Miso Glazed Eggplant

The craziness of the holidays is about to descend upon us. Next week is Thanksgiving and then we move directly into Christmas. Truth be told stores have been touting Christmas since Halloween. I mean I still have Halloween candy in the pantry and why is it I couldn’t find any pumpkin spice coffee creamer - it’s like we went from lemonade to eggnog in one week!

I have many fond memories of family traditions. At Christmas, my grandmother would bake her molasses cookies with lemon buttercream frosting and sprinkles. Each family (there were 9) would get a coffee can filled with cookies - there were and are still my favorite. 

Thanksgiving and Christmas were often spent with my mom’s sister Pat and her family. After the turkey was devoured and the dishes are done, the adults would play bridge and the kids would go bowling at the local alley. And later there was pie and The Wizard of Oz on television. 

This year Dan and I will spend Thanksgiving with his family. There might be a round of bridge but I doubt bowling and The Wizard of Oz hasn’t been broadcast on Turkey day for a long time but we’ll eat well and have fun; rumor has it there will be football in the park before dinner and then turkey and all the trimmings later in the day - and pie lots and lots of pie. 

The last of the green tomatoes have ripened and we have put the garden to bed -we even pulled out the nasty wasp's nest from under one of the beds so that they don’t harass us again next year. I’ve still got poblano peppers in the fridge and we’ve been working our way through the tomato sauce and zucchini in the freezer. Sometimes tho you need a break, you need something different to whet your appetite this week it was eggplant. This recipe is easy and depending on the size of your eggplant (larger means longer cooking times) it can take as little as 30 minutes to make. 

Ingredients:

2 medium eggplant

2 T olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

3 T yellow miso paste

3 T honey

1 T sesame oil

1 T rice vinegar

2 scallions  

white sesame seeds 

Preparation:

Preheat your oven to 390 and line a baking tray with parchment paper.

Cut the eggplant in half lengthways and cut or score the flesh, 2 cuts lengthways, 4 cuts across and place them on the baking tray, cut side up. 

Brush or rub the olive oil evenly over the cut side of the eggplants and season well with salt and pepper.

Roast in the preheated oven until the eggplant is golden and soft. 

While the eggplants are cooking, mix together the miso, honey, sesame oil, and rice vinegar and set aside. Finely slice the scallions, white and green parts, into thin rounds and set aside.

Spoon the miso glaze, generously, over the eggplants and into the flesh. Turn the oven grill setting on or the oven up to 425 and return the eggplants to the oven, cooking until the glaze has caramelized about 3-5 minutes.

Serve the eggplants scattered with the sliced scallions and sesame seeds.

Happy Thanksgiving and thanks for stopping by! 

A Fall Harvest Dish

 One month into retirement and I have to say I’m loving it! My days are my own, I can do something useful or fun or nothing at all. I’ve been working on some home organizing projects and getting rid of some furniture/items that we no longer need - Facebook Marketplace is my new friend.

I’ve also applied for social security - believe me the government doesn’t make it easy. Something that should take no more than 15 minutes is a process. They already have all of the information but as my friend Irene says they make it difficult so that people won’t do it - she could be right. But that is done and you only have to do it once. 

I’ve been less ambitious in the cooking arena lately. I spent a lot of time at the end of the harvest bottling, freezing, and preserving the bounty from our garden so I was a bit tired of cooking. The good news is, grocery shopping is for essentials only these days.

Yesterday I decided to use up some of that bounty - I paired maple roasted butternut squash and brussels sprouts with a balsamic and maple marinated roasted tempeh into a delicious bowl - there were no leftovers. 

Ingredients:

1 package tempeh - cut into cubes

1 small butternut squash - peeled and cut into cutes 

1/2 lb brussels sprouts trimmed, washed, and halved 

1 onion - 1-inch dice

Marinade - veggies 

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons maple syrup

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Marinade - tempeh

1 package of Lightlife tempeh

1/8 cup maple syrup

1/8 cup balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon avocado or olive oil

3.5 Tablespoons soy sauce

3 cloves garlic, minced

1.5 tsp olive oil

Instructions:

Combine tempeh ingredients. Chop tempeh into cubes and add to marinade in a shallow container. Marinade for 1 - 2 hours. 

Chop all vegetables and add to a large bowl. Combine marinade ingredients and pour over veggies. Stir to combine.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place veggies and tempeh on either a stoneware or metal baking sheet and cook until tempeh is browned and veggies are crisp-tender. 

While veggie and tempeh are roasting make either brown rice or quinoa. 

Serve in bowls adding fresh spinach, veggies, and tempeh. Sprinkle with pumpkin seeds and cranberries. Add more maple syrup if desired.

Enjoy!