A pauper's breakfast fit for a King. Or Queen.
I put them in enough water to cover by 1/2 inch. Bring the water to a boil.
Once it starts to boil set the timer for 5 minutes for soft boiled, 6-8 for medium to hard boiled.
Peel. Sprinkle with a little herbed Himalayan sea salt. Breathe sighs of utter contentment. Enjoy.
Happy Breakfasting
Isn't it gorgeous??? I was Thrilled with the way this came out. I fall in love with my CSA share every week, and was so happy to see eggplant in the baskets! For some reason a lot of people don't like their eggplants and leave their shares on the trading table. I ditched my ears of corn and got two extra shiny fat eggplant instead....an excellent trade if I do say so myself.
Ratatouille is technically a dish of cooked vegetables including tomato and eggplant with garlic and herbs, though the cooking method and spices used vary widely. In this one I used what I had on hand and baked the whole thing so there wouldn't be a million steps of sauteing and baking and simmering etc. etc. It's delicious and this pan made enough for about 6 meals!
Ingredients:
2 medium eggplant. they should be shiny! it's ok if they're a little soft though since they'll be baked well
1 big summer squash or a couple zucchini
2-3 yellow onions
Tomatoes - a handful of grape or a couple larger varieties
Olive oil
Basil
Garlic
Slice the eggplant top and bottom off the slice into 1/4-1/2" thick slices (I like mine thick and meaty!) Lay on a clean surface or towel, sprinkle liberally with salt, and let them sit while you cut everything else. This step is critical to make them taste good! The salt draws the bitterness out and when they're ready you'll see beads of brownish liquid. If you have high blood pressure you may rinse them after, otherwise just pat them dry without rinsing and don't add extra salt to the dish. Dry thoroughly before adding to the pan.
Meanwhile: Preheat your oven to 400F, or better yet put these in while you're cooking a chicken to save energy and make a whole meal!
Slice your veggies all about the same size except slice the onions very thin so they caramelize well. I do the onions in half, then slices so I get half-rings.
Layer the slices of squash, then onion, then tomato, then eggplant.
Drizzle the whole thing liberally with olive oil then sprinkle with dry or fresh basil and powdered or fresh chopped garlic to suit your tastes. Again - my method for spice amounts is really just sprinkle from high up (about 6") and lightly cover the surface of whatever I'm making.
Put the pan in the oven and cook at 400F, checking every 15-20 minutes. It'll take 45-1 hour since it's such a lot.
Amazing. I had this with my roast chicken for almost every meal for a week. And for someone who craves variety...that means it must've been damn tasty. Just sayin'.
I am finally back from my long cooking and blogging hiatus!
For those still following - I've missed you, and my apologies for the absence. I've made the move to Tucson, adjusted to the heat and extremely low humidity, caught Valley Fever, and ate about 3 weeks worth of restaurant food and microwave type things until I was very sad indeed. Once I got my kitchen unpacked, I purged my new home of all foods non-paleo (except a bag of sugar for the hummingbird feeder). I am now 3 full days into eating delicious organic home-grown goodness and I feel amazing!
The focus of the blog will, as in past, henceforth be especially dedicated to things easy to make and super nutritious since I now can only cook once or twice a week (sad). Intern year will be pretty heinous in terms of hours so I have to plan ahead if I want to withstand the temptation of bagels at morning rounds.
First up....chicken! Big roast chickens. SO easy, and they make tons of meat to last me the week. Plus I love the gravy that they make over the veggies, and I love that I get dark and white meat, and the offal inside.
Ingredients:
One chicken. Free range/organic/what have you. Defrosted in the fridge for a few days if needed. Don't bother rinsing, it's not necessary. Just fish out the inside bits.
Bag of organic baby carrots, or chop some up yourself. About a cup.
2 medium onions, chopped coarsely
A root vegetable chopped same size as carrots and onions. Sweet potato, turnips, parsnips, beets...whatever strikes your fancy!
Preheat oven to 400F.
Put chicken in pan. Put veggies around chicken (NOT in it! They won't cook evenly if you do)
Sprinkle generously with garlic powder (2tsp), cinnamon (2tsp), and ground cloves (1tsp). Add a dash of nutmeg if you have it!
Drizzle with a few tablespoons of good olive oil.
Pop in oven for an hour or so - depending on size of chicken. Mine took 1:20. But I got work done while I waited!! You want the juices to run clear - meaning when you pull the thigh away it comes easily and you see NO pink.
Tear off a chunk and eat it for dinner while you wait for the bird to cool down. One bird feeds me for 2-3 days by myself. (4-5 meals).
Your house will smell like Christmas, and the taste is divine. I literally caught myself singing Christmas carols...
VARIATION -I made the same roast chicken a few days later, but instead of olive oil, garlic, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg-- I used coconut oil (a couple tablespoons) and garlic and curry powder! OMG my house smelled like a Bazaar. ....I like smells, can you tell?
It was delicious. Try it.
Happy Eating!
