A day in the kitchen

[Marthe48]

I got some fresh vegetables. I just got a loaf of zucchini bread out of the oven. One third of the flour was oat flour, and I mixed some chopped pecans and walnuts together. Self care at it's finest! I'm working on a loaded eggplant parmesan casserole right now. After NJCher posts, I'll let you know about that

I need to repackage some chicken, and clean the kitchen.

[Diamond_Dog]

1. Everything sounds wonderful!

I have made eggplant parm in the crockpot a few times. Did you add other vegetables to yours?

I feel virtuous because I had Mr. Diamond move the fridge out yesterday and I cleaned behind it and vacuumed underneath. When you have a furry dog the dust and hair collects there fast.

[Marthe48]

2. I love it more every time I make it

I layer summer veggies and bake it in the oven. The zucchini bread was ready first, and I might skip dinner. Just kidding! Lol
I will start cleaning tomorrow, try to anyway.

Give yourself a big pat on the back

[Trueblue Texan]

3. Let me know about the eggplant casserole. I've got a bunch coming on. nt

[Marthe48]

4. You are so lucky!

I tried to grow eggplant, but it didn't do well. One of the local farmers told me it was easy to grow. Maybe for her lol

Have you made eggplant parmesan? I did it a little differently today, because I had some vegetables and sauce I don't usually have. Usually, I slice the eggplant and saute it quickly in vegetable oil. If I have fresh tomatoes, peppers, onion and zucchini, I slice or chop them, and layer them with the eggplant. If I don't have fresh tomatoes, I use spaghetti sauce. In the layers, I sprinkle parmesan cheese and whatever herbs and spices I have. I use a 2 qt. casserole and fill it to within an inch of the top. I bake it at 325 for about 35-40 minutes, until it's bubbly, and add shredded Mozzarella and let it finish. I usually make it vegetarian, so I can share it with my family. I wouldn't mind a little chicken with it

I like to make a sort of olive spread. I finely chop eggplant, onion, garlic, zucchini, sweet peppers, black and green olives, and saute it olive oil. I put the chopped olives in last. After it is the texture I want, I let it cool and add vinegar, a little salt, pepper, maybe cayenne and use it for a spread. I will use zesty Italian dressing if I have some on hand. It's good on crusty bread. I had something like it in a jar, and experimented.

My daughter has made baba ghanoush. I don't know how hard it is to make.

Let me hear all of the yummy treats you get to have!

[Trueblue Texan]

5. My hubby is a vegan so I have to get creative with cheese substitutes...

I really don't like the store bought ones, but I find I can make a "cheesy" sauce out of basic white sauce and spices and nutritional yeast. I also make a grated "parm" from ground up macadamia nuts, garlic powder, salt, hemp seeds, and nutritional yeast--it's really so much tastier than parmesan in my opinion . I could probably make a decent version of the eggplant parm by using my nut-based sprinkle for the parmesan, and my white sauce with the right seasonings to mimic mozzarella. Miso also goes a long way to make a cheesy flavor.

That olive spread sounds yummy and doable! Thank you for sharing!

[Marthe48]

6. There should be recipes from the Middle East

I couldn't think of baba ganoush, and while I was checking, saw variations from Greece, Turkey and another. I think Indian culture uses eggplant too. The Indian dish with whole baby eggplants was one of the best things I've ever tasted. I can't remember what it was called.
My kids are vegetarians, leaning toward vegan, so we are always trying new recipes.