Monday, July 26, 2010

Being Creative with Food

So, I had a few recipes that I had parts of the ingredients for them and I wanted to put together the food for Erinleigh and George early so I decided Sunday night that I would make my food for the week. Here are some Kristie originals.

Eggplant Casserole with Panko Crust



2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup veggie stock
1 1/2 medium eggplants, diced
1 carrot, chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 container portobello mushrooms, chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon seasoning mix
1 can no-salt added tomatoes
3 cups cooked white rice
1 whole lemon pepper chicken from Publix, skin removed and diced
1 tomato, diced

1/2 cup panko (Japanese-style bread crumbs)
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1/2 tablespoon paprika
1/2 tablespoon dried basil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium high heat and cook eggplant until it starts to become tender (about 5 minutes). As the eggplant cooks it will soak up the olive oil, add veggie stock, as needed, and cover to keep the pan moist. Add the carrots and cook for 3 more minutes. Add onion, cook until almost translucent and add garlic and seasoning mix (whatever mix you like best). Cook for 5 more minutes then turn off heat. Add tomatoes, rice, chicken, and tomato, stir to combine.

Combine panko, parsley, paprika, and basil in a small dish.

Put eggplant mixture in a casserole dish. Sprinkle bread crumbs over the top and bake until golden brown and hot throughout, about 30 minutes.



When I made the above, I had about 1 1/2 cups left over eggplant that wouldn't fit in my casserole dish so I made some soup and used it in there...

Kristie's Butternut Squash Soup




1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup veggie stock
1/2 eggplant, diced
1 sweet onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups leftover eggplant mix from recipe above
1 container Trader Joe's Organic Low-Sodium Butternut Squash Soup
1 lemon grass stalk

In a medium sauce pan, heat olive oil over medium high heat and cook eggplant until it starts to become tender (about 5 minutes) stirring regularly. As the eggplant cooks it will soak up the olive oil, add veggie stock, as needed, and cover to keep the pan moist. Add onion, cook until almost translucent. Add garlic, cook about 3 minutes.

Turn down the heat to medium low, add the eggplant mixture, the soup, and lemon grass. Cover and cook until heated thru. Before serving remove the lemon grass stalk and discard.


Uber Easy Chicken Stock
Leftover chicken bones from the eggplant casserole dish
Water
Whole Peppercorn

Once all the meat had been removed I put the bones in a medium sauce pan, covered with water, and added a few whole peppercorns. Cover, cook on medium-high until it starts to boil. Turn down to low and cook 30-45 minutes. Remove from heat, strain, and your done! :)

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