Eggplant Walnut Meatballs

Looking to cut out some meat from your diet? Why not try something that will be sure to please your whole family? Meatballs!

I've never been a big fan of greasy meatballs, and I never succeeded in frying them or baking them evenly - mine always turned out looking like flying saucers. And you have to admit it's a bit barbaric to touch all that meat with your hand and form the little balls. What about the giant meatballs? Are you a fan?

Basically what I did with this recipe is add 1 C ground walnuts to my already delicious eggplant balls. The nuts added body, texture, flavor, and protein.

Tracy's Eggplant Walnut Meatballs

1 ½ pound of firm, small, peeled eggplants, cut into 1 inch cubes

2 cloves garlic, peeled

2 T olive oil

½  t salt

½ C fresh parsley

1/3 C fresh basil

1 C panko bread crumbs

2/3 C vegan parmesan cheese(recipe below)

2 eggs (I used 2 flax eggs)

1 C walnuts

Roast the eggplant cubes and garlic cloves in the oil and salt.  (Foil covered baking sheet, 350 degrees, 30 minutes.) When cool, transfer to a food processor and process till chunky. Remove to a large mixing bowl. Next, grind the walnuts, parsley, and basil in the food processor until chunky. Add to the eggplant bowl. Add in the remaining ingredients and mix well with a wooden spoon. Form small balls with wet hands and bake on a parchment lined sheet at 375 for about 25-35 minutes. 

These freeze very well, so make plenty! They reheat well by lightly frying them just before serving. I do not recommend mixing them in the sauce - they retain their delicate shape and taste better if you simply serve them atop your pasta and sauce. 

Best Vegan Parmesan

¼ C nutritional yeast      

1 C raw cashews              

1 t salt

Here’s what you do:

Process in a high speed blender until a powder is produced. Store in an air-tight container in the fridge.

Cheesy Stuffed Eggplant - Moosewood Cookbook

Last week I mentioned that I have some unusual ingredients lurking in my pantry and fridge. Today I present this gorgeous, gorgeous wild rice from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. (Do I really need to clarify that the Upper Peninsula is in Michigan?  Seems redundant to this Michigan girl. Anyway, it's beautiful and wild and natural and awesome up there. It almost seems like another state: Yoopers have a special accent, they eat food that can only be found there (think meat pasties), and they understand snow... real snow!)

I spent a week in the UP last summer and purchased these two types of wild rice. (can you see the difference?) Seriously, I forgot they were in my fridge. Now, I'm on a mission to use them whenever I can.

This eggplant recipe from my beloved Moosewood Cookbook is one of my old standbys. Today, I swapped wild rice for the recommended brown rice (a great improvement!) and I messed around with the original seasonings.

I served it in the hollowed out eggplant which would be fancy for a dinner party, but usually, I just plop it all in a casserole and call it good. Chewy, cheesy, creamy, and really good.

Here's what you need to stuff 5 eggplant halves or make a nice casserole:
6 medium eggplants
1-1/2 C  raw wild rice, cooked
olive oil
2 C minced onion
12 oz minced mushrooms
salt
basil
thyme
oregano
black pepper
hot pepper flakes
5-6 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 C cottage cheese
1 C grated cheddar cheese
1/2 C fresh parsley
2 T sunflower seeds
1 T sesame seeds

Here's what you do:
Cut the eggplants lengthwise and use a spoon to scrape out the insides. It's a bit tricky, but be patient....it's possible. Chop the flesh in about 1/2 inch cubes. (If you're not serving the rice in the eggplants, simply peel the eggplants and chop the flesh.)

Saute the eggplant, onions, mushrooms, herbs for about 15 minutes. Add the garlic at the last minute or so.

Mix everything. Bake till perfect.

Deconstructed Eggplant Parmesan

Vegan Month of Food 2017

“Lines and Light”

(a line of original poetry or a photo of light every day for the month of October)

Your purple coat hides your secret

At first glance we see beauty

       Shiny and dark and rare and royal

You feel heavy, substantial, worthwhile

      My heart races

I’m tempted by your beauty

Upon taking a knife to you though, I’m weirdly surprised

Your outer-wear belied the truth

Day 20: Deconstructed Dish: Hipster Style Food
(click HERE to see what others are sharing today)

If you have been reading my blog for a while, then you know I love eggplant. The Green Zebra in Chicago serves an excellent roasted eggplant and tomato dish. I expanded it by adding my homemade garlic almond cheese. Super fancy! With a big salad and crusty garlic bread, you have a super hipster meal – serving it on a slate is optional 😊  

The technique for roasting the eggplant is perfection, by the way. 

