Despite the fact I am still eating only vegetarian food for the next little while, I managed to find a way to fall back on a few old stand-bys this weekend when entertaining and discovered something new about a popular dish I've made for a very long time.
First things first though - I believe I owe you all one an Eggplant Parmesan recipe. I made some noise about this in previous posts and want to get it out there because it's as simple as it gets and also as tasty.
I make frequent trips to Chinatown on Spadina for several reasons. One happens to be the price of produce. For some reason a few of the grocery shops on Spadina around Dundas have some of the cheapest fruits and vegetables in the city. The difference in price compared to a grocery store can be staggering for many items. I'm not sure why it's so cheap, but I'm not complaining. If you can stand the smell of some of these places (warning: fish mongers abound) then you can get great prices on some really fresh produce - just make sure you give it a good wash considering the massive pest population in the neighbourhood.
When I decided to start this little vegetarian experiment, it was a given I would stock up on produce on at least one trip to Spadina and Dundas. When I did get over there last week and found a few choice looking eggplants, I decided it was time to throw together a little Eggplant Parmesan.
The first thing I do is slice the eggplant on the bias, turning it into five or six (depending on the size of the eggplant) half-inch thick slices. I roll the slices in flour, dip them in egg wash (an egg and a little milk) and then cover them in a breadcrumb mixture. You can use plain old breadcrumbs for this, but why bother. I toss in a little basil and oregano, Parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes to give it a little flavour.
Once the eggplant is covered you fry the slices in a little bit of oil - just enough to brown each side, then pull them out and place them on a cookie sheet.
Next you add a little tomato sauce and cheese. The sauce is really up to you. Whether you choose to make a great tomato sauce from scratch or cheat with some store bought it will taste great. Either way, put a large spoonful on top of each eggplant slice and cover with grated mozzarella. Throw them in the oven long enough to melt the mozza and serve. I like a little pasta and fresh salad on the side, but these are also great tucked between slices of garlic bread for an Eggplant Parmesan Sandwich - a truly great idea if there are leftovers for lunch the next day.
I would make Chicken or Veal Parmesan the same way, but the way the eggplant seems to melt in your mouth makes it a better choice even if you are eating meat.
My vegetarian cleanse continued through the Victoria Day long weekend as The Gullet and I made use of the three days off by visiting with some family and friends. While I was stuck eating side dishes only on Friday night with my family, it gave me a chance to avoid my mother's usually desert-dry chicken. The Gullet swore up and down it was great this time, but everyone can tell when she's lying.
When Sunday rolled around it was time for her family to do the same. The Gullet's sister, brother in-law and four-year-old nephew were scheduled to drop by for dinner giving me a chance to try out a vegetarian menu on them. But when I woke up Sunday morning, I was feeling a little less than creative kitchen-wise.
These are usually the times to lean on a few standard recipes you've made for years that can please any crowd. However, this left me in a bit of a situation as I wanted to continue to cook vegetarian, but my old stand-by recipe book isn't exactly filled with meat-free staples.
In the end, I decided my Pasta Salad, loosely based on a dish I used to make at a restaurant I worked at 15 years ago, would make a good choice. It's simple, flavourful, chock full of freshness and no meat to speak of.
I thought it might be a good idea to pair the pasta with some fresh Bruschetta as well and decided to twist things up adding a little roasted red pepper to a standard Bruschetta mix I planned to serve over a little grilled garlic bread.
The pasta salad is quick and easy. First you thinly slice two red, two green and a yellow pepper and toss them in all in a large bowl. Then add a small red onion sliced, a couple of broccoli crowns cut up and four roma tomatoes seeded and thinly sliced.
For the pasta, I use cheese tortellini - usually a large handful for every person I plan to serve. It only takes a couple of minutes to cook and then I shock it under cold water once it's done and add it to the bowl full of fresh veggies.
Store bought works, but I have made my own in the past and you can't beat the flavour of fresh pesto. Either way, you toss the veggies and pasta in about six tablespoons of pesto sauce, add a few toasted pine nuts and serve it up.
The Bruschetta mix isn't any more difficult. This time you seed and dice about six roma tomatoes, dice an entire large red onion and mix it all together in a bowl. Add in some fresh oregano, basil, extra-virgin olive oil and a whole lot of garlic for flavour and you are almost done.
Normally a little salt and pepper would be enough to make this taste great over some fresh bread, but this time I roasted two red peppers over charcoal and diced them up before adding it to the mix.
With the coals still warm, I brushed a little garlic, chillies and olive oil on slices of fresh baguette and toasted them up before serving the Bruschetta on top.
I made a little Caesar Salad just to give us a little roughage with all the raw vegetables and everybody ate well.
As usual, I made way too much food and with a fridge full of leftovers, Monday started out looking a whole lot like Sunday when it came time to eat - until The Gullet got involved.
The Pasta Salad has never been her favourite and Sunday she decided to blame that on the fact it was too cold and much too raw. Instead of closing her eyes and forcing it down, The Gullet came up with a new plan - heat and serve. She tossed it in a little leftover tomato sauce from the Eggplant Parmesan served earlier in the week and cooked it up. I just used some more pesto and did the same a little later and we were both extremely pleased with the results.
It would be hard to count how many times I've had great hot food one night and still enjoyed it cold the next day, but this may be the very first time I've had great cold food and enjoyed it warm a day later - who knew yesterday's Pasta Salad could become today's Pasta Primavera!
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