Baked Eggplant Parmesan

March 3, 2010March 3, 201017 Comments

Today was a surprisingly good day! Despite the fact that my headache never went away, I managed to get a lot of reading done and have a great class (we talked about land titling and home ownership which for some reason I think is a really interesting topic).

I got home this evening slightly hungry but excited to make this dish. As usual, I found this recipe for Eggplant Parmesan a LOOOONG time ago, bookmarked it and decided to make it now.

Baked Eggplant Parmesan

adapted from Eggs on Sunday’s Eggplant Parmesan
1 eggplant, sliced
1 egg
1/2 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 can of diced tomatoes (plain or Italian seasoned works too)
1/2 an onion, chopped
1 tsp chopped garlic
1/2 tbsp olive oil
Cayenne to taste (I used about 1/4 tsp)
1 cup ricotta
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan
1 tbsp fresh chopped basil (more if you’d like)
A few slices of fresh mozzarella

I’ve never really cooked eggplant, so this was a first for me. My sister’s friend once told me to put a lot of salt on eggplant and let it sit for a while then rinse it and pat dry, but I wasn’t really sure what that meant. This recipe confirmed…

Heavily salt the sliced eggplant on both sides, let stand for 15-20 minutes. Then rinse and pat dry. It doesn’t yield salty eggplant, just reduced the water content, which apparently tastes better?

After you’ve salted, rinsed and dried your eggplant you need to bread it. Put one egg (beaten) in a shallow bowl. In another bowl, combine bread crumbs italian seasoning and parmesan cheese.

Dip each slice into the egg then into the bread crumb mixture and place on a greased baking sheet.

Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, flip and baked for another 15 minutes.

In the meantime, make your sauce. Heat the oil, add the onions, garlic and cayenne and cook for about 5 minutes. Then add the can of diced tomatoes and cook for about 15-20 minutes until liquid has reduced and sauce is thick. In the meantime, combine the ricotta, basil and parmesan in a bowl, set aside.

When the eggplant is ready and your sauce is reduced, you are ready to assemble it all!

Pour 1/3 of the sauce into the bottom of a baking dish.

Next do a layer of eggplant slices.

Then spread on all the ricotta mixture.

Then the next 1/3 of your sauce and the rest of the eggplant slices.

Finish off with the remaining sauce and the mozzarella. I went kind of light on the cheese since I figured the huge amounts of ricotta was plenty of cheese!

Bake at 425 for about 15-20 minutes. Serve and enjoy! Makes 4 good sized servings! I wish I had a broiler because bubbly burnt cheese is delicious! If you make this I would suggest putting it under the broiler for a few minutes for crispy goodness!

DELICIOUS!

Perfect ending to my day! I love the crispiness of the eggplant without the oiliness of typical fried eggplant parmesan!

Are you an eggplant fan?

Tonight, I really want to catch up on Lost since I didn’t get to watch it last night! I’m also considering making some granola bars for good afternoon snacks to have on hand. What are your relaxation plans for the evening??

Have a great night!

Stressless March

March 3, 201014 Comments

This morning I woke up with a terrible headache and a sore throat. Instead of moping around about it, I decided a trip to the gym would help make me feel better. The whole time the lovely fella was here the past week, I only went to the gym twice. Not a huge deal, but it was nice to go back.

Upon returning and the sore throat still going strong, I thought a green monster would be a good cold prevention device.

Breakfast: Green Monster with 3/4 banana+ 2 handfuls of spinach + 5 frozen strawberries + 2 ice cubes + cold water, toast + Naturally Nutty + 1/4 banana and coffee.

Delicious. The only downside to Naturally Nutty is that it doesn’t really melt or spread that easily. Most nut butters melt on oatmeal or hot toast, this really doesn’t. Oh well. Still delicious!

So I’ve decided to make March less stressful than February. Why March? The last week of March is Spring Break, which should be the ultimate relaxation, but I also don’t want to get myself so frazzled in the time leading up to Spring Break that I’m too exhausted to enjoy it. So I’m instating a 9-5 work day for myself.

