Eat Well: WWW says, "Eat your veggies!"

When Rebecca was twelve, she burst into the house after school one day and announced dramatically that she would “Never eat meat again!!” I wasn’t all that surprised, really. She had been an animal lover since she was small, secretly rescuing snails I had bagged and thrown into the garbage and placing them back onto my plants. This fateful day, however, her Foods teacher had shown the class a movie called “Diet for a New America,” the first movie to my knowledge that exposed the atrocities of the Factory Farm, or the CAFOs (Confined Animal Feeding Operations) as they are called by the government. She told me in graphic detail what she had learned but I put my fingers in my ears and didn’t want to hear the message. Although my most beloved cookbook was Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen, the cult vegetarian cookbook of the 70’s, I still thought of meat as the main course and would plan my meals around what meat or fish I had bought for the night. I accepted and supported Rebecca’s decision, but I wasn’t going to make the same choice for the rest of the family. I also reasoned that the meat from the factory farms must be the really cheap meat, the fifty-nine cents a pound chickens and inferior grades of meat. I had driven across the country and had seen cattle grazing so I falsely assumed that those cattle were the ones WE were eating. Little did I know that those cows, too, were destined for the factory farm.

My decision to stop eating meat a couple of years ago was based on several simultaneous occurrences. An undiagnosed auto-immune condition lead me to several doctors of alternative medicine, and although they had different remedies, the one constant in their prescribed therapies was their recommendation to cut down or discontinue meat and dairy consumption. At the same time I was trudging from doctor to doctor, I read The Omnivore’s Dilemma and then The China Study. Between Michael Pollen’s descriptions of The Factory Farm and T Collin Campbell’s overwhelming evidence that animal protein acts as fertilizer for Western diseases, something clicked in my brain and I no longer could eat meat. This was a huge life change for me, especially since my favorite two foods since I had been little were lamb chops and rare roast beef. Larry sweetly decided to join me in my new diet as he had never particularly loved eating meat, anyway--but mostly, because he's the most supportive husband a girl could ever have. I jumped into our new life with a mixture of excitement and fear and over the past two years have developed a philosophy about how to enjoy, and prefer, a meatless existence, especially as a carnivore. (For those of you who eat meat and dairy but are looking for humanely raised sources, I suggest this website.)

I hope these tips will be helpful to those of you who might be thinking of taking the plunge into the wonderful world of a meatless diet:

1. Be authentic: Let the vegetables and whole grains take center stage and resist using processed meat or dairy substitutes. These pretenders don’t taste good and are highly processed. Vegetables, beans and grains, when cooked correctly, are amazing in their own right. Learn how to cook them so they shine!

2. Eat from the rainbow: By this I mean all different colors and types of vegetables, grains and beans, trying new ones and serving several at each meal. We don’t need protein, we need amino acids (the building blocks of protein) and by eating many different whole foods, you get all the amino acids you need to build your proteins. It is actually more efficient to make protein this way…when you eat meat, your body has to break down the protein into its individual amino acids in order to digest them. That’s why you get sleepy after a big meat-laden dinner!! I like belonging to a CSA--community supported agriculture--where you get a box of vegetables every week from a local farm. Many people don’t like the idea of getting a random box of vegetables because you don’t know what you are getting from week to week, but this is the very reason I love my CSA—I am forced to try new vegetables and stimulates me to be a more creative cook. (I will talk more about this in a future post).

3. Don’t replace meat with carbs. Instead, cook more vegetables and serve carbs as a side dish.

4. Go through your cookbooks that you already have and mark which recipes work for you or that can be modified.

5. Buy a couple of great vegetarian cookbooks. Two of my favorite authors are Molly Katzen and Deborah Madison.

6. Use the internet as a source for new recipes. (Hello!)

7. Add umami to your meals and use foods high in umami to satisfy your meat cravings. Umami is the 5th taste and is the essence that we crave in meat. Foods high in Umami are seaweed, mushrooms (dark such as portabella, crimini, porcini, or shitaki), potatoes and sweet potatoes, tomatoes, parmesan cheese (and other aged cheeses), green tea, cornmeal, carrots, vinegar, eggs, fish sauce, miso, soy sauce or liquid Braggs, ketchup, truffle oil, red wine, buttermilk, peas, asparagus, capers, beans, red peppers, pine nuts, sunflower seeds, walnuts, almonds, goat milk and goat milk products, and winter squashes. (More on this, too, in the future!)

