BIZZY BAKES

For me, this is one of the best recipes, we have had, so far.  The Eggplant, Ricotta and Parmesan Bake was chosen by Margaret for our Wednesday with Donna Hay group.  I knew originally when I saw the ingredients, I would love this.  It is my kind of dish.  Even if you are not a fan of eggplant, it is well disguised and I think most people who like a cheesy kind of dish, would enjoy it. The ingredients include eggplant, ricotta, parmesan, eggs, cream and basil.  They seem to be made for each other.  I finished this by myself over several days.  You can find the recipe here .  You can see what others have done with this recipe here.    Foodie Friends Friday                  Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge      This is How We Roll

These turned out to be better than the best roasted veggies, we have had, in the past.  I think, the Balsamic had something to do with this.  I, also had never used  eggplant in roasted vegetables before either. I owe an apology to someone but I don't remember where I got this recipe.  I did so much cooking for the first days of Passover and used many books and recipes from the Internet, I am confused about this particular one.  If this is your recipe, please let me know, so I can give you credit. Crispy Roasted Vegetables Ingredients: 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 1 yellow pepper, chunked 1 orange pepper, chunked 3 small zucchini , sliced down the middle and then cut into one inch pieces 1 eggplant, peeled and cut into chunks 1 tablespoon dried parsley cooking oil spray salt and pepper to taste 1/2 teaspoon onion powder Method:  Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Pour olive oil and balsam...

I have been enjoying cooking from Joy Bauer much more than I had expected.  She is known for her healthy cooking .   "As a monthly columnist for Woman’s Day magazine and the creator of  JoyBauer.com , Joy continues to be a leader in developing and delivering fresh, cutting edge health content to millions." She did not disappoint me with the recipes, I have chosen to make. Each one has been better than successful.  I plan to make a lot more.  She has many recipes also listed online for you to check out if you like healthy and tasty food, presented in a respectful way . Roasted Eggplant Parmesan  (adapted from Joy Bauer) Ingredients: 1 eggplant, ends trimmed Kosher salt, to taste ground black pepper, to taste 3/4 cup marinara sauce * 3/4 cup part-skim mozzarella cheese 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese dried oregano, to taste Method: Preheat the oven to 400°. Liberally coat a baking sheet with oil spray. Slice the ...

Hey, Hey Donna Hay.....we are back with this lovely eggplant with tomato, basil and parmesan rissoto.  Sound good?  Well, it is. Margaret  chose this recipe and it is from one of Donna Hay's books,   New Food Fast. Hubby wasn't thrilled with eggplant and would have been happier eating only the risotto. I had no idea, he is not a fan of eggplant.  I love it, made in certain ways and  I make if often.  He has never said a word.  I am pretty sure, it does not fall into the same category as asparagus which he simply despises.  I think that it is more a "take it or leave it" dish. This was not my favorite way of making eggplant either so this dish is probably not going to be seen again.  I think, if you like risotto, this is worth a try.  The sauce was broth, wine and tomato puree and I liked that very much.  Lots of basil and a little black pepper and Parmesan seasoned the dish. The dish is a three pot dish, one for the ...

A dish, I very much like is eggplant and pasta with sauce and it serves like spaghetti and meatballs with the eggplant chunks subbing for the meatballs.  I decided to apply this idea to a new dish, quinoa with eggplant and mushrooms and served it on the Sabbath. Quinoa and Eggplant Ingredients: 2 cups cooked quinoa 1 small eggplant peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces 1 cup mushrooms, slice (baby bella) olive oil 1/4 cup soy sauce 1 tablespoon miso Method: Heat 1 - 2 tablespoons oil in large skillet.   Add eggplant and cook, mixed on a regular basis, for about 6 minutes. Add sliced mushrooms and cook for another 4 minutes. Add soy sauce and miso to the skillet and mix well. Place in a baking dish, sprayed with oil and bake at 350 degrees for 2o minutes. Eat and enjoy.

