Eggplant is a vegetable, er, fruit, that is often overlooked. I can understand why. Order an eggplant dish in a restaurant and you’ll likely get a fried, oily, mushy mess. But cooked properly, eggplant is creamy and earthy, even a tad sweet. The key to cooking eggplant is to first pick a young eggplant. If it looks healthy and feels heavy for its size, you’re probably good to go. Young eggplants have less seeds, which is what gives the eggplant its bitter taste. Even in a young eggplant though, you’ll still have some seeds. Salting the eggplant slices, or dices, and letting them drain, will remove the bitterness as well as moisture. Then, toss the eggplant with a bit of olive oil and roast in a hot oven until the flesh breaks down. The result? Utter yumminess.

I like Amy’s Eggplant Parmesan recipe because she knows what’s up. She bakes her eggplant slices (vs. the standard fried), and she makes her own sauce. Hooray! I dislike fried food, but I especially dislike fried eggplant. I find the texture creepy, and the end result is, as I said above, an oily, mushy mess. Bleh. I’ve never once made eggplant parmesan with fried eggplant. I’ve always baked mine. I have to admit I’m a bit partial to my recipe, but Amy gets huge points for freshness and flavor. Love that carrot and celery in the sauce!

Head over to Amy’s blog, Cooking With Amy, and get her recipe. Click.

On a final note, the picture I took of the dish was out of focus. Thankfully, there is Wikipedia Commons, where I found this lovely image. Here’s the link.

Oh my god in heaven! Talk about YUM! I’m going to go back to the nineties and say this recipe is THE BOMB. To be honest, I wasn’t sure what I’d think about it. It looked good. It sounded good in theory. My one experience with plantains, however, didn’t turn out great. They were okay, but they didn’t make me want to prepare them again. Plus, I don’t cook seafood very often, as my husband doesn’t care for it. Luckily shrimp are very easy, and one of the few water creatures he’ll eat.

So I set out to make this one night, not really in the mood to cook, and not at all sure if I’d like the results. When I took that first bite, however, I was blown away. I looked across at my husband and he was nodding his head. The dish wasn’t only good, it was phenomenally good. And the prep and cooking time is so minimal, I almost didn’t believe something so easy could taste like it did. I did end up baking the plantains longer than the recipe says, though. The batch I had was pretty black, but probably not black enough. In any event, the end result was a semi-sweet plantain with a semi-soft texture. It worked perfect for us.

I’m making this dish again on Friday for guests. I have a feeling they will love it as much as I do.

Head over to Bitchin Camero to find the recipe for Basil Lime Shrimp with Plantains. Click this link and it will take you there.

There are few food items that really gross me out, but canned cheese is one of them. Whenever my husband goes to the store with me, he wants to buy that processed cheese gunk that you *spray* on crackers. What the f**k is that? I give him the look, and luckily he gives up. I don’t really like the stuff they sell in jars, either. You know—that spicy cheese dip you find in the chip aisle? It’s only a small step up from the spray cans, or Velveeta Cheese slices. Ick, ick, super ick. I *do* like the idea of spicy cheese dip, or chile con queso, but I’ve never had one that satisfies me. Luckily there is Homesick Texan’s version of *natural* chile con queso. Yay!! I’m definitely digging this recipe. Unfortunately, my jalapenos had little to no kick. Don’t you hate when that happens?! So, next time, I’m hoping I’ll get a spicier batch. To go along with the chile con queso, I made homemade corn tortilla chips, which I like because they actually taste like corn. Imagine that! My husband has also been enjoying this dip. I’ve packed containers of it for his lunch all week.

Visit Homesick Texan and get the full recipe. Click, click.

