Ratatouille

This weekend I tried a recipe I found on Off-Camera Chronicles for ratatouille with bonus protein via cheese (which you dairy-haters can leave off) and eggs. I used my brand new, super cool food processor to chop up all the veggies and it was a Godsend! I can't imagine having to cut up all this stuff by hand!

Ingredients:

4 tomatoes

2 eggplants

2 capsicums (I had to

look this one up. It's just a fancy term for pepper, go figure.)

2 zucchinis

1 large red onion

3 cl

oves of garlic

5 Tbsp. evoo

2 tsp. ground cumin

grated cheese (I used

mozzarella)1 tsp. paprika

sea salt & pepper, to taste

5 eggs

Directions:

Dice all your veggies and cook them in a large pan with evoo, cumin, paprika, and however much salt and pepper you want to use for flavor. Cook the mixture over high heat for 10 minutes, stirring regularly.

Then transfer everything into a casserole dish and bake for one hour at 390F. The original recipe said to cover your dish with aluminum foil for baking, but I forgot this step and it didn't seem to have any negative effects. Next time I'll try it with the foil to see if it makes any sort of difference though.

Once done, remove from oven and sprinkle with grated cheese (or not - boo!) and break eggs on top. Bake for another 10 to 20 minutes at 350F until the eggs are at desired consistency.

Since I'm just cooking for me, I had tons of leftovers! I divided it up into tupperware and it was enough for

approximately four

full meals and a smaller portion that can serve as a side dish. This is clutch for me during the week when I'm tired after being at the office/gym and just want to veg out. Instead of being tempted by the convenience of fast food, I can just pop one of these suckers in the microwave et viola, still on track with healthy eating!

Eggplant Parm with Turkey Meatballs

Ingredients:

1 Eggplant (sliced)

2 small tomatoes (sliced)

3/4 c Ground flax seeds

1/4 c Parmesan Cheese

Egg

Fresh Mozzarella

Tomato Sauce

For Meatballs:

Ground turkey

Garlic

Fennel (finely chopped)

Basil (finely chopped)

Preheat oven to 350

Whisk the egg in a bowl. In a separate bowl combine the flax and Parmesan cheese with some salt and pepper. Dip the eggplant and the tomatoes in the egg then coat with the flax mixture. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes on each side.

Combine ground turkey, garlic, fennel and basil. Roll into balls. Cook in a covered saute pan with a little olive oil until cooked.

In a baking dish add a layer of tomato sauce, then eggplant/tomato, then meatball, then cheese. Repeat until you run out of ingredients. Bake for 25 minutes. Eat.

-- Katy

Eggplant Caponata

This is my take on eggplant caponata. I love any recipe where I can just throw a bunch of stuff into a pot. I have made this a couple times and it gets better as it sits, so the leftovers are amazing.

1 lb ground pork
1 clove of garlic
1/2 onion diced
2 cans diced tomato (no salt added)
chopped mushrooms
1 cup spinach
green olives
capers
1/4 cup red wine
Eggplant, diced

Salt eggplant and place it in a colander with a plate on top and weigh the plate down. Let sit for around 45 minutes. This allows some of the bitter juices to drain out. Rinse the eggplant.

Saute garlic and onion in a pot
Add the ground pork and let it brown
Add the tomatoes and red wine
Add eggplant, spinach and mushrooms
Add green olives and capers and let simmer