Here's what you need:

1 large globe of eggplant, sliced 3/4 inch, skin on

1 T olive oil

thick slices fresh tomatoes, about 3/4 inch thick

fresh basil

almond cheese (recipe HERE)

1 head garlic

1 T olive oli

coarse salt

Here's what you do:

Lay the eggplant on a cookie sheet and use your fingers to dab on some olive oil. Repeat  on the other side. Roast in 400 degrees for about 15 minutes, flip over with a METAL spatula and continue until both sides are nice and brown. 

Lay the tomato slices on a cookie sheet and do the same technique for the olive oil. These need to roast for about 2-3 hours in a 250 degree oven. Obviously, this can be done the day before. 

Cut off the tip of an entire head of garlic so that the cloves are exposed. Nestle the garlic in two layers of aluminum foil and drizzle with olive oil. Wrap loosely in the foil and bake 400 degrees for abouot 30-45 minutes. After the garlic has cooled a bit, squeeze the cloves out into about 1 cup of almond cheese. Mash with a fork. Maybe add salt? 

Plate everything artistically. Garnish with fresh basil and coarse salt. 

Biryani

The most delicious, flavorful, spice-warm rice you will ever eat. There are many recipes on the internet to choose from, but mine is pretty darn good, so don’t even bother to shop around. You could serve this with a huge salad and grilled mushrooms or tofu and it would be an impressive meal. I served mine with a cauliflower and pea curry which had the same flavor profile as the biryani, so I don’t think the rice  got its well-deserved acclaim. 

I found a recipe for bryani (a typo?)  in “The Vegetarian Epicure” by Anna Thomas, copyright 1972. 1972! The entire cookbook is quite a walk down ‘hippie’ lane, but there are some gems between the pages. I made some modifications and those are reflected below.

Biryani

Here’s what you need:
¼ C non-dairy butter

1 ½ t cumin seeds

1 ½ t mustard seeds

¼ t cayenne pepper

½ t salt

1 clove garlic, crushed and minced

¼ t turmeric

¼ t ground ginger

½ t ground cinnamon

½ t ground coriander

1 large eggplant, peeled and diced

1 C sliced green onions

1 C blanched fresh wax beans (yellow beans), cut in 1 inch pieces

1 C chopped  jarred sweet red peppers

1 C chopped fresh tomatoes

4-5 C cooked rice, which has been prepared in vegetable broth

2/3 C roasted cashews, chopped in large pieces (or left whole for a better presentation)
½ C golden raisins

Here’s what you do:

Melt the butter and stir in the spices for a few minutes. Add the vegetables. Stir well and cook until veg is a bit soft. Add the cooked rice, cashews, and raisins. Stir well and pour in a buttered casserole. Cover tightly and bake at 350 degrees for about ½ hour. 

Parmesan Eggplant Meatballs

I was super irritated the last few summers with the meager supply of eggplants at my local *big box* garden center. Am I really the only person in my town who grows eggplants at home? Can’t the garden centers carry a few plants for the eggplant lovers out there? Apparently not.

Anyway, last year I wanted the classic globe shaped vegetable, but ended up with a Japanese variety. They were way too narrow for eggplant bacon, and I hated to waste them (they grew like crazy!), so I had to find another way to use them. Luckily I found the perfect recipe. Even those of you who are eggplant shy, will enjoy these little beauties.

This is how they look directly from the oven.
Obviously mine were not beautifully shaped balls, but it didn't matter. 

Parmesan Eggplant Meatballs (veganized by me, originally found in the 'Heirloom Gardener' catalog) 

Here’s what you need:

1 ½ pound of firm, small, peeled eggplants, cut into 1 inch cubes

2 cloves garlic, peeled

2 T olive oil

½  t salt

½ C fresh parsley

1/3 C fresh basil

1 C panko bread crumbs

2/3 C vegan parmesan cheese (my favorite recipe can be found HERE)

2 eggs (I used 2 flax eggs)

Last night's dinner : I pulled the eggplant meatballs directly from the freezer and fried them. Delicious! Crunchy on the outside and creamy and tender on the inside. 