Roasting elevates a vegetable to a level of ecstacy not experienced by any other cooking method, magically creating robust flavor, even in the most humble of vegetables. Adding parmesan cheese, goat cheese, or balsamic vinegar after they are roasted further increases the savory richness (umami) and satisfies all of my meat cravings.

When roasting vegetables, it is VERY IMPORTANT not to crowd the pan. Make sure they are in a single layer or else they will steam, not roast. You can use two pans if needed.
Also, cut the veggies into uniformly sized pieces so they cook evenly.

Here are some of my favorite roasted vegetable recipes:

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Crispy Kale

One of our favorite before dinner snacks. Kids love these...they are crunchy and you would never know they are made from kale! You can also fry the kale but it uses more oil (Here is a funny article in the NY Times about cooking fried kale with a 4 year old!)

4-6 cups kale, shredded and thick stems removed (I like curly kale best. See below.)

2 T olive oil

Sea salt

Optional shredded parmesan cheese

curly kale

Preheat oven to 350. Wash kale and spin in a salad spinner until dry. Roll in towels to get completely dry (crispness depends on this!)

Remember to dry well before drizzling oil.

Cut out thick stems and tear into bite-sized pieces. Drizzle oil over kale in a bowl and toss with your fingers until coated. Spread out on parchment lined cookie sheet (don’t bunch up) and bake for 12-20 minutes or until crisp.

remember not to crowd kale.

Watch that these don’t brown as they can get bitter (although, I like them like that, too!) Keep checking to make sure they are crisp (you can squeeze the leaves with a pair of tongs to check). When they are crisp, take out and sprinkle with salt and/or Parmesan cheese. Serve as a snack or sprinkle on other dishes to add a wonderful flavor and crunch.

For variation, toss with your favorite seasonings after they are crisp, or even a little sugar with the salt can be scrumptious! Yum!

***

Roasted Green Beans

1 pound green beans

1 onion, thinly sliced

1-2 T olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

the zest of one lemon

freshly grated parmesan cheese (buy a good quality aged parmesan to increase umami)

Preheat oven to 450. Cut beans into 2 inch pieces. Put in a pan with sliced onions and toss with the olive oil, salt and pepper. (Make sure the vegetables aren’t crowded and are in a single layer).

Roast for 10-15 minutes, or until the beans start to shrivel and the onions are getting crisp. Sprinkle with lemon zest and freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately. These go GREAT with Persian eggs and actually, any dish.

zest!

You can substitute alone or combined, asparagus, Brussel sprouts, asparagus, cauliflower, or broccoli. You can also substitute goat cheese or feta for the Parmesan cheese and toss with walnuts, pine nuts, or almonds. Great herbs to be added with the oil at coking time are thyme or rosemary. Once you start getting in the habit of roasting vegetables, it is fun to come up with different combinations.

(For those of you who don’t like cooked cauliflower, try roasting them! I have served these to cauliflower haters and converted them to lovers!)

***

Roasted root vegetables

Any combination of the following: carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and winter squash cut into 1-2 inch pieces.

1-2 T olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

optional: garlic salt or dried herbs of your choice (I like thyme)

Coat vegetables with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Put in single layer in pan and roast at 450 for 20- 25 minutes, turning once with spatula.

Serve plain or sprinkle with any aged cheese

(yummy with blue, especially if using sweet potatoes!!)

***

The Most Delicious Potatoes Ever

Any potatoes (including sweet) or a combo of them (cut the potatoes one inch pieces)

½ onion, finely chopped

1 pepper finely chopped (I like Anaheim)

Toss with oil and salt and pepper. Cook until brown at 500 degrees, about 10 minutes.

