Roasted Fennel, Red Pepper, and Eggplant - details

This turned out even more delicious than I hoped. Here's what I did:

1 large eggplant, peeled and cubed
2 medium red bell peppers, in chunks
1/2 large fennel bulb (or 1 medium bulb), in chunks
whole cloves from 2 heads of garlic, peeled
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil and parsley

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Toss all ingredients in a 9x13-inch pan. Roast for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender.

I served this over a risotto made with a little more basil and parsley and some Parmesan. Super-delicious. It would probably also be good with pasta, especially if some tomatoes were added to the roasting mix. In that case, I think I would use a larger quantity of herbs.

And the good news with the fennel was that that bulb I got from The Kitchen Garden was so big that I have plenty of leftovers for another meal. Yum!

Of the other ingredients, the eggplant, garlic, and herbs came from my garden and the red peppers came from Fairweather Farm.

Roasted Fennel, Red Pepper, and Eggplant

This weekend at the farmers market I bought a huge, gorgeous fennel bulb from the Kitchen Garden, and I've been weighing all the possible uses for it since then. I think I've settled on this for a plan: I'll slice it up and roast it with chunks of red pepper, cubed eggplant, and whole garlic cloves, tossed with olive oil and salt and pepper. I think it probably wants some sort of herb, but I haven't decided what yet. If I'm feeling ambitious, I'll make risotto to go with the vegetables.

One of my other favorite things to do with fennel is to make pasta with fresh tomatoes, fennel, garlic, basil, and sweet Italian sausage.

Mediterranean Eggplant and Tomato Stew

This is what I'm going to make for dinner tonight--yet another way to use lots of fresh eggplant and tomatoes, which I am enjoying while they last... Especially appealing now as the weather gets cooler.

1/4 cup olive oil
6-8 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped
2 medium eggplants, cubed
4-5 cups seeded and chopped tomatoes
3-4 cups cooked red beans (2 14-oz cans)
Dash of allspice
Dash of cayenne
2-3 tsp minced fresh sage
2 tsp minced fresh oregano
3/4 cup chopped fresh parsley or 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste
Crumbled feta for topping

Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven or soup pot. Add the garlic and onion and saute 2-3 minutes. Add the eggplant cook, stirring occasionally, until the eggplant is tender. Add the tomatoes, beans, allspice, and cayenne, and simmer until vegetables are all very soft. Add the remaining ingredients and cook until the parsley or cilantro is wilted. Serve hot, topped with crumbled feta.

Serves about 4.

Fall arrived while we were gone

Well, we are back from vacation, a wonderful ten days with friends out in California. While we were gone, Fall settled in for good. Nights are getting pretty cold, though days are still lovely. The tomatoes in the garden are definitely winding down, though nearly everything else is still going strong. The eggplant plants are as tall as I am and producing beautifully. I wish I knew of a good way to preserve eggplant, but I don't (if anyone does, please tell me about it!), so we'll be eating a lot of it over the next few weeks. The peppers are finally ripening up, but a bunch have rotted as well. I think next year we will look a little harder for cool-tolerant, early ripening varieties and see if they do any better.

Now that we are back, I need to turn my focus back to putting up what I can from the garden. The kale will keep producing happily (I hope!) into November or December, but there is so much of it that I want to freeze some for use through the rest of the winter, too. One of our winter staples is potato soup with kale. I need to make pesto with all the basil that is going to flower. A bunch of it is Thai basil, so I think I'll experiment a bit with that--maybe a pesto with lime juice and hot pepper. Parsley needs to be chopped and frozen as well (it freezes beautifully with no treatment), and some also made into pesto with mint, feta and walnuts. Carrots to be blanched and frozen. So much to do...but it's fun, if I can just find the time.

Going on vacation

I'll be gone 9/12 - 9/22. Posts will resume after I return! Happy eating in the meantime.

Black Bean Soup

A spicy soup with Southwestern flair. The weather has abruptly turned cooler, making soup more appealing. We had this for dinner last night, with tomatoes, bell peppers, hot pepper, chives, and cilantro from the garden. Onions from Crabapple Farm. Corn from Schmidt's that I froze a little while ago. If you have time to cook dried beans, they are definitely better, but I have to confess I usually use canned ones. With the new freezer, though, I have ambitions of cooking up large batches of beans and freezing small containers of them for use in recipes like this one. This soup is best with all the optional ingredients, but still pretty tasty without them.

I've been freezing most of the ingredients in this soup, so I'll be enjoying it again in the winter.

Olive oil
6-8 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, diced
1 Tbsp ground cumin
5-6 cups cooked black beans (3 15-oz cans, drained and rinsed)
2 medium bell peppers (preferably ripe), diced
3 cups chopped tomatoes (seeded)
1 1/2 cups corn
1-2 chili peppers, seeded and minced
1-2 veggie bouillon cubes (optional)
1-2 Tbsp lime juice (optional)
1/4 cup chopped chives (optional)
1/4 - 1/2 cup chopped cilantro (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a large pot. Add garlic and onion and saute for 2-3 minutes. Stir in ground cumin. Add black beans, peppers, tomatoes, corn, and chili peppers, bouillon cubes if using, and enough water to generously cover. Bring to a boil, then simmer until vegetables are tender. Add lime juice, chives, cilantro if using, and salt and pepper. Serve.

Serves 4-6.

Eggplant Parmesan Casserole

Our garden is cranking out eggplants of several varieties, so here is what I did with several long skinny ones last night, along with some more of the basil. You could also substitute zucchini or summer squash for some of the eggplant if desired. The breadcrumbs on top are nice, but you can skip them and just put more mozzarella on top if you like. This dish is much less elegant than real eggplant Parmesan, but it's also much less work.

1/4 cup olive oil (3 Tbsp + 1 Tbsp)
6-8 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, diced
1-2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes or cayenne (optional)
1 tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 large eggplant, peeled, quartered, and cut in 1/4-inch slices
1 - 1 1/2 cups chopped fresh basil
2 cups good quality tomato sauce
4 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 - 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs (optional)

Preheat the oven to 425°.

Set aside about 2 tsp of the minced garlic if you plan to use the breadcrumbs. Heat 3 Tbsp of the olive oil in a large skillet, then sauté the remaining garlic and the onion for about 2 minutes over medium-high heat. Stir in the oregano, red pepper flakes or cayenne (if using), salt, and pepper and sauté for an additional 30 seconds or so. Add the eggplant to the skillet and sauté over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until tender but not mushy, about 6-8 minutes. Stir in the basil and cook just until wilted. Remove eggplant mixture from heat.

If you are using the breadcrumbs, heat the remaining 1 Tbsp of olive oil in a small skillet. Add the remaining 2 tsp of minced garlic and sauté for about 1 minute. Add the breadcrumbs and sauté over high heat until they are crisp, about 3-4 minutes. Set aside.

In the bottom of a 1 1/2- or 2-quart casserole dish, spread 1 cup of the tomato sauce. For the next layer, spread half of the eggplant mixture. Top the eggplant with all of the shredded mozzarella and Parmesan (if using). Spread the remaining eggplant mixture over the cheese. Press down gently on the eggplant to compact the casserole somewhat. Top the second layer of eggplant with the remaining 1 cup of the tomato sauce. Spread the breadcrumbs over the tomato sauce.

Bake the casserole for about 15 minutes. Serve hot.

Serves 4-6.