Here’s the idea: since I’m a student, I lack a strict schedule. I have classes at different times at on different days, and I’m sort of just all over the place. So for this month (and beyond?) I’m testing out a “work day.” I’ll leave the house and go to my 10:00am class then stay on campus until 5 or 6 or even 7 pm, 5 days a week. In between classes, instead of coming home claiming to get reading done while actually fooling around on the internet, I will go to the library or computer lab to get things done, as I tend to be more productive there. That should give me ample time to get everything done. Then I can come home and have minimal work to do.

This will take a little more planning with regard to meals but it’s totally do-able. My hope is that with this schedule, I’ll be more productive and therefore less stressed. I want home to be a place of relaxation, not frustration which leads to overeating.

So today is day one!

Lunch is packed (extra vitamin C since I feel a cold coming on!):

Cucumber slices and carrot sticks with hummus for dipping, sliced kiwi and a cutie!

A sweet potato baked earlier this week and a veggie patty.

All together, ready to go!

See you tonight! (I’m hoping to finally get around to make an eggplant dish I bought ingredients for about a week ago! They’re starting to go bad!!)

Have a fantastic Wednesday! 2 days til Friday!

P.S. Don’t forget to go to Mara‘s blog and vote for my penguin olives for the Cuteiversary Contest!

Moose It Up

March 1, 201013 Comments

If I go to Moosewood enough will I turn into a moose?

Probably not but the fella and I went again tonight.

We started with a salad. I got the spinach-basil house dressing, while the lovely fella got the feta garlic dressing. I still like the lemon tahini best.

He also got an Ithaca Apricot Wheat Ale. I tried it, pretty tasty! Very fruity! I don’t like beer too much but I would definitely order one of those sometime!

Apparently in 2008 it was voted the best brewery in New York state? Hmm…

Before leaving the house, I looked at the menu (as it changes daily) so by the time I got there I already knew what I wanted. Sadly, when we were seated the waiter let us know that the Eggplant, Red Pepper and Spinach Curry was already gone! Sooo sad! So instead I got the Mole de Olla (A traditional Cuernavacan “kettle” stew of potatoes, corn, green beans, zucchini and yellow squash simmered with a spicy red guajillo chile mole; served with vegan cornbread and topped with Monterey Jack cheese.”

Sounds and looks tasty right? It wasn’t. It was cold and bland. I actually ended up eating about five bites before the lovely fella ate the rest.

His on the other hand (Red White and Green Lasagna: Layers of lasagna noodles, roasted zucchini, Italian cheeses and spinach baked in a tomato-wine sauce) was delicious! I probably ate more of his than he did.

I was really disappointed in my dish but didn’t send it back. For some reason, I can never bring myself to do that. How you send things back at restaurants if you are not pleased? Is it rude to do so? Do restaurants appreciate honesty?

Oh well. I still ate plenty and had a nice time.

The evening wouldn’t have been complete without dessert: Vegan Apple-Blackberry Crumble

Delicious.

Enough said.

I’m dying to buy one of their cookbooks! I think I’m going to buy one (or two so I can get free shipping) on Amazon. Any suggestions from Moosewood Cookbook owners??

The lovely fella is leaving tomorrow, and I’m pretty bummed about that but what’s a girl to do?

Anyway, have a great night!

I’m Nutty!

March 1, 20107 Comments

First, Happy March!

Second, Happy Birthday to my brother and my grandma!

On to food….

Naturally Nutty Cinnamon Vanilla Sunflower Butter arrived today!

I got 2 HUGE jars for $7.00 + free shipping through Kath’s Open Sky deal!

So far I’ve tried it on an apple and on my finger.

Can’t wait to try it tomorrow on my oats!

Have you tried this stuff?!? Soooo good! I really want to try the other flavors but I haven’t seen it in stores at all.

Ahh I’m a nut butter fiend!

Lastly, Don’t forget to vote my for olive penguins on Mara‘s blog (just on the side bar, click me and vote, no need to comment!) for the Cuteiversary Contest!