Any vegetable is amazing roasted! Try them all and be creative. Turnips and radishes are delicious. Try something new such as celeriac or Jeruselum artichokes (sun choke--these are amazing, by the way!!) Parsnips are like ambrosia roasted…can’t get enough of them. A heaping pile of roasted vegetables served with a grain and a salad is one of our favorite and simple meals. Add Balsamic vinegar after roasting
.
Ok…must go now… My mouth is watering so much, I need to roast me some vegetables!

WWW for GGC

Eat Well: Quinoa "Informal Gathering" Salad

This will be the last of my quinoa posts. I figure I should probably quit before someone gets hurt. Quinoa may be delicious but too much of anything can be dangerously annoying so let this be my swan song.

The "Informal Gathering Salad" is appropriately named for its casual dining appeal. It is summer after all, and nothing says "informal gathering" like roasted peppers and fresh corn. Actually, that's not true. Quinoa with roasted peppers and corn indeed says "informal gathering" better.

And now, I will show you how to make said dish.

For this quick and easy (five-minutes? Ten?) recipe you will need the following.

1. One box of Quinoa (white, red or in the case of my photos, red AND white! America!)

2. One medium/large container of plain nonfat, lowfat or whatever-fat-you-prefer yogurt.

3. Cilantro (I know, I know. There was cilantro in the last quinoa quickie but you guys, it's a summer party salad! It HAS to have cilantro to legitimize its yum! Ha! Take that, meanies!)

4. One Fresh Bell Pepper (for color and crunch!) One of the great rules of eating well (my mother, the great WWW taught me this) is to "eat the rainbow"... The more colors you have on your plate the better the meal is for your bod.

5. One container of Roasted Bell Peppers - you can either go with jarred (see below) or make your own. I buy cases of jarred, roasted peppers because it's just easier that way. And quick. Which works for me. (ED: Roasted peppers are amazing with crackers as an afternoon snack as well. Mmm.)

6. Lastly you will need three ears of fresh corn on the cob. White, yellow... whatever you wish.

Now... Let's make us some party:

1. Go ahead and cook your quinoa. (I cook mine in veggie broth.)

2. As you're boiling your quinoa, go ahead and chop your cilantro, raw peppers, roasted peppers and knife the corn off your cob. Yeah, baby.

3. Pour the raw corn corn into your serving bowl, followed by the chopped roasted peppers.

4. Pour the freshly cooked quinoa into the bowl and onto the raw corn and roasted peppers. The quinoa MUST be hot off the stove so its heat can partially cook the raw corn.

5. Add the yogurt to the mix. And then mix.

ED: use your discretion - this is not an exact science. AT. ALL. I kind of just make this stuff up as I go so you'll have to pay attention as not to OD your food with ingredients. (I don't understand measuring cups so good.) In this case, slowly add yogurt and stir. You'll want the quinoa to look coated but not drenched in the stuff. Once stirred in with all the goods, it should look a lil some'n like this:

5. Go ahead and add your chopped cilantro and raw peppers. Stir well until even and delicious-looking.

6. Refrigerate and serve cold as a side salad or, if you're like me, a main course!

One batch should feed about 25-30 guests.

(ED: Every time I bring this salad to a party it's GONE in, like, five minutes. People literally take to-go cups of the stuff, it's THAT good. Even if my presentation in this post is less than stellar.)

In the words of Brobee and the crew, "Try it. You're gonna like it."

Unless you're Archer. Archer and quinoa are not BFFs. Fable on the other hand...

GGC

Eat Well: Garbanzo Beans with WWW

*updated below*

When Rebecca was a teenager, she practically lived on garbanzo beans (chick peas, for those of you on the East Coast!). She would dump a can in a bowl and add whatever else we had in the house (often canned corn and leftover vegetables covered with freshly ground pepper). It’s no wonder that she craved them…she was, at that time, the only vegetarian in the house and I hadn’t yet figured out how to cook vegetarian cuisine. Garbanzo beans are hugely nutritious and are especially high in iron and protein. They are versatile because of their texture and can be ground into flour for falafels and flatbreads, blended to make hummus, marinated in salads, used as a basis for veggie burgers, or can take center stage for a great vegetarian meal. Canned garbanzos are of course easiest, but cooking the dried ones doesn’t take very long and the difference in flavor is well worth the trouble. (Plus they are about a fourth the price). You can freeze them, so I often make a lot, freeze in packets, and defrost when needed.