Here’s what you do:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Toss eggplant cubes, garlic cloves, and salt with oil and bake in a foil covered baking sheet for 30 minutes, or until everything is nice and soft. Allow to cool and remove any excess moisture by squeezing it out. (To speed along the process, you can chill the veg in an ice bath by putting the hot veg in a big bowl, and then placing the bowl in a larger bowl of ice water.) Increase oven temp to 375.

In a food processor process the parsley and basil until coarse. Add the eggplant, bread crumbs, parmesan, and eggs and blend until its nice and smooth.

Line a baking sheet with parchment, use wet hands, form meatballs about 1 ½ inches in diameter, bake 25 minutes at 375 degrees.

I froze these in dinner-size portions and they have behaved beautifully right from the freezer.

SpicyCoconut Curried Eggplant

Here's what my life is like some days. Write the weekly menu and head to the local grocery for as much as I can purchase there. Remember, I live in small-town USA, so my local guy doesn't really carry stuff like cardamom pods. He doesn't even have tofu on the shelf, and believe me, I've asked for it! Like more than a few times. I sincerely think that if he'd carry it, folks would buy it. Anyway, I try to support my local businesses, so that's where I begin my shopping, even if the eggplants are dented and a tiny bit withered.

Travel across town to the huge superstore for fresh ginger, tofu, coconut milk, and the elusive spice. But happy fortune, while scouring the spice rack for cardamom pods, I find harissa! Here in my little city! What??  Happy day!!  I'm all over harissa! (Well, I'm not really sure how to use it, but I will learn, believe me.)  

Back in the car (did I mention this all takes place in a slushy snow storm? I'm dressed like a snow-woman, hat, boots, puffy coat, etc The car's a filthy mess.) to the up-scale grocery for that last ingredient - cardamom pods. Success.

Drive home, unload bags from the car to the kitchen, pour a huge glass of wine, look over the recipe, and start chopping veg. What? Where's that can of coconut milk? Back to the car, searching every nook and cranny only to find that it had rolled out of its bag.

Same kinds of shopping days for you?

If you like SPICY, then you'll love this curry.

Here's what you need:

2 eggplants

1 T oil

1/2 onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 inches fresh ginger, peeled and minced

1 t ground cardamom

2 T ground coriander

1 T red pepper flakes

4 whole cardamom pods

1/2 t black peppercorns

1/2 T turmeric

4 tomatoes, chopped

2 cans coconut milk

rice

Here's what you do:

Dice the eggplant into 1-2  inch pieces. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with a bit of salt and bake on a lined baking sheet at 350 for 20 minutes.

In a medium pot, sauté onions, garlic, ginger, ground cardamom, coriander, and red pepper flakes until the onions begin to soften. Don't brown anything.

Crush the black peppercorns and the cardamom pods in a mortar and add them, along with the remaining spices, to the onions.

Add the tomatoes, coconut milk, and the eggplant to the pot and simmer for about 20 minutes.

Serve over white rice. Goes well with a toasted Naan bread and roasted carrots. Consider serving something cool along side this dish: sliced cucumbers maybe?

Eggplant Rollatini

 

Day 22: Make a dish using all seasonal produce. 

Living in the great state of Michigan is such a luxury! We have it all, including as many fresh veggies and farm grown food as a person can handle. My little garden it still producing lots of veg - I have some gorgeous eggplants still tucked away. I'm thinking I'll make eggplant bacon - yes, bacon. I tried it last year and it was killer on a BLT. 

Basically, for these little bundles of garlicky goodness, I sliced eggplants very thin, roasted them, smeared them with some vegan ricotta, smothered them in sauce and finished them off with some pine nuts. Can you say, "Luscious"?

Eggplant Bacon - Vegan Month of Food

Poesy and Plate
 Vegan Month of Food  2014

(check out the hundreds of VeganMoFo blogs HERE)
My goal: cook and blog about vegan food 20 times
  during the month of September. 
My theme: words and food

“The Harding White House was frequently bustling with guests during large formal gatherings and small intimate parties. President Warren G. Harding, inaugurated March 4, 1921, favored Eggplant Salad West Coast Style consisting of eggplant slices that were first baked, and then marinated in a mixture of mayonnaise, vinegar, lemon juice, salt, pepper, Worcestershire and chili sauces. These were presented in a lettuce-lined bowl and garnished with chopped hard-cooked eggs.” (from http://www.vegparadise.com/highestperch67.html )

Mr. Smith: “I see we’ve been invited to the White House for dinner next week.”