You’ve all heard the news, right? Drinking out of plastic water bottles is BAD! The worst offender is the bottle made from PET—polyethylene terephthalate—which has been proven to release DEHP, a compound known to disrupt reproductive health. Soda pop and juice is commonly sold in bottles containing PET plastic. From what I’ve read, the compounds only break down and leach after repeated use of the bottle, but that shouldn’t be of any comfort. Production and disposal of these plastics has led to contamination of air and ground water. If you had yourself tested for plasticizers, I doubt you’d like the results.

Next up is the harder polycarbonate plastics. Think Nalgene. These types of bottles contain Bisphenol-A. Bisphenol-A binds to estrogen receptors, causing reproductive issues as well. Recently, many companies removed all Nalgene and Nalgene type bottles from their shelves. Canada officially declared Bisphenol-A hazardous to human health.

So what’s a person to do? I like to have a water bottle in my car. My husband packs one to work. We all use them for something, right? Along with a gazillion other plastic products. (Which is another issue…) Well, here’s at least one alternative for you to consider—SIGG.

SIGG is Swiss company with worldwide presence. They make their bottles out of lightweight aluminum, and use a water-based non-toxic interior lining. Plus, the bottles are cool! With 144 designs and 22 styles of lids, SIGG has something for everyone. Their line-up even includes kids’ bottles, sports bottles, thermal bottles, and flasks. I got mine a couple weeks ago, and I love it. Check out their website and get one for yourself.

For more information about plastics and plastic drinking bottles, visit these two sites:

Earth Resource

Wikipedia. Be sure to check out the list of references at the bottom of the page.

Smitten Kitchen is right—these are dark, crazy moist muffins! They’re the kind of muffins that you take outside on a warmish spring morning, along with a cup of hot, hot coffee, and eat in the patch of sun on your porch. While you listen to the birds chirp, and watch the flowers open, of course.

I love that she uses whole wheat flour and fresh apples in this recipe. And that brown sugar topping—oh, yeah! If you like hearty muffins that aren’t heavy as lead, this recipe is for you. It’s also for you if you like muffins that aren’t too sweet, but sweet enough. I found them to be best within the first couple days, and I’d definitely eat them within four. After that, the brown sugar topping gets a tad mushy. They are also perfect for that mid-morning snack in packed lunches.

Visit Smitten Kitchen to view this recipe.

I had a bit of a stumble with this recipe. I went to three different grocery stores and could only find chorizo made from beef. Since I don’t eat beef, I panicked for several days, thinking I wouldn’t really be getting the truth of the recipe. In her notes, Julie did mention a few alternatives to chorizo, so I finally decided I’d go with one. I ended up with a bistro style pork sausage that I didn’t care for, however. It tasted too much like hot dog. And I’m quite sure that’s NOT what Julie had in mind!! So, I will try this recipe again when I run across the type of chorizo I like. I know it’s out there! Still, the combination of mango, chicken, cilantro, and cheese is great. (It must really be fabulous with that spicy chorizo…) Mango and chicken just go together. Mango and cilantro just go together also. In fact, mango goes great with a lot of foods you wouldn’t think it would. So, if you haven’t hopped aboard the mango craze, I’d do that right away!

Julie is right—quesadillas are a great alternative to standard nachos for a Super Bowl snack. Plus, I think this recipe is a great way to introduce people (read: guys) to new foods. My husband claims to hate mangos and cilantro, but he eats these just fine. Must be that “out of sight, out of mind” thing working. Shhhhh.

A few weeks ago, when my husband wasn’t feeling well, I went to the store for Tylenol, Kleenex, and throat lozenges, and ended up spending a bit of time in front of the ice cream coolers. I admit, it was a relief to be “off duty,” if only for twenty minutes, and I was going to enjoy the time away from hubby’s illness. Plus, I thought ice cream might numb his aching throat, and, well, just plain taste good. I browsed the usual Ben and Jerry’s section, scanned the Haagen Dazs and Dove pints. And then there they were, on the top shelf, sporting bright colors and interesting flavors—Ciao Bella Gelato.

