No-Fry Eggplant Parmesan

Summer is finally here! And after that winter. I could repost a picture to remind you of what we had around here, but I'll spare you the horror.

Oh, what the heck.

Anyway, it's over. I do think winter is like pregnancy. When it's done, you can't remember the pain. Not that I have experience being pregnant, but I have a vivid imagination. Vivid.

The eggplants are rolling in full steam. Many, many years ago, I started making this no-fry eggplant parm. I am usually one who will not turn on the oven in the summer, but I make an exception for this casserole--because the eggplants are so fresh. Besides, we'll never have winter again. I can't even remember what it was like.

Here's the deal:

Click to read more ...

Oven-Roasted Ratatouille

Happy New Year! At least here in the U. S. Yes, it's almost Rosh Hashanah. But today is the new year!

January 1st isn't, right? I mean, it's crammed at the end of the holidays, the last gasp of utter exhaustion. It's not really at any change of seasons. You don't really do anything different from 12/31 to 1/2.

But the day after Labor Day in the States? It's truly the new year. The kids go back to school--or are already there. Everyone bears down a bit more at work. Everyone's even at the office at the same time! The days are starting to turn shorter. Time itself just feels different.

I've always felt we in the U. S. should celebrate this day as the new year. It's time to start new projects, new ideas. It's time to get more serious about our reading. It's red wine, not white.

Best of all, you can have a new year and not even think about any darn resolutions. Except more real food, of course.

I love this recipe that Bruce made up for THE ULTIMATE COOK BOOK, our 500-recipe tome. Mostly because (yes, I admit it) I've never liked ratatouille. I don't know about you, but for me it's always too soft and squishy. I'm not much into soft food. Unless it's pudding. Then back up!

But by roasting the ingredients for the ratatouille, Bruce has turned it into more toothsome fare. Imagine: both roasted veggies AND ratatouille. Sold yet?

Shoot, I had it in omelets for a couple of days at lunch. And I also put it on stale bread, shaved Parmesan cheese on top, and broiled it for bruschetta.

So let's get to it. You'll end up with about 8 healthy side servings.

Click to read more ...

Smoky Baba Ganoush

To go with this celebratory week of healthy salads, here's a smoky, silky, creamy spread.

Except I don't spread it. I just eat it with a spoon.

In doing lots of reading for REAL FOOD HAS CURVES, our seven-step plan to get off processed food, I came across research which proved that varied textures on a plate aid in increased satiety--and thus in eating less and being satisfied more quickly, the keys to losing or maintaining weight.

Since it's crucial that a plate of food have a range of textures, the chew-heavy salads this week benefit from something creamy on the side.

Baba ganoush to the rescue! It's an eggplant spread, made with sesame seeds or tahini (that is, sesame seed paste). It's usually got lemon juice and a few spices in the mix--but Bruce's version makes some interesting morphs to this Middle Eastern comfort food. His is smoky and quite tasty. Here's how he does it:

Click to read more ...

Melanzane Pizza

People always ask us if we have a big vegetable garden. Mostly, we have a CSA. Our travel schedule this summer doesn't allow us to plant a big garden. Flowers aplenty, sure--but we do have a few things in pots on the deck. Tomatoes, mostly. And chiles. Or at least we thought we did.

Earlier in the season, we shot a series of videos for weightwatchers.com, technique videos that will soon be up on the site. One of our editors brought her dear parents to the shoot at our house, an older Italian couple. Frankly, I wanted to blow off the shoot and spend time with them. Italians are some of the world's best foodies! We had lunch out on the deck and they were checking out our pots. "Melanzane!" her mother exclaimed. We were very patient. "No, no, peppers. Chiles." But she was insistent. We showed her the little tag from the farm where we got the plants. "Peppers," we kept saying.

They were eggplants. She knew. We should have listened. Italians, after all. So we've now got eggplants growing on the deck. Not such a bad thing. And certainly worthy of a good pizza.

Click to read more ...

All-Vegetable, No-Noodle Lasagna

We're closing in on writing our 19th cookbook (that's counting the two for the fussy celebrities) and there are a two things I've learned over the years: 1) some people like exact recipes and 2) some people don't.

I'm a recipe-follower. Probably the debt of a stern Protestant upbringing. I follow the rules, make it as it stands. If I make it again, I might alter the recipe. Maybe (after a glass of wine). Mostly, I do it by the books. Give it to me in grams and I'm happier.

Bruce never met a recipe he couldn't disregard. He rarely follows one. Even his own. Right now, we're cider-curing a bone-in, big-butt ham for a cookout this weekend, using the recipe from our up-coming book on ham (AN OBSESSION WITH THE HINDQUARTER), and yesterday I had to walk him carefully through the procedure to make sure he observed his jots and tittles.

Even when we're done recipe-testing for a book, Bruce will read through the manuscript and say, "Oh, you know, we could make that with thus-and-so."

"Did you?" I'll ask, a little exasperated.

"No, but you could."

So this post is for him--to celebrate one of his on-the-go, never-the-same-way-twice summer veggie casseroles. It's like a lasagna, tomatoey and cheesy, but without any noodles. And the recipe's going to be inexact. Very.

Click to read more ...