Hummus is a staple in our house; my husband and I eat it every day for lunch. It makes amazing sandwiches…add tomatoes, roasted peppers, avocado, fresh basil, and balsamic vinegar for the best sandwich EVER. Home made is so much better than store bought, is cheap, and is a snap to make. I make a huge bowl of it at a time and it keeps for a week. Since I am gluten free, I eat it with Mary’s crackers or with a slice of gluten free bread, open faced, topped with veggies. Archer and Fable love my Hummus…Archer calls it “Gooey Thomas” (Archer gave me the name, Gooey, when he first started to talk). Here is my “Gooey Thomas.”

Gooey Thomas (Hummus)

3 ½ cups cooked garbanzo beans (chick peas) or two cans, drained

½ cup tahini (sesame paste)

Juice of 2 or 3 lemons

2 cloves garlic (more if you LOVE raw garlic)

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cumin

Good quality olive oil

Warm water

Put all ingredients in the food processor except the olive oil and the water. Turn on processor and add about a ¼ cup of water and a few tablespoons of oil or until the consistency that you like. Process 'til smooth. I like mine on the thick side, so I don’t add much oil and water. Taste and correct seasoning if necessary.

Variations: You can substitute lime juice for the lemon juice and it’s wonderful. For a really Mexican flavor, add cilantro and a half a jalapeno pepper at the end of the processing. Don’t over process these. Other variations: roasted peppers, basil…you can experiment with different oils, too, such as Meyer lemon.

NOTE: if you don’t have a food processor, you can mash garbanzos with a potato masher and blend all the ingredients in your mixer on high.

………….

Several years ago I took a Northern Italian cooking class from the amazing Nadia Frigeri, and have been making this garbanzo stew ever since. It’s a wonderful summer meal as it uses red peppers, basil and tomatoes, but I often make it for Thanksgiving or Christmas so that we vegetarians in the family have something scrumptious to eat!

Garbanzo beans, Tomatoes, and Sweet Pepper Stew (Ceci Stufati Ai Peperoni)

(For a quicker version of this, use 1 jar prepared roasted peppers and 4 -5 canned garbanzo beans. If using canned peppers and beans, rinse WELL in a strainer under water to remove the brine).

2 cups dried garbanzo beans (or 4-5 cans, rinsed well until no foam appears, and drained)

2 medium red bell peppers, roasted and cut into 1 inch pieces (can substitute roasted peppers in the jar to save time, rinsed and patted dry)

½ cup olive oil

½ teaspoon pepper flakes

1 large yellow onion, peeled and finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped

4 medium ripe tomatoes, chopped

2 Tablespoons chopped basil

3 T chopped parsley

salt and freshly ground pepper

1. (Omit this step if using canned) Rinse and place chickpeas in a medium bowl, add enough water to cover by 2-inches, set aside to soak, preferably overnight. Drain. (Or boil for 3 minutes and turn off and let sit an hour). Place pre soaked or pre cooked garbanzos in a medium pot. Add enough cold water to cover by 2-3 inches. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Cove and cook until beans are tender but still firm, about 45 minutes. Drain and set aside.
2. (Omit this step if using canned) Roast peppers (split and seed them, flatten, and broil close to the broiler until blackened. Let rest in a paper sack for 10 minutes and peel).

3. Heat oil in a large heavy saucepan or casserole. Add olive oil, pepper flakes, garlic, and onions. Cook about 5 minutes. Add garbanzos, tomatoes, basil, half of the parsley, salt, pepper and red peppers.