Mrs. Smith: “I certainly hope Mr. Harding has not included that horrid Eggplant Salad West Coast Style on the menu.”

Mr. Smith: “Yes, I agree! I cannot stomach the thought of eating that slimy purple thing!”

Mrs. Smith: “Maybe we can simply push it around on our plate.”

Mr. Smith: “Or maybe we can say we are allergic to it in all its forms.”

Mrs. Smith: “If we’re lucky, we can slip our portion to the dog.”

Mr. Smith: “Shall we cancel the invitation?”

Mrs. Smith: “Oh, dear, I did so much want to visit the White House…..”

Mr. Smith: “But darling, an EGGPLANT!”

Mrs. Smith: “Alas, we must to the honorable thing and cancel the dinner invitation. How else can we avoid the dreaded vegetable?”

Mr. Smith: “Why MUST Mr. Harding insist on serving EGGPLANT?”

Mrs. Smith: “…sigh….”

 Here's what you need:

One medium eggplant, sliced 1/8 inch on a mandolin

1 T maple syrup

2 T soy sauce

1/2 t liquid smoke

Here's what you do: 

Bake the eggplant slices on an oiled baking sheet at 425 degrees for about 12-15 minutes, turning them over and removing them if they get too brown. You need to watch them closely. 

Prepare the marinade by whisking the remaining ingredients together. 

Dip each slice of baked eggplant in the marinade and return to the baking sheet. Continue to bake at 350 degrees for about 8-10 more minutes. Watch the slices closely and turn them over often. 

Spice Rack Challenge: Cinnamon: Mushroom Moussaka

I may have gone off the proverbial eggplant deep-end with this recipe. If you have been reading this blog for any length of time, you know I love eggplant. I promise I will refrain from using eggplant on the blog for a few months. Just please allow me to tempt you with one last eggplant recipe here… and yes, there’s cinnamon in there – in fact, it is the signature flavor of moussaka…. besides eggplant.

(To check out the other Spice Rack Challenges I have participated in click: mace, basil, coriander,  cardamom, mint, dill, …. To check out the various Spice Rack Challenge Round Ups, click on Mother’s Kitchen here. )

Straight from Moosewood Cookbook (another favorite of mine, along with eggplant) – I present three of the loveliest layers of flavor you will ever eat: Mushroom Moussaka.

1.       Peel and slice 3 medium eggplants about ¼ inch thick. Salt the slices and layer them in a colander. Allow the salt to draw out the bitter juices of the eggplant. (about 20-30 minutes).

2.       While the eggplant and salt are doing their thing, start on the mushroom layer. Saute 2 cups of chopped onions. Add 2 pounds of sliced mushrooms and cook together till nice and golden and soft. Add about 5 cloves of chopped garlic also.

3.       Add a 14 ounce can of diced tomatoes with all the liquid and 6 ounces of tomato paste. Spices include 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon oregano, 1 teaspoon basil and lots of black pepper. Stir and cook. Stir and cook. It will get nice and thick.

4.       Add 1 C fresh parsley, ½ C bread crumbs and ½ C parmesan cheese to the mushrooms. Mix well and set aside. That layer is done!

5.       Rescue the eggplants from their salt bath. Pat them dry with clean towels. Bake them in 375 degrees for about 20-30 minutes till super soft. They can pile on top of each other on the baking sheet. Another layer done!

6.       While the eggplant is baking, work on the Béchamel layer. Melt 3 T butter. Add 4 T flour. Whisk and cook, whisk and cook. Slowly pour in 2 ½ C hot milk (I use skim). Whisk and cook for about 8 minutes. Add 2 T more of flour. Whisk and cook. Add 1 C Parmesan cheese and a sprinkle of nutmeg. Whisk and cook. The sauce should be thick and smooth.

7.       Ready for the famous moussaka layers? Oil a huge casserole dish and start the layering: ¾ of the eggplant, then all the mushroom sauce, then the remaining eggplant, then all the béchamel sauce. Sprinkle the top with bread crumbs and a bit more Parmesan. Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 30-40 minutes.

8.       Allow to cool for a while before cutting (unlike me) to get a great layered effect when you serve it.

Some thoughts: I made this on a Tuesday. I get crazy menu ideas sometimes and get in the mood for a ‘big’ meal on a work day. But you know what? Making this for my family is not really all that ‘big’ to me; I love getting creative in the kitchen and I find ‘big’ cooking to be very relaxing. I mean, look what I created!! It’s beautiful – you have to admit that, even if you don’t like eggplant!

