Recipe
The most common question I get from new readers, aside from “Have you figured out what’s wrong with your hands & feet?” {No.}, is “Are you vegan?”
The simple answer is “No.”
The longer answer is no, but that’s how I usually eat.
That’s usually followed by “Is your husband?” That answer is easy: definitely not.
Sometimes it gets complicated because we always want two different things for dinner; but it’s a lot easier than most people think. I try to make meals that can easily satisfy us both.
For example, one of my favorite vegan dishes is eggplant parmesan (minus the parm). All I do is leave a couple spaces for some chicken for the husband, top it with real cheese, and I’m done: we both have almost the same dinner, in the same pan, and we’re both happy.
Eggplant Parm
1 eggplant, sliced into rounds
large bunch kale
handful almonds, ground in food processor
salt & pepper
Sauce:
1 can (28oz) whole tomatoes
1/2 can tomato paste
2 cloves garlic
handful of basil leaves
Vegan béchamel:
1/4 c almond butter
1 1/2 T nutritional yeast
1/8 c almond milk
1/8 c vegetable broth
1/2-1 T cornstarch
Optional: cheese & chicken (sear chicken a few minutes on each side first)
Dry eggplant.* I did a scientific experiment for you to determine whether this step was necessary. It’s not, but it makes it taste a heck of a lot better. It’s worth the extra time.
*To dry: slice, coat in salt, layer in colander. Top with heavy items and place over sink or bowl. Let sit for as long as you can stand (ideally a couple hours). Some brownish liquid should drain out. Rinse salt off and pat dry.
Stir sauce ingredients together and simmer for 15 minutes, breaking up tomatoes as you stir occasionally.
Add béchamel ingredients to food processor. Blend until thick sauce is formed.
Season eggplant with salt and pepper.
Fill 9 x 13 baking dish with a thick layer of kale. Top with half the eggplant. Spread a layer of marinara followed by a layer of bechamel. Repeat eggplant and sauce layers. Top with almonds.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. After baking, broil on high for a few minutes to brown almonds or cheese if using.
Serve by itself or over angel hair pasta.
How do you handle different eating styles when you’re cooking?
Dinner
After my long and strenuous workout (ahem 10 minutes on the elliptical), I found myself with an itch to make an old favorite: vegan eggplant parmesan.
[I really was excited about my 10 minutes on the elliptical, although it felt so strange to go in the room with cardio machines and leave just minutes later. I think it might have been “let’s pretend to workout" day though- I swear there were about 6 women in there sitting on machines watching Dr. Phil. I have no idea what was so intriguing about the show.]
Anyways. Eggplant prep it was! I honestly believe getting the eggplant ready is a vital step in the process- so worth the extra time.
Just slice the eggplant up, coat in salt, and layer in a colander. Place the colander in a large bowl or sink, cover with a towel, and put something heavy on top. I usually empty about half my pantry and throw it on top- cans, jars, bottles, whatever I can grab. Let it soak for a few hours or as long as possible- some brownish liquid will drain out. It helps get rid of the bitter taste and lets the eggplant soak up more sauce (aka flavor) instead of making the dish watery.
Don’t worry- just rinse the salt off and pat the eggplant dry before you continue with the recipe.
Toss eggplant slices in seasonings of choice: I tend to use Italian seasoning, onion & garlic powders, and basil. Panko or breadcrumbs can give it a little extra crunch. 😉
I love to serve “parmesan” over a big bed of kale. Then I don’t have to worry about cooking pasta with leftovers, and it packs in extra veggies.
Layer the kale in a big baking dish, then layer some of the eggplant on top. Next, top it with your marinara of choice. Tonight I just used stewed tomatoes that I crushed up and heated with Italian seasoning. Spread a layer of sauce on the eggplant.
Next comes the fun part: the creamy-cheesy layer.
Mix together the following: [Darn, I forgot to measure again! I promise I will next time..] vegetable broth, almond milk, almond butter, nutritional yeast, cornstarch, and pepper. It should make a nice thick sauce.
Scoop a layer on top of the tomato sauce.
Repeat layers of eggplant, marinara, and creamy sauce until you’ve used everything up.
It may not be pretty, but 350 degrees and 20 minutes later you have a delicious, healthy, indulgent eggplant parmesan.