The above would make a lunch worth, sitting down, with a glass of wine, to enjoy.  OK, if you are not a fan of eggplant, maybe this wouldn't work but for the rest of us, this is to enjoy.  It is kind of cute with the yellow patty pan, near the top, of the stack. I have come across, recently, a few people who were cooking with patty pan squash and I decided, just for the cute factor, I had to do something with them.  I had planned to make eggplant Parmesan for dinner and wanted to figure a way to include my little patty pan friends. My great decision was to use a tomato as a buffer between the eggplant and patty pan and top it with cheese.   I was going to use goat cheese but I didn't have enough for all the stacks, so I changed my plan and used mozzarella.   I didn't know what to expect and I am happy to say, I was pleased with the results.  Not only, is this a luncheon dish, it is a good as a side dish.    Patty P...

I planned on making pizza for supper, the other night, and decided eggplant would make an excellent topping.  I looked on the Internet for a recipe using haloumi cheese which I had to use up and eggplant and surprisingly found a few. I already had pizza dough frozen so I defrosted it and hubby did the honors of rolling it while I was at work.  I had cooked the eggplant earlier in the day and only needed to get the remaining ingredients together. I am working different hours, this year, and come home later and so far have found it almost impossible to eat at a decent time, if I don't cook (or at least prep) in the mornings. There is something magical about walking in and having only to put something in the oven or to simply cook pasta to go with meatballs, already  made. Although the pizza was good, I was not happy with the choice of cheese.  Haloumi is a tasty cheese but it did not melt like mozzarella and I do like a melty cheese on pizza. I would certainl...

I named the recipe with a question because there were so many good ingredients and in the final dish, each played a starring role.  I would choose the cheese as the star because, it added the creaminess and flavor.  This is not my favorite way to cook eggplant and I found it too gushy.  I made the same recipe with spinach and it tasted and looked a lot better.  The pieces of garden tomatoes perked up the dish and that would be the second star in the dish. Which ingredient, do you think, is the star of the recipe?  Adapted from Recipe for Living Ingredients: 1 medium eggplant, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes. 8 ounces of a small pasta, ziti, rotini, shells, elbows 1 cup ricotta cheese 2  plum tomatoes, diced 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil ground pepper to taste 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese 1 tablespoon olive oil Method: Place  cut-up eggplant in a microwave-safe covered dish with 2 tablespoons water.  Cook on High 5 minutes. Check for d...

Upon, seeing this recipe on My Recipes , I asked what is a tian. I have seen the word before and have a vague memory of even making one but what it is, was as vague as the memory. I went to Wise GE EK, a site I love for quick and clear answers and this is what they said. "Well known in some cultures as a prepared dish with layered ingredients, the tian can be thought of as a casserole with a specific arrangement of components. It can be served hot or cold, and may be composed of all sorts of ingredients. A simple vegetable tian allows various types of vegetables to be arranged in layers, with each successive layer complimenting the taste of the previous one. " That is exactly what I did, layer different vegetables and if I did it again, I would add red onion rings to the mix. I would have roasted the vegetables for another 5 minutes. The best part of this recipe which was good in itself is that I had some leftover that did not fit into the pan and put...

This week, WWDH made  Yorkshire puddings.  This recipe can be found in of   Modern Classics I on page 120.  I was excited about making these because this would be something new for me.  Unfortunately, I ended up with flat burnt hockey pucks.  I don't know if it was because of the gluten-free flour or the use of oil in place of lard.  All I know is that they went straight into the garbage. Fortunately, I only made 6 of these so I had batter left and I decided to use it on eggplant, mushrooms and onions.  It worked beautifully for all three but particularly for the eggplant.   Ingredients: 1 egg 5 ounces of milk 1/2 cup gluten-free flour pinch of salt olive oil ---- 1/2 cup salsa 1 few tablespoons Parmesan Method: Heat oven to 375 degrees. Mix all ingredients except oil together. Heat oil in large skillet.  I used an electric skillet. Peel and slice eggplant, about one half of an inch th...