This is a huge recipe, so be prepared for leftovers. My hubby thought it was a bit saucy and could have used some rice. I loved it as is and happily ate it that night and for lunch for the next few days!

So what about you and eggplant? Lover or hater?

PS – I was just looking around the internet at other Moosewood Mushroom Moussaka recipes to find a handy link for you and they are super easy to find. Click away. But what I notice is that most of them out there use eggs in the béchamel sauce, which means that those recipes come from an older version of the Moosewook Cookbook. I use and love the revised edition.

Hey- is anyone out there up for a Moosewood Cookbook Challenge in the coming year??? You know, maybe make something from one of the famous Moosewood cookbooks once a month and round them up here? Let me know!  

Eggplant Parmesan - Lite

Don’t let the word ‘eggplant’ turn you off- after all, it’s just a vegetable.  Don’t let the word ‘lite’ turn you off – there is no frying involved here, and taste is not compromised at all.

Straight from my favorite cookbook, Moosewood Cookbook, New Revised Edition, I present a classic. Only better. 

Follow the directions exactly and you will have the most impressive (and easy) and I predict your

 'new favorite way' to serve eggplant - ever. 

(I think my star, check mark, smiley face, and gross smudge speak volumes.... don't you?)

Gather all the goodies. 

Be sure your bread crumbs are highly seasoned. Bake the eggplant till it's nice and soft and toasty on both sides. Sometimes, I flip it over to brown it. You could always give it the broiler treatment. 

Also make sure your tomato sauce is highly seasoned. I sauteed garlic in olive oil, added a large can of tomato puree, seasoned with basil, oregano, thyme and red pepper flakes. 

Sauce. Eggplant. Cheese. Repeat. 

"Heaven!" she sang. 

One Year Ago:  Pimento Cheese - a classic and always a hit
                          Sunshine Chicken - great for a quick and low cal/ low fat dinner idea. Great leftovers for lunch also. Tangy. Sweet. Sticky. 

Spice Rack Challenge : Basil

Chapter One:

Search around for a great way to use basil – of course it must be paired with other summer essentials: tomatoes, zucchini and eggplant.

Chapter Two:

Settle on Cornmeal-Crusted Roasted Ratatouille Tart…… directly from Food Network website and Ellie Krieger (one of my favorite TV personalities)

Chapter Three:

Go to the garden and see that there are only TWO basil plants this year…… spend some time wondering how that happened. Not enough for homemade pesto, sigh……. Will I have to purchase basil?? Horrors…..Is there still time to plant more? 

Chapter Three and a half:
Looking for a super way to use tons of basil? click here for my pesto recipe.

Chapter Four:

Make a trip to the health food store for corn meal.

Chapter Five:

Gather the simple ingredients and study the recipe. (Ellie Krieger’s recipes sometimes have way too many steps, but they are always worth the effort.)

 Chapter Six:

Make the crust.

Chapter Seven:

Bake with foil and beans.

Chapter Eight:

Bake longer without the foil and beans.

Chapter Nine:

Sautee shallots.

Chapter Ten:

Thinly slice all the tomatoes, zucchini and eggplant. 

Chapter Eleven:

Slowly roast the veggies.

Chapter Twelve:

Allow everything to cool.

Chapter Thirteen:

Layer all the goodness - veggies, cheeses, basil– beautiful really…. 

Chapter Fourteen:

Bake and serve with couscous salad.

Review:

We absolutely loved the layered veggies in this tart, but did not enjoy the crust. It was too dry and ‘corny’ for our taste.  This recipe only calls for 2 T butter and 2 T oil in the crust, whereas in other crusts there in an entire stick of butter and sometimes even more fat (cheese, or whatever.) So, if you’re looking to curb calories, this crust is fine. If you’re looking for a flaky bite, search for a different crust. If you want a delicious combination of roasted veggies, look no further.

  

Epilogue:

When the recipe says use 1/3 of an eggplant and a medium zucchini, you are left with these sad leftovers….. what to do? Roast them and put them on a pizza?

One Year Ago:
Oatmeal Bread - I make this all the time
Tomato Appetizer Pie - a summer classic

(printable recipe can be found here)