Eggplant & Beetroot Dip

April 2, 2014 · by · Leave a Comment

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Eggplant & Beetroot Dip
I was going to make baba ghanoush, but thought I might as well throw a beetroot in the oven in the oven as well, and that turned out to be a good idea. This dip or condiment (I eat it on toast and on raw crackers) is amazingly light and fluffy (no need to use any oil), with a more gentle beetroot flavour than a straight beetroot dip normally has. Yet it is super easy to prepare.
Oh, and the flowers, calendula on the side and borage on top, are all edible 🙂
Cuisine: vegan, roasted
Recipe type: dip
Prep time: 
Cook/wait time: 
Total time: 
You need
  • 1 large beetroot
  • 2 medium eggplants
  • 50gr onion
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • ⅛ tspn Himalyan rock salt
To do
  1. heat oven to 200C
  2. wash eggplants and beetroot
  3. prick wholes in the eggplants with a fork or sharp knife, place them and the beetroot directly on oven tray or in a dish, whatever you prefer
  4. roast till the eggplants have started to collapse, and the skin of the beetroot is bubbly
  5. let cool down, then peel the beetroot, and scoop the flesh out of the eggplants
  6. place all ingredients in your blender and run till nice and fluffy
  7. done!
Notes
Keeps well in a container in the fridge.

 

Filed Under: All, Dips, Sauces & Condiments, Gluten free, Low/no added fat, Snacks & Entrées, Veggies & Sides · Tagged: , ,

Lemony Eggplant w Artichoke & Kale Sauce on Adzuki Bean Spaghetti

March 15, 2014 · by · Leave a Comment

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Lemony Eggplant w Artichoke & Kale Sauce on Adzuki Bean Spaghetti
I love eggplant, but at times I have a problem with it absorbing oil like crazy; while that tastes really nice, it doesn't make for the healthiest food. So in this recipe I use lemon juice and smoked paprika to flavour the eggplant and the only oil I use is spray oil, to keep the eggplant (with a thin batter) from sticking to the pan. The sauce has a mild tartness due to the artichokes, but blends lovely with the pasta. I used Adzuki bean pasta in this case, which provides us with proteins and carbs nicely, plus is gluten free 🙂
Cuisine: vegan, cooked
Recipe type: Dinner
Serves: 2
Cook/wait time: 
Total time: 
You need
  • 60gr of Adzuki bean pasta (or more, if this is too modest for you)
  • 2 eggplants of abt 200g (1 per person)
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • ½ cup non dairy milk
  • 4 tbsp (gluten free or spelt) flour
  • 2 tsp smoked paprika powder
  • 2 pinches of salt
  • a generous grind of pepper
  • spray oil
  • fresh coriander
for the sauce:
  • 2 stalks of curly kale (about 60grams without stem)
  • 160gr of marinated artichoke (about 8 pieces, and mine were store bought)
  • ½ avocado (about 50gr)
  • ½ cup of non dairy milk (I used homemade almond & hazelnut milk)
  • ¼ tsp Himalayan rock salt
To do
  1. rip leaves of the kale and mix with the artichoke, salt, avocado and the milk in a blender or with a stick blender. Add more milk if you like. Pour into a small pot and set aside.
  2. mix the lemon juice, non dairy milk, paprika powder, salt and pepper - keep the flour on the side for now
  3. slice the eggplant (slices of about ⅓cm thick), and dip them in the lemon mixture
  4. when done, whisk in the flour in to the lemon juice, bit by bit
  5. heat a skillet (medium to hot), spray with oil
  6. now dip the eggplant slices in the batter, cover both sides, and place in the skillet
  7. bake for a couple of minutes before turning them over (try not to check too early if they are brown, as then the batter may stick to the pan despite the oil. If you do, spray some more oil and place the slice back)
  8. turn over and repeat with all slices (you could use a small skillet to keep the finished eggplant slices warm)
  9. during this process, cook the pasta
  10. when you're almost finished with the eggplant, heat the sauce
  11. serve eggplant with a few coriander sprigs or leaves, spaghetti plus sauce on the side
Notes
2 Skillets will make a nice difference in prep time 🙂
Nutritional Information
Serving size: (with 30gr of pasta) Calories: 415 Fat: 17gr Saturated fat: 2gr Unsaturated fat: 2gr Trans fat: 0 Carbohydrates: 49gr Sugar: 16gr Sodium: 306mg Fiber: 17gr Protein: 20gr Cholesterol: 0mg

 

Filed Under: All, Gluten free, Main Dishes, Pasta & Legumes, Veggies & Sides · Tagged: , , , ,

Spicy Chickpea Eggplant Fritters w Orange Dip

September 6, 2013 · by · Leave a Comment

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Spicy Chickpea Eggplant Fritters w Orange Dip
I'd say this is comfort food, but apart from the oil the ingredients are all healthy, so I think I can get away with it now and then 😉 I didn't use a deep fryer, just a large pan with a few centimeters of oil. Serve with a salad, or have a few pieces as an entrée.
Prepared by:
Cuisine: vegan
Recipe type: fritters
Serves: 2
Prep time: 
Cook/wait time: 
Total time: 
You need
  • 1 eggplant
  • 1 cup of chickpea flour
  • ½ tsp of black salt
  • ½ tsp chilli powder (or more, of course)
  • 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • juice of ½ lemon or lime
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • about half a cup of water
  • half a cup of Cashew Cream
  • juice and zest of half an orange
  • pepper
To do
  1. heat your oil
  2. sieve the chickpea flour into a bowl
  3. mix in all dry ingredients
  4. stir in lemon or lime juice and then the water bit by bit until you have a nice cream like substance
  5. slice your eggplant in slices of about ¾-1cm and dredge through the batter
  6. deep fry till quite brown, so they're nice and crisp
  7. for the orange dip, just mix Cashew Cream with the pepper, orange zest and half of the juice, adding in more juice as needed for the texture you prefer.