Optional, but a fabulous touch if I do say so myself: crushed almonds sprinkled on top.
I usually serve it over pasta the first night, then just eat it plain for leftovers. Mmm mmmmm.
Totally worth every step of the process. 🙂
Don’t forget to enter the Chocolate Indulgence Giveaway!
Cross training, Dinner
A somewhat possibly embarrassing fact about me is that I’m obsessed with the Today Show. For real. I can only catch the first few minutes before work, so I record it. All 4 hours. Everyday. (Cough cough loser cough cough.) That’s not to say I actually watch it all. In fact, I delete many of them unwatched. But just the idea of being able to turn it on in the background while I’m making breakfast/dinner/homework/etc is comforting.
I go into work late Mondays so I was actually able to watch some this morning. The husband came down right as Paula Deen came on. I think we were mostly paying attention because she was being a hoot (seriously, more than one part of this segment will more than likely end up on The Soup) but her sons made a pretty good looking burger that the husband really really wanted.
So I made him Paula Deen-inspired burgers for dinner. (Is he spoiled or what?!)
I used the basic idea behind the burger but just used whatever I had on hand instead. And I hate burgers so I decided to make mine using a slice of eggplant.
After put together the husband’s burger, I decided I wanted something more interesting than a slice of eggplant.
I chopped up the eggplant and sauteed it with chopped zucchini and garlic. After it cooled down a little, I zapped it in the food processor to break it up a bit, then stirred in some bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, garlic, cumin, pepper, and a bit of egg substitute. Then I made a patty just like it was a burger and sauteed it.
Inevitably there was a little leftover, so I made some “meatballs” for another night.
I didn’t really measure anything but here were the sauces I used:
Ketchup- ketchup, red wine vinegar, cumin, cayenne pepper, Worcestershire sauce
Herbed Mayo- olive oil mayo, basil, thyme, rosemary, lime juice
I didn’t have any hamburger rolls, and a good burger needs a good bun. I searched around for some recipes that didn’t take two days to make, but didn’t love any of them. I finally decided to use this Taste of Home recipe and tweak it to my satisfaction. 🙂
Spelt Kaiser Rolls
(The amounts are strange because I did not want anymore leftovers!!!!)
1/2 package active dry yeast
1/2 c warm water
1/2 T sugar
1/2 T Splenda
~1/16 c canola oil
1/2 t salt
1 c bread flour (or all purpose)
1/2 c spelt flour
1/16 c egg substitute
1/2 tsp cold water
Poppy or sesame seeds
Dissolve yeast & sugar in half the warm water. Let sit 5 min. Add in the rest of the water, Splenda, canola oil, salt, flours, and egg substitute. Mix together to form dough. Knead on floured surface until smooth & elastic-y. Place in greased bowl in warm area to rise ~1 hr (I heat the oven up for a minute then turn it off and stick the bowl in there).
After rising, remove from bowl and punch down dough. Form into rolls. Let rise again ~30 min. Top with egg substitute & water mixed together, then sprinkle with seeds. Use scissors to cut “cross” pattern in top of each roll (to get that “kaiser” look).
Bake 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees.
Finally all baked:
Finally I put the burgers all together with the buns, mayo, ketchup, patties, some romaine lettuce, and a sautéed red onion.
Check out that gourmet burger.
Of course what goes with burgers but fries?
I almost fully baked a potato in the microwave, then chopped it into wedges. I dredged the wedges in some egg substitute, then coated them with panko bread crumbs, rosemary, basil, and pepper. Tossed them in the oven to get a bit crispy, and done!
Pilates
I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it on here or not, but occasionally after a long run, my back is the sorest muscle in my body, not my legs. I’m thinking I either run like crap or my core is really weak and it’s getting tired of holding me upright 🙂
Either way, it’s been awhile since I’ve been to Pilates, so I figured it was time! This is the best class. I love how I can miss it for ages and come back, and it’s still exactly the same. Of course as soon as I thought that to myself tonight, the instructor went and threw something new at us. But it was a great class!
The rolls were awesome. I have to say I was a bit proud. I grabbed another one as soon as I walked in the door from Pilates. Yum! Gotta go watch some DVRed House now!