Lovely fella is leaving tomorrow 😦 Trying to enjoy the last bit of time we have together for a while… he wants to go to Moosewood… I’ll keep you posted!

Have a great night!

Maple Sandwich Cookies

February 28, 2010February 28, 201014 Comments

Time for Sunday baking!

After my faculty/student mixer where I made carrot cake cupcakes, I had a TON of maple cream cheese frosting left over. Instead of throwing it away (or eating it straight with a spoon), I decided to incorporate it into my weekly baking. I didn’t want to make cupcakes again since I’m low on cupcake liners.

Then inspiration came… hmm I could make maple homemade oreos… Sounds delicious right? Since I don’t have enough cocoa powder to make chocolate cookies and digging out my cars seems like a terrible idea, I thought of another alternative: maple cookies!

Homemade Maple Cookies + Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

Maple Sandwich Cookies

adapted from Smitten Kitchen’s Graham Crackers and Smitten Kitchen’s Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 cups + 2 tbsp all purpose flour
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp sea salt
7 tbsp of butter
1/3 cup maple syrup
5 tbsp milk
2 tbsp vanilla extract
Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

In a food processor pulse together dry ingredients. Add butter, maple syrup, milk and vanilla and process until it’s a smooth ball. Wrap in saran wrap or wax paper and chill for a few hours or overnight.

Once chilled, preheat oven to 350 degrees, roll out the dough and cut into circles. No need for fancy tools.

You could pretty much do this in any shape you’d like.

Bake for about 10 minutes or until lightly browned on the bottom. Let the cookies cool completely. If you’re in a hurry throw them in the freezer for a few minutes.

Put your maple cream cheese frosting in a plastic bag and cut off a corner.

This will make it easier to fill the cookies, no need for a knife!

Pipe a dollop of frosting on one side of the cookie

Press the other cookie onto the frosting.

Makes about 30 deliciously sweet cookies.

Enjoy! Watch out for maple drippings!

I googled maple cookies after I made these and a lot of the recipes use maple flavoring! That’s nonsense! Use the real thing!

What’s your favorite type of sandwich cookie?

P.S. Don’t forget to go vote for my penguin olives over at Mara’s blog for the Cute Food Saturday, The Cuteiversary Contest!

P.P.S. You can win some maple syrup to make this at Jessica’s VERMONSTER giveaway!!!

Just a Taste

February 27, 20107 Comments

Happy Saturday all!

On Wednesday when I picked the fella up from the airport, he mentioned he really wanted tapas. So tonight, we went to a wonderful tapas restaurant here in Ithaca called Just a Taste.

We started with a wine flight. I got the light red flight and he got the Spanish flight.

His was better than mine 🙂

We ordered 5 tapas (well really 6 but one never arrived)

Tortilla Espanola

Garlicky greens with blue cheese and walnuts

Goat cheese flatbread

Potatoes with Chipotle Aioli

Grilled Mahi Mahi

Everything was amazing! The exception was the Mahi Mahi, which I didn’t care for. The lovely fella ended up eating all of it! It was too fishy for my taste!

If you’re in the Ithaca area, I highly recommend this place! It was very tasty! The lovely fella gives it an 8.6/10. Pretty high rating!

Now we’re off to my neighbor’s birthday party! I see more wine in my future. Have a great night!!

Snowy Dinner Party

February 27, 2010February 27, 201012 Comments

Yesterday, when I went to class, I stepped out of my apartment building and was basically knee deep in snow!

None of the sidewalks had been plowed or shoveled! Getting to class was nuts! But in the end I made it! After two classes and a mixer, I headed home to start making dinner for a few friends. I had two dishes planned.

One I saw on the Food Network while working out at the gym a few months ago. The second from the NY Times.