4. Cover and simmer about 10-15 minutes. Taste to adjust seasoning and transfer to serving bowl or platter and serve with Israeli couscous or quinoa (recipe below). Sprinkle with remaining parsley and serve. Serves 6.

... with a side of Israeli Couscous or quinoa:

Cook quinoa or Israeli couscous according to package directions, enough for 6 servings. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, sauté 2-3 green onions, finely chopped, 2 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped, and 3 T olive oil. Add to cooked couscous or quinoa.

………….

Here is a delicious and healthy snack that will be a hit with the whole family:

Roasted Garbanzo beans

1 can garbanzo beans

1 T olive oil

salt and pepper

seasonings of your choice (garlic powder or herb/ spice mix)

Preheat oven to 350. Rinse beans until no more foam forms. Drain well and pat dry. Toss in oil and season with salt, pepper, and seasonings of your choice. Place on baking sheet and roast for 40-50 minutes or until they are slightly browned and make a rattling sound when shaken. Watch them at the end so they don’t get too brown. Serve warm or let cool.

Delicious!

Other ideas:

You can use garbanzo flour as a great wheat flour substitute. The French and Italians make wonderful flat breads with garbanzo flour…socca in France and farinata in Italy. Here is a great recipe for this bread used as a pizza crust, ideal for gluten free diets/fun and easy to make with the kids.

And the most fun of all, garbanzo bean balls! This is similar to falafels, but raw, soaked garbanzos. Kids LOVE them. You can serve them in pita bread with tomatoes, onions, and tzatziki sauce, as an appetizer, or in recipes calling for meatballs.

Garbanzo Bean Balls

1 c. DRIED garbanzo beans

Water

3 green onions or

1/2 c. chopped parsley

4 garlic cloves

1 egg

2 tsp. ground cumin

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Oil for frying

Sesame seeds

garbanzo beans post-soak vs garbanzo beans pre-soak

Soak garbanzos in about 5 cups of water overnight.

Drain. Place all ingredients in food processor, except sesame seeds. Process until almost smooth. Let sit for 15 minutes and refrigerate until cold. Form into balls or disks. Roll in sesame seeds and fry in hot oil until brown. Turn and fry on the other side. Drain on paper towels.

Serve warm or cold (can be made ahead and reheated). Fable LOVES these!!!

...And if you want an easy traditional falafel recipe, Bob’s Redmill Farms has a great one.

I hope you enjoyed my garbanzo bonanza!!

WWW for GGC

Today we're giving away three copies of the health and nutrition manifesto, The China Study, one of the most important books you've never read. Unless you've read it. In which case, you will probably agree with us re: its eye-opening-whoa. Three winners to be chosen at random, announced Friday. All you must do to enter? Tell me your plans for tonight's dinner. Me? I'm making... yeah, another quinoa dish. (Its recipe I'll post next week.)

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Updated: Congrats to Commenters #17 (Irene!) #61 (K's 2:27pm) and #143 (Mrs. Sitcom!) Please email me asap so I can get your books to you and thanks to everyone for participating!

Eat Well: Another Quinoa Quickie

Because the response to my quinoa salad was so fist-pumpy, (so glad you guys liked it!) I thought this week I'd share another super quinoa-quickie (gosh, I love alliteration) that fits in well with last week's "let's talk about eggs..." post. It's sort of a GGC + WWW joint.

Once a week I make a little something I like to call, "Quineuvos Rancheros" for dinner. It happened as recipes often do, when I forgot to pick up corn tortillas at the market but had heaps of ripe avocados and a large satchel of cilantro, eggs, cheese and obviously fucktons of quinoa.

I thought quick on my feet and decided to substitute the corn tortillas for quinoa which turned out to be genius.

For Quinuevos Rancheros (which, so long as you have quinoa pre-made, will take you no more than five-ish minutes to prepare) you will need:

1. Quinoa

2. Eggs (two per adult, one per child. For a family of four, I cook six eggs.)

3. A spoonful of butter or olive oil (for cooking up ye fresh eggs.)

4. An avocado

5. Shredded cheese of your liking

6. Cilantro (some people hate cilantro, which blows my mind BUT! if you hate cilantro, go ahead and substitute with something similarly green. Chives may just be equally delicious.)