If you’ve never had gelato, here’s the scoop. It’s an Italian-style ice cream that contains only twenty percent air by volume (as opposed to American ice cream’s 60 percent), and less butterfat. It’s incredibly smooth and rich. Often, one scoop will leave you more that satisfied.

The Ciao Bella company is based in New York, but you can find their products nationwide. In addition to gelato, they produce sorbets and other specialty desserts. Some of the gelato flavors are: bourbon butter pecan, caramel, chocolate hazelnut, cinnamon, coconut, dulce de leche, espresso, fromage blanc, ginger, green tea, hazelnut biscotti, lemon poppy seed, lychee, pistachio, rum raison, strawberry, several varieties of vanilla, and zabaione, plus a whole lot more. Their sorbets come in apricot chardonnay, blackberry cabernet, blood orange, cassis, champagne, chocolate orange, lemongrass coconut, mango, margarita, passion fruit, peach, pear, and many more. Don’t they all sound fabulous?! To view the full list, click here, and keep in mind that many of these flavors are available by the scoop at venues only. The pints come in more limited flavors. To find out where you can purchase a pint, or enjoy a scoop or two, you can search via your zip code on this page of Ciao Bella’s website. My local Safeway wasn’t on the list, however, and they had at least 6 varieties… If nobody in your area carries the brand, you can have it shipped to you. Keep in mind it will be expensive…

I took home a pint of chocolate hazelnut, and it was divine. Next on my list to try is the blood orange sorbet. Oh, yeah!

The original version of this recipe belongs to Amy Sherman of the Cooking With Amy blog. (Click here to view. ) I made her recipe for April’s Project Food Blog Cook-off, and it took one of the top spots. I love how versatile it is, how easy it is to prepare, and, of course, it’s supremely tasty. Those toasted raviolis… Mmmmm!! Beware—they are addicting. After I made Amy’s recipe, I immediately thought of half a dozen variations. Here’s one of them. Let’s call it Ravioli Dinner Salad with Parmesan Crisps. Parmesan Crisps are a nifty trick I learned from Earthbound Farm’s Food to Live By cookbook. Not only do they taste great, they look decorative, too. Love them! Okay, let’s get started, shall we?                                                      



Ravioli Dinner Salad with Parmesan Crisps

Salad Ingredients:

1 package cheese and herb raviolis
1 bunch red leaf lettuce
Parmesan cheese, about ½ cup
sundried tomatoes (not packed in oil)
fresh basil
olive oil

Special Need: Parchment paper

Dressing Ingredients:
(original version from Moosewood Restaurant’s Lo-Fat Favorites; this is the Kelly version)

a handful of sundried tomatoes, not packed in oil
2 medium tomatoes, coarsely chopped
¼ cup fresh basil, coarsely chopped
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
enough water to achieve the desired consistency (start with ¼ cup)

Prepare the dressing. First, soak the handful of sundried tomatoes in hot water until softened. Then, combine all the dressing ingredients in a blender and blend until you reach desired consistency, adding more water if necessary. Set aside.

To make the Parmesan crisps, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit a medium-sized baking sheet. Place the parchment paper over the surface of the baking sheet. Using a microplane grater (or the fine blade on your cheese grater) grate the Parmesan cheese into a bowl. Take a large pinch of the Parmesan (a tablespoon or two) and place it on the parchment paper, making an even mound about an inch or two across. Repeat, leaving about an inch of space between mounds, until the cheese is gone and/or the baking sheet is filled. Bake until golden brown, about 5-8 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

Cook the raviolis according to package directions. Drain. In a large sauté pan, heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. In a single layer, place the raviolis in the pan, Sauté until golden on each side.

Wash and tear lettuce. Spin dry in a salad spinner, or pat dry with paper towels. In a large bowl, toss the greens with the salad dressing. Top with the remaining sundried tomatoes, the toasted raviolis, the Parmesan crisps, and fresh basil and fresh ground pepper to taste.