Red Bell Baba

I have this Mediterranean dipping sauce theme happening in my fridge right now what with a fresh batch of beet hummus, and now this ramped up baba ghanoush .  Much to Eric's chagrin, I also reek of garlic.  GOOD TIMES.

Red Bell Baba (Ghanoush)
1 large red bell pepper
2 medium eggplants
3 tbsp  Tahini
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp salt
juice of 1-2 lemons
2 tbs fresh parsley

Pierce the eggplants all over with a fork.  Place the bell pepper and the eggplants on your BBQ or under the broiler; turn until all sides are blackened.  Remove and allow to cool enough to handle.  Remove the skin from the pepper and discard. Slice the eggplants in half, and scoop out the meat.

In a food processor, combine the tahini and lemon juice until frothy, 30 seconds or so.   Add the rest of the ingredients, the eggplant meat, and the pepper flesh to the tahini mixture in the food processor. Use a pulse method to combine everything as you don't want to liquefy this; you are looking for a well blended, but chunky texture - learn from my mistake and mince or fine chop your garlic before adding to the food processor or else you end up with garlic bombs.  Not necessarily a bad thing.

Yield: about 3.5 cups.  186 cals per cup.

So the rest of dinner was left over Quinoa Veg Loaf, baby artichokes (prepped, boiled, then broiled with salt and lemon) and some collard greens (boiled in water with garlic, salt and vinegar for 20 minutes, drained, topped with Tabasco) and celery for the eating of the baba. 

Eric's dinner: Juice.

Ruby Tostada with Jicama-Mango Salsamole

I was feeling south of the border and decided to make a veggie version of a taco, which morphed into a tostada.  These recipes came out terrific; one of those things where I sit back and wonder how the hell I come up with stuff.  Needless to say, both me, and my belly, are quite happy!

Ruby Tostada
2 c yams , peeled, and diced
2 c beets, peeled and diced
2 TBS water or veggie broth
7g coconut oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 c red bell, diced
1 c green bell, diced
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 tsp each: cumin, oregano, chili powder, cayenne, onion powder
2 tsp salt
makes 5 c/ 161 calories per cup

In a microwave safe casserole dish with lid, add yams, beets, and water/broth.  Cover and nuke for 3-8 minutes, until just cooked, but still a bit of crunch left.  Meanwhile, heat oil in a pan, add garlic and saute for a couple minutes.  Add peppers, and allow to slightly caramelize.  Drain off any liquid from beet/yam mixture, and add remaining ingredients.  Heat through.

Assemble whole wheat tortilla, filling, Jicama-Mango Salsa (recipe below), and a dollop of n/f Greek plain yogurt.

Jicama-Mango Salsamole
1 jalapeno, deseeded and diced
1/2 c red onion, diced
1 bunch cilantro, stems removed
1.5 c jicama, peeled
1 mango, peeled
2 avocado, destoned
2 lime, juiced
2 lemon, juiced
2 tsp salt (or to taste)
1 tsp each: cumin, chili powder
makes 4 cups / 204 cals per cup

In your food processor, blend each fruit and veggie individually, then add to a large bowl - I preferred mine a little chunky.  When all is blended, mix together with the citrus juice and seasonings. 


Eric's Dinner: chicken strips from Safeway, on a Safeway Asiago bagel, with bottled BBQ sauce.

Beet Hummus

This recipe came courtesy of VeggieWiz, a great blog for fun vegetable recipes. Check it out :) I made only very small changes, mainly to slightly lower the calorie count, and upped the flavor somewhat (extra garlic and lemon).

Beet Hummus
1/2 c. tahin
1 16 oz can garbonzo beans
1.5 c. beets, peeled and chopped (2 medium)
1/2 c. fresh lemon juice - 1.5 small lemons
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp cumin
2 TBS EVOO
4 TBS water (if needed)
salt to taste

makes 721 grams = 1.9 calories per gram. I had about 3/4 c. serving at 289 calories


Roast beets in oven for 20-30 minutes at 350, or until softened. When beets are done and slightly cooled, add everything into your blender or Cuisinart. Add water as needed to loosen the mixture; this is a less oil version than the original and needs the moisture. Serve with fresh crunchy veggies or pita bread.

 

Eric's dinner : Sponge Bob Square Pants mac'n'cheese.

Broiled Scallops and Eggplant w/ Ricotta & Tomato-Basil Relish

Yes, I could have wiped off the plate and made the presentation nicer for the purpose of this blog post, but I was freakin' hungry and could almost not be bothered to even take a photo. This was last night's noms.

Broiled Scallops
1 pound u-10 Sea Scallops
Garlic Salt - to taste
2 TBS butter, melted
fresh squeezed lemon

Rinse and pat scallops dry. Spray the bottom of a shallow baking dish with no-stick spray. Place scallops in the pan, sprinkle with garlic salt, squeeze half a lemon over the lot. Spoon a bit of melted butter over each scallop. Place under high broiler at about the middle rack. Remove once the scallops start browning, about 10 or so minutes. You can serve with some extra butter on the side, but I just squeezed more lemon. Serves 3, (3 scallops/5.3 oz per serving), 394 calories.


"Grilled" Aubergines w/ Fresh Ricotta & "Grilled" Tomato-Basil Relish
('aubergine' is the posh Brit way of saying eggplant.)
for the relish:
6-10 campari tomoatoes, halved
1 TBS olive oil
S&P to taste
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
2 TBS balsamic vinegar
1/4 c. fine chopped fresh basil

Toss tomatoes in a bowl with the olive oil and S&P. Heat a pan on the stove to high heat, and lay the tomatoes in. Reserve left over evoo in the bowl. Leave them alone until they start to brown, then turn them. Remove when the other side browns. You can also grill part or all of the onions at this step in the same pan as the tomatoes. Chop the cooled tomatoes and put back in the bowl you seasoned them in, adding onion, vinegar, and basil. Set aside.

Eggplant and assembly
1 medium eggplant, sliced into 1/2 inch thick rounds (6-8 slices)
1 TBS olive oil
S&P to taste
7 oz skim milk ricotta (1/2 a small tub)
1/4 c. finely chopped parsley

Using a brush, sparingly coat the eggplant slices with the olive oil and season with S&P. Place in a hot pan, and flip when they brown, about 4 minutes per side. Meanwhile, mix ricotta with the parsley and S&P.

To assemble, take 1 slice of eggplant, top with about 1.5 TBS of the ricotta mixture and spread it out, then a healthy dollop of tomato relish on top.

Makes 3 servings (2 slices per serving), 223 calories per serving

Plenty of leftovers for not only my lunch, but also for Cyncha!  Eric's Dinner: nothing, he wasn't feeling well.