7. Salsa (I use verde! Exclamation points!!)

8. Seasoning of your preference (mine is listed below.)

Start with quinoa. In my last post, several (including my mom) mentioned that quinoa should be rinsed before it's cooked. I have never personally done this because, well, I don't really know. I'll admit, I don't taste the difference between rinsed and non-rinsed quinoa nor, it seems, does my family, friends, etc... BUT! My mom insists one MUST wash their quinoa before cooking so you're best bet is to listen to her. Because she knows.

this week I'm living all kinda dangerous = white quinoa!

Cook your eggs as you usually do. I cook mine in a weird-wackadoo way which consists of cracking the eggs over the pan and letting them sit for a few seconds before kind of mixing the yolks and sort of pushing it around for three minutes before it's cooked through. It's the only way my kids like eggs now and I cannot even explain it really but this is basically what they look like when they're cooked and placed on bed of quinoa:

Sprinkle atop the eggs a few pinches of shredded cheese, ASAP so it melts from the heat:

Then top with chopped cilantro, avocado, salsa (!!!) and seasoning for taste if you so desire and:

VOILA!!!

This particular dish seasoned with "Everyday Seasoning" (aka a concoction of sea salt, mustard seeds, paprika, black peppercorns, coriander, onion, garlic and chilli pepper) found at Trader Joes. It is the greatest seasoning I have ever used and highly recommend it:

(Salt and pepper works, too.)

My mom will be back next week with a stellar post involving garbonzo beans and I'll likely be back the week after with yet another quinoa-quickie. That is, if you guys aren't sick to death of quinoa by then.

Hope you enjoy!

GGC

Eat Well: Wendy Woolf says,"Let’s Talk About Eggs, Baby!"

(ED: the following words + photography c/o my mother, Wendy. Thanks, mom!)

fresh local eggs

So many terms define the eggs that we get in the store. Free range, natural, cage free, vegetarian, organic…we can’t trust any of these labels. Free range can mean that there is a door in the corner opened for a few hours a day but the chickens are so closely confined that they never can find the door. Cage free can mean that the chickens are squished in one large pen, often having had their beaks removed so that they don’t peck each other. Natural means nothing…have you ever seen a man-made chicken? Organic means simply that their feed was grown without pesticides and artificial fertilizers and says nothing about how the chickens are raised. And vegetarian means they aren’t allowed outside, since chickens are naturally omnivores, loving the grubs and other bugs living in the ground.

So what do you do if you want to eat eggs from chickens that haven’t been confined to concentration camp conditions? Well, you can raise your own chickens. Many cities and almost all suburbs now allow chickens. Check your city ordinances to see if you are allowed chickens. There are some awesome chicken coups available online if you are seeking this adventure. This is my favorite one. If I hadn’t converted my backyard lawn to a vegetable garden, I would probably be buying one of these!

Otherwise, check out your farmer’s market and talk to the stand owner about how their chickens are raised. You can look at this website to find a farm that has been approved as a humane farm in your state. If you have CSA’s in your area (Community Supported Agriculture), contact them and ask where to get your eggs. Eating eggs from humanely raised chickens not only is the ethical choice, the eggs taste better and are better for you. The difference in price is only a couple of dollars and it is well worth it. Eggs are still the cheapest meal you can make. One dozen eggs can make, when extended, anywhere from 8-12 servings!

I get my eggs from a friend who has chickens. She treats them like pets (chickens actually can be quite sweet when treated properly). The yolks are bright orange and the white doesn’t run all over the pan. And they are unbelievably delicious.

The below picture is of a factory farm egg. Notice how runny the white part is and how pale the yolk is:

And these eggs come from happy chickens:

Notice the orange yolk and the firm white:

We eat eggs for dinner once a week. Not only are egg dishes quick and easy, they are very inexpensive to make. The easiest egg dinner is scrambled eggs made with milk (I like to use goat) and salt and pepper. If you use fresh farm eggs, this meal is ecstasy. This is where you really can tell the difference of factory farm vs happy chicken eggs. Round out the meal with home made corn bread with honey and butter and a big chopped salad and you have a quick and child friendly meal. (Those of you who are gluten free, there are several wonderful gluten free corn bread mixes: Bob's Redmill Farms and Mary’s are delicious!!)

