Curry + Eggplant = Deliciousness

I've been craving curry lately- ok I crave curry often and yes I eat curry often - it's my purpose in life.

We went to the farmers market a bit ago and purchased many many vegetables with the intent of having Dan's daughter Alona and her friend Nate over for dinner. But alas, the best laid plans oft go awry. We ended up at a local vegetarian friendly restaurant - with mixed success. I had a deliicious pumpkin hand pie and mixed greens but Nate had to send his pork back - too fatty.

One of our purchases was eggplant. I like eggplant but I'm not fond of recipes that require frying it in oil - simply because eggplant is like a sponge and I'm not fond of too much oil. So I'm always on the lookout for alternate cooking methods.

I pulled out one eggplant last night and decided to make a coconut curry eggplant with onions and tomatoes. I recalled seeing a recipe that roasted the eggplant first. It took me a few minutes to find it again but it was worth the effort. I started with this recipe and because I never have all of the ingredients or i have similar ingredients or I'm not a fan of some of their ingredients I usually modify it in some way. This time I didn't use the ghee, I added a can of fire roasted tomatoes instead of the roma and I didn't have canned coconut milk but I did have coconut/almond.

I really liked the flavor of the roasted eggplant it added depth to the dish and the roasting process was fairly painless so I'd definitely try it again. Now what to do with a head of cauliflower, a bunch of kale and 2 eggplant?

My original plan for the cauliflower was simple, roast it with a bit of olive oil and add a few grinds of pink sea salt and black pepper - which is what I did with half of it. I've got book club this week and I'm contemplating this sweet potato, quinoa and cauliflower dish. I'm intrigued because the cauliflower is cooked, pureed and seasoned to act like a sauce. With luck I'll have time to make it and the ladies will like.

Remember, if you have any great Halloween party appetizers send them my way - the party is coming up soooooooooooon.

The Transformation of Carrots

For the past 2 years I've planted carrots in the garden and for those of you who have seen my garden and noticed the nice straight lines and even spacing, I use the seed tape - mostly because I really, really hate thinning anything. I feel like I'm killing viable food and yes I intellectually understand it's all about the survival of the fittest, I'm a softie at heart.

With that in mind, it's humorous that Dan is so adamant about the fact that he can't tell the difference between a carrot pulled from the ground and one from the grocery store. People I hear your outrage - OMG really!  I know I say it too. I have no response.

About a week and a half ago I pulled the last of the carrots from the garden, I roasted a few for dinner and then we got busy and I forgot about them. But tonight as I was heading home from my walk I remembered they were in the crisper and thought they would make a lovely Curried Coconut Carrot Soup - which they did.

I started with this recipe and and made a few adjustments. I used 2 onions instead of one, substituted almond/coconut milk for the full fat coconut milk, I grated the ginger (to release the flavor), added garlic and increased the curry powder.

I started this project before Dan got home from work and was delighted to hear his "What smells so delicious" as he walked in the house. The smell of coconut, curry and ginger wafted through the house. Actually as we were sitting out on the deck enjoying a glass of wine we could smell it outside, with the door closed - it was that good.

Loving fall and fall foods and looking forward to some roasted brussel sprouts and beets for dinner tomorrow.

Apples, Pumpkins, Carrots and Cats!

We are in full fall mode here in Minnesota. The trees are turning, the nights are colder and as I take my daily walk along the trail the leaves are crunching beneath my feet. It's time to clean out the garden; cut the last of the mint, parsley and oregano for drying, cut down the barren tomato stalks, pull out the last of the carrots and update my gardening journal - it's been a great year.

We're getting ready for our annual Halloween Party; getting the decorations  out of the Halloween closet - and yes I do understand that I am most likely the only person in MN or the planet that has a Halloween closet - gotta love that. We made apple butter and prepped apples for pies last night and we're working on our costumes - I can't wait - I'm finally going to be a ….. well you'll just have to wait for photos to see but I'm so excited!

We spent the weekend with my Dad in Fargo and had a lovely side trip to visit my niece Katie at the U of M Morris on Sunday so my first cooking opportunity was Sunday evening. I've had my eye on making a Imam Bayildi the original recipe is here.

I made a couple changes (of course). I had one eggplant and two zucchini that needed to be used so I did a little substitution. I did two layers of eggplant and one layer of zucchini - no complaints from the peanut gallery and we finished the leftovers tonight.

Before we went to visit my Dad I harvested the carrots. I've been saving them for a velvety carrot ginger soup recipe that I found on Pinterest but since the bag was overflowing I decided to roast a batch with olive oil, agave and Himalayan sea salt for dinner tonight. We combined them with some sauteed zucchini and onions and whipped up a salad to round out a lovely dinner.

For those of you who are regularly reading my blog, in my last post I was pondering soaked oats - I can tell you without a doubt it's become a favorite breakfast food of mine. I've been soaking 2/3rd of a cup of rolled oats (not instant) in 1 cup of almond/coconut milk overnight. In the morning I add 1 Tbsp of agave (today I added 1T of apple butter), a pinch of fresh coconut, raisins and either pumpkin or sunflower seeds it's fast becoming a favorite. It's a little sweet, high fiber and gets me through the morning - give it a try I think you'll like it.

If you've been counting, our squash harvest is up to 15 - we've given some away and eaten a few but it looks like we'll be enjoying the fruits of our labor well into December.

I'm looking for Halloween food recipes, if you have any favorites please send them my way.

Ciao!