Cooking Light and Eating Well are two of my favorite food magazines.  I appreciate their approach to healthy eating and their recipes seem to be perfect for me.  I go through one after another checking them off to make in the future. My introduction to Eating Well was winning in on one of the gluten-free sites.  From that day on, I kept res-subscribing and look forward to its arrival. The recipe, I made for dinner comes from an old Eating Well magazine, July/August 2009.  Since my lukewarm attitude toward eggplant has become an enthusiastic approach, I search for eggplant recipes and one with salmon could not be allowed to escape uncooked. Salmon and Eggplant Curry    ( adapted) Ingredients: 1 tablespoon olive oil  1 teaspoon curry powder 1 onion, chopped 1 medium eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch cubes 1 14-ounce can “lite” coconut milk 1 tablespoon soy sauce 1 tablespoon light brown sugar 2 skinned salmon fil...

In the past few years, I have developed a taste for eggplant and I have made it in several different ways.  So far, I have always enjoyed it and I am much braver about using it.  My favorite way is still crisped up rather than mushy but I also like it in vegetable stew dishes.  I have come a long way since I started blogging and eat a lot more types of food.  Variety is certainly more fun to both cook and eat. Martha Stewart was my inspiration for this recipe and you can find her original dish here. I made a number of changes to accommodate the taste of the family. We don't enjoy mint in vegetable dishes. I love mint chocolate chip ice cream and that is where mint, should stay, in my opinion. Brownies with a mint filling are delicious. Mint chocolates are great. Gum with mint flavoring is the best. Mint has its place, yes indeed. I tried one time to include mint in a meat dish and that was the last time, I used it in anything than desserts. Do I ne...

When I make rice, I usually make enough for a minimum of two dishes and often for three. This time, it served the purpose of a yummy side and a salad. My side was based on a search through my freezer and refrigerator. I found an eggplant in the refrigerator that was not going to last much longer and found a fabulous tomato sauce, in the freezer. Unfortunately, I have no idea what was in the sauce other than diced tomatoes. All I know, is that it was well flavored. Brown Rice with Eggplant 1 eggplant, peeled and diced 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce 2 cups brown rice, cooked according to package directions. Microwave eggplant and sauce 4 minutes or until soft or firm enough for your liking. Place rice into a lightly greased casserole. Add eggplant and sauce and mix well. I heated it together for about ten minutes. * If you want to add cheese to this, I would top it with shredded mozzarella before baking and bake until cheese is melted and slightly browned. ** This would be even better...

Last month, I made all the recipes for the month way ahead of time so I would have them.  What I did not do was to type them up and prepare them for posting.  So, here I sit and I am not even sure if the photo is the right one although it is the only one that fits.  I enlarged it and could see it was not meat. This is a unique combination, one I liked a lot, and ate a good share of.  It was selected by Sarah and the recipe can be found here. Thanks to Sarah.  In a million years, I probably would not have selected these, and I will probably make them again. Check out the other Donna Hay cooks and see what they have cooked up. Gaye , M argaret , Sarah and Kayte  We welcome new members so please contact any of us if you would like to join in.  There are no requirements.

Last week, we posted for Ina Fridays and two of the members made this Roasted Eggplant Spread that was super appealing and I knew I was going to make it until I was midstream in the cooking and saw that I could skip the last step and have beautiful roasted vegetables.  Since I was cooking for the Sabbath dinner, this would work better and everyone loves roasted vegetables. Roasted Eggplant and Bell Peppe r adapted from Ina Garten Ingredients: 1 medium eggplant, peeled and cut into cubes 2 red bell peppers, cut into 1 inch pieces 1 red onion, cut into chunks 1 garlic clove, minced 2 tablespoons  olive oil 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1 tablespoon tomato paste or sauce Method: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Toss the vegetables in a large bowl with the garlic, olive oil and pepper.  Spread them on a baking sheet on parchment paper or aluminum foil.  Roast for 45 minutes, until the vegetables are lightly browned and soft, tossing once du...