My favorite egg recipe is a Persian dish given to me by a lovely Iranian woman I met while on the train. I was on my way home from visiting Rebecca and her family right after Fable was born. We sat next to each other and became fast friends. She had been an obstetrician in Iran and was brimming with interesting stories. Somehow we got on the topic of cooking and she shared this recipe with me—a staple of the Iranian diet.

I like to pick recipes that extend the eggs to minimize the amount of animal protein we are getting. Mirza Ghassemi does that perfectly! And the eggplant is disguised for fussy eaters. This is a great summer dish, especially if you have your own vegetable garden or frequent a farmer’s market. The tomatoes, onions, and eggplant are fresh from my garden.

Mirza Ghassemi (Persian eggs, tomatoes and eggplant)

1 eggplant
1 onion, cut in half and sliced
2 cloves garlic, smashed, chopped, and smashed again
4 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon turmeric (or to taste)
3 large tomatoes, seeded and chopped
salt and pepper to taste
vegetable oil (I use olive oil)

1. Prick an eggplant and roast on a foil lined pan in the oven at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until soft.

Meanwhile, cook garlic and onion in oil until soft (10-15 minutes).

Add chopped tomatoes and cook until tomatoes are really mushy. (You can just let it on the stove on low and stir once in awhile while your eggplant is cooking).

When eggplant is done, let rest for five minutes and then peel (the peel should come right off or you can scrape it out with a spoon).

Chop and mash the flesh and add it to the vegetables. (If watery, drain off the liquid). Season with turmeric, salt, and pepper to taste.

Beat eggs and add to the hot mixture. Stir constantly on medium high until all of the eggs are fully cooked. Taste for seasoning. Serve over Jasmine rice.

(Serve with yogurt, sliced cucumbers and pureed mint if desired.)

For vegans, substitute for the eggs a block of tofu, pressed, drained, and crumbled. Don’t cook too much after adding the tofu. Just warm it through.

***

Here are some of my other favorite QUICK egg recipes.

Quiche

I keep a couple of frozen ready made pie shells in the freezer for an easy dinner. These are my favorite. (If you are gluten free, use hash browns for the crust, brushed with butter and cooked until brown). I make two quiches at a time and it feeds us for several nights. Here are the simple steps for quiche:

1. Precook the crust for 10 minutes at 400.
2. Grate or crumble about a quarter pound of your favorite cheese. I like to use goat cheddar. It’s YUMMY!
3. Sauté your vegetables first so the water evaporates. Favorite combos are leeks (or onions) and spinach or chard…or really any vegetable you want. I use whatever is in my garden. Don’t cook too long. (If you have leftover veggies, you can use those. I usually roast a lot of vegetables and often use the leftovers for quiche).
4. To make the custard: use 4 eggs, beaten (depending on the size) to 2 cups of half and half, or substitute buttermilk or my FAVORITE, whole goat milk. You will get the same consistency as half and half. Add salt, and pepper to taste.
5. Cool the crust for 5-10 minutes before assembling. Put the veggies on the bottom, add cheese on top, and pour the egg mixture evenly between the two pans.
6. Cook for 40 minutes at 350, or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Serve with a big salad and crusty bread for a perfect dinner.

Other egg ideas:

1. Mary’s Greek scramble (ED: Mary is my mom's BFF)

2. Huevos rancheros (fried eggs on warmed tortillas with salsa and cheese.)

3. Poached eggs over polenta.

I dozen eggs can make Persian eggs for 6 people and 2 quiches which feeds 6 people generously. At $4 a dozen for humanely raised eggs, this means the animal protein for each serving costs 33 cents. Quite a good deal!!!

WWW* for GGC

*my mother's initials are www. How interweb apropos is that?