 

Filed Under: All, Gluten free, Snacks & Entrées, Veggies & Sides · Tagged: , , ,

Baby Eggplant w Thyme & Mushroom Ragoût

July 17, 2013 · by · Leave a Comment

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Baby Eggplant w Thyme & Mushroom Ragoût
We had this for lunch, but it is a great dinner too, or you can serve the two dishes separately 🙂
Prepared by:
Cuisine: vegan
Recipe type: meal
Prep time: 
Cook/wait time: 
Total time: 
You need
For the eggplant:
  • 4 baby eggplants (or 1 large eggplant)
  • oil to drizzle on top
  • fresh or dried thyme
  • salt & pepper
For the mushroom ragoût:
  • about 200gr of mushrooms, cut up
  • 2 tbsp of oil (I used deodorized coconut oil) plus some oil to cook the mushrooms in
  • 6 tbsp of spelt flour
  • 2 heaped tsp of veggie stock powder
  • 2 tsp (or more) of minced garlic
  • 1 onion - or as much as you like, finely chopped
  • non dairy milk
  • salt & pepper or a dash of Bragg liquid aminos instead of salt
To do
To prepare the eggplant:
  1. preheat the oven to 200C
  2. cut the eggplant in halves, arrange in an oven dish, sprinkle with oil, the thyme leafs, salt & pepper
  3. place in oven for about half an hour, the top of the eggplant should be nice and brown but not black
To prepare the mushroom ragoût:
  1. in a skillet, add some oil, heat and add onion, give it a few minutes then add mushroom and a dash of water. Stir and keep on low/medium heat
  2. in a small sauce pan, melt the coconut oil, then add the flour and stir like crazy
  3. the mixture should go sticky and dry (if it doesn't, you have to turn the heat up), then mix in a bit of milk and stir again, the heat should make it go stick and dry again, and so you keep adding milk until it doesn't and it becomes a sauce
  4. add in the mushroom and onions, and add salt & pepper or Bragg to taste, and you're done 🙂
Notes
Arrange both dishes on a plate and enjoy 🙂

 

Filed Under: All, Complete Meal Ideas, Light meals, Main Dishes, Veggies & Sides · Tagged: , , ,

Israeli Couscous w Minted Eggplant & Tomato Sauce

June 8, 2013 · by · Leave a Comment

 

Israeli Couscous w Minted Eggplant & Tomato Sauce

Israeli Couscous w Minted Eggplant & Tomato Sauce

 

You need (for 2 persons):
♦    1 cup of Israeli couscous
♦    2 tsp of veggie stock powder
♦    1/2 eggplant
♦    1 hand of fresh mint leafs
♦    1/2 tbsp of toasted sesame oil
♦    1/2 tbsp of deodorized coconut oil or any oil you prefer
♦    1 cup of Tomato Sauce (like for instance, this one)
♦    about 1/2 cup of hemp milk or other non dairy milk
♦    a few twigs of fresh rosemary, leafs finely chopped
♦    2 or 3 cloves of garlic, minced

You do:
– boil the couscous in water with the stock powder, should be done in 15 minutes
– slice the eggplant in pieces of your liking, I cut them in ‘fingers’
– roughly chop the mint
– in a separate pan, heat the oils and add the eggplant and the mint, bake gently
– when the eggplant is almost done, in a sauce pan, heat a bit of oil, add the chopped rosemary and garlic. Quickly stir fry and then add Tomato Sauce, then stir in the hemp milk, dilute as much as you like
– when couscous is done, rinse and if needed stir a little bit of olive oil through (to keep it from being sticky). Then scoop onto place, pour sauce on top, and arrange eggplant on top of that again

Serve and enjoy 🙂

Filed Under: All, Complete Meal Ideas, Main Dishes, Pasta & Legumes · Tagged: , , , ,

Baba Ghanoush w Coriander

May 27, 2013 · by · Leave a Comment
Baba Ghanoush

Baba Ghanoush

 

I love this, it is so versatile!

You need:

♦    1 medium eggplant (if you use a large one, just increase all ingredients a little)
♦     2 tbsp tahini
♦     grated/squeezed garlic, about a tbsp.
♦     olive oil, about 3/4 tbsp
♦     salt & pepper
♦     half a tsp of chilli powder – or more if you like it spicy
♦     coriander, fresh, about 1/4 to 1/2 a cup
♦     juice of half a lemon
♦     optional: a few drops of liquid smoke

You do:
– heat oven to 180-200C,
– prick holes in eggplant
– pop eggplant in oven and roast till it is wrinkly and a bit collapsed
– let cool down a little, then slice lengthwise
– scoop out flesh and place in food processor (or you can mash all by hand)
– add all ingredients and run machine. Taste and tweak as you like 🙂

If you do the process by hand, then chop up coriander as fine as you can.

Serve with biccies, on toast, with salad, etc etc.

Filed Under: All, Dips, Sauces & Condiments, Gluten free, Veggies & Sides · Tagged: , , ,