinky cheese that began with the letter R

Preheat oven to 400.

Slice eggplant into 1/4 inch thick pieces. Lay on paper towels and lightly salt. Allow to sweat for about 30 minutes. Remove paper towels and rinse.

Lightly oil eggplant slices and place in baking dish. Bake for about 10 minutes, flip over, and bake another 10 minutes, or until slightly browned. Remove from oven.

Grate cheeses. Pour a layer of sauce into a baking dish, place eggplant slices on top and season with pepper. Cover with a layer of cheese and then another layer of sauce. Repeat with next slices of eggplant, cheese, and top with remaining sauce. Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes, until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbling. Serve over cooked angel hair pasta.

The second night, we added sauted spinach to the eggplant and sauce mixture. Delicious!

Carrot, Ginger, Pumpkin, White Bean Soup

1 onion, diced
5 carrots, sliced
1/2 can leftover pumpkin
2 fennel fronds (or celery)
1 tsp cumin
1.5-2 tbls grated (fresh) ginger
cayenne, salt and pepper
1 can white beans
3 tbls vegetarian chicken stock powder (or bouillon cubes)
water to cover (2-3 cups)

saute onion in olive oil until translucent. add ginger, carrots, fennel and spices. cook 2-3 minutes. add water to cover, bring to a boil and stir in stock or bouillon until dissolved. add in beans and stir. cover and reduce heat to simmer. cook about 30 minutes, or until carrots are soft.

optional: you can puree the soup before adding the beans with your immersion blender!

original recipe here.

New Year's Eve Vegetable Baklava

Adapted from Epicurious.

• 1/2 cup toasted walnuts (2 ounces)
  
• 1/4 cup matzah meal
  
• 1.25 pound Yukon Gold potatoes
• 2 medium fennel bulbs, trimmed, reserving fronds, bulbs halved and sliced lengthwise 1/4 inch thick
• 1/2 pound parsnips (3 medium), sliced diagonally 1/3 inch thick
• 1/3 pound carrots (3 medium), sliced diagonally 1/3 inch thick
• 1 large onion, halved and sliced
• 3/4 cup olive oil, divided
• 2/3 cup water
• 1-2 tbl. dill
• 8 (17-by 12-inch) phyllo sheets, thawed if frozen

Preheat oven to 425°F with racks in upper and lower thirds.

Crush walnuts and fry lightly in a pan, until toasted. Mix with matzah meal. (I'd leave this out in the future).

Slice potatoes 1/4 inch thick. Divide all vegetables between 2 large 4-sided sheet pans and toss each pan of vegetables with 3 tablespoons oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.

Roast vegetables, stirring and switching position of pans halfway through, until softened and golden brown in spots, 35 to 40 minutes. Leave oven on with 1 rack in middle.

Add 1/3 cup water to each pan of vegetables and stir and scrape up brown bits from bottom. Chop 1/4 cup fennel fronds. Combine all vegetables in 1 pan and toss with fennel fronds and dill.

Brush baking dish with some of remaining olive oil. Cover stack of phyllo sheets with plastic wrap and a damp kitchen towel. Keeping remaining phyllo covered and working quickly, place 1 sheet on a work surface, then gently brush with some oil and sprinkle with 2 rounded tablespoon walnut mixture. Place another phyllo sheet on top and repeat brushing and sprinkling. Top with a third sheet and brush with oil.

Drape phyllo stack into one half of baking dish, gently pressing it into bottom and up side and leaving an overhang. Make another stack with 3 more phyllo sheets, more oil, and remaining walnut mixture. Drape into other half of dish (phyllo will overlap in center of dish).

Spoon vegetables into phyllo shell. Fold overhang toward center over filling (it will not cover vegetables) and brush edge with oil. Brush remaining 2 sheets of phyllo with remaining oil, tear in half, crumple, and arrange on top of filling.

Bake in middle of oven until phyllo is deep golden brown, 15- 20 minutes. Cool 5 minutes before serving.

This was HUGE. When we couldn't finish it after a few days, we pulled out the vegetables and made a soup by adding beans, tahini, canned tomatoes and more dill.

Weekend French Toast

6 slices Old apple-cinnamon bread from the freezer
1 egg
1 tsp. turbinado sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup rice milk
dash of cayenne (oops)

Mix eggs, rice milk and spices in a pyrex dish. Soak bread on both sides, then fry until golden in a lightly buttered pan (about medium heat). Serve with honey.

Jalapeno Corn Cornbread

Adapted from here

1 cup yellow corn meal
2 tsp. baking powder
1/3 tsp. baking soda
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup canned jalapeno peppers, minced
1/2 cup frozen sweet corn
1/3 cup sorghum
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup rice milk
1 slice of lime, squeezed
1 (generous) Tbsp. lemon juice (the yogurt and juice mixture was a substitute for buttermilk)
1 egg

Preheat oven to 400° F. Combine the flour, corn meal, baking powder and baking soda. Mix very well. In another bowl, combine the oil, sorghum, yogurt/juice and egg. Whisk for 2 minutes. Pour the liquid into the dry ingredients and stir until combined. Bake in a greased bread pan until the top is lightly golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

We served this with chili!