First Dish: Veronica’s Vegetarian Meatloaf with Checca Sauce:

This was a hit! It’s actually supposed to be made in a loaf pan but I made it in a 9×13 baking dish because I would have had to make multiple loaves. It was very tasty! I think it was a favorite here last night! As usual I made a few changes, instead of spinach I used beet green from the beets in the next recipe. It was a great way to make use of something that usually gets thrown away! And it tasted delicious! I will definitely be making this again! Maybe for Christmas this year?

Second dish: Marinated Giant White Beans and Beets

I thought this was really good! As usual I made some changes. I only had half a pound of lima beans since I used the other half to make Ginormous beans earlier this week so instead I added half a pound of chickpeas. According to the lovely fella and another guest, it mixed very well with the vegetarian meat loaf. This wasn’t hard to make but it was sort of time intensive.

All this goodness was enjoyed with Rhoda‘s homemade bread!

Sooooo good! Soft and delicious!

Here’s my plate:

After dinner, we trudged through the snow to see an improv show, which was pretty funny. Very entertaining. Then the lovely fella and I watched The Hangover, which I thought was REALLY funny. I feel like everyone in the world had seen The Hangover except me. Have you seen it?

This morning, it’s still snowing 😦 Not sure what the plan is but either way it should be fun!

Have a beautiful day!

Also… Go over to Mara’s Blog and vote for my olive penguins to win the Cute Food Saturday contest!

Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

February 26, 20109 Comments

Holey Moley! We got a full blown snow storm! I’m guessing we got around 2-3 ft? More than I’ve ever seen! It’s still going strong!

So as I mentioned before, I am baking for a faculty/student mixer today.

I carefully chose a recipe I had made in the past…

Enter carrots:

Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

adapted from Smitten Kitchen’s Carrot Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 tsp cinnamon
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cup canola oil
4 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups grated carrots
1 cup walnuts (optional)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Combine went ingredients in a larger bowl (mix in one egg at a time). Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix together. Stir in the grated carrots and walnuts.

Line your cupcake pan. Fill about half way. DO NOT over fill! This is what happens:

I overfiled my first dozen and they got terribly messed up! I ended up having to make another half batch to make up for the mess ups. I just knew these cupcakes were jinxed!! Oh well. Turned out fine in the end!

Bake for about 20-22 minutes depending on the strength of your oven.

For the frosting….

Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

16oz of cream cheese (I used reduced fat)
1 stick of butter, softened (I left it out over night, it’ll be fine)
1/4 cup maple syrup
4 cups of powdered sugar

With a hand mixer, cream together the cream cheese and butter, add the maple syrup and mix some more. Gradually add the powdered sugar. Chill in the fridge for about half an hour. Spread on cooled cupcakes for carroty/mapley deliciousness!!

Off to class! Have a wonderful day!!

Carrot Cake Oatmeal

February 25, 201012 Comments

My bananas aren’t ripe 😦

I’m a banana fan as I’ve mentioned in the past. I usually have at least one per day sliced up in my oats or on toast or in a smoothie. The riper the better! Today my bananas are just yellow. While I could have enjoyed it on a piece of toast, I really wanted oatmeal but I try to use really ripe bananas in my oats. I guess because of the sugar breakdown as they ripen, they’re sweeter when riper?

Point being… my bananas were not quite ready for oats. Then I remembered Christie‘s Carrot Cake Oat Bran I read about yesterday and decided to recreate my own!

My combo contained:

1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill 8 Grain Hot Cereal (or oats or oat bran)
1 carrot, finely grated
lots of cinnamon
dash of allspice
squirt of vanilla extract
topped with plain greek yogurt, agave nectar and a few pieces of walnuts

Pretty delicious! Interesting way to get a veggie in!

Still… nothing beats the creamy sweetness my sliced banana adds to my oats! I’m going to try this again but next time with a banana as a sweetener instead of agaven nectar!

Thanks for the inspiration, Christie!

Today is another busy day! Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday! But something fun…Tonight I’m baking for a faculty/student mixer! I’m a little concerned because it was advertised as such: “Come mingle with faculty! Enjoy tea and coffee! Savor Karla’s delicious baked goods!” … just a little pressure to make sure it’s great!

See you tonight for some baking!!