Butternut Squash Risotto

I’m not one for seconds, trying to vigilantly practice portion control blahblahblah, but I could NOT resist just a wee bit more of this of this dreamy-creamy, cheesy-salty, butternut-sweet risotto.  Make some for yourself and see if you can resist; especially if you have butternut squash left from last summer like I do. (Be watching for more butternut recipes to come!)  The original recipe just sounded so yummy, I had to try it.  So glad I did! 

Do not be afraid of the word “risotto.”  So not hard to do.  Really. 

• 1 small-medium butternut squash, peeled, cleaned, cubed and roasted
• 1 quart chicken stock  (use vegetable stock for a yummy vegetarian version!)
• 1 cup water
• 2 TBSP olive oil, plus additional for roasting squash
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups arborio rice (regular rice won’t get you the creaminess)
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 TBSP fresh sage, finely chopped
• 2 TBSP butter, room temp or cut into little pieces
• 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper to taste
• grated nutmeg to taste (Optional–I totally forgot to add it in and the risotto was yummy anyway!  I really like nutmeg, though, so I’ll use it next time and probably stir some into the left overs.)

Preheat oven to 400F.  Clean and cut the squash into 1/2-inch cubes.  Place in a roasting pan, drizzle with a TBSP or two of olive oil.  Add salt and pepper to taste, toss and roast for 30 minutes or until tender.  Set aside.

Place chicken broth and water in a medium pot.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to hold at a simmer.

In a large skillet, heat 2 TBSP olive oil over medium-high heat until it starts to shimmer or ripple.  Add onion and garlic.  Saute until transparent, 2-3 minutes.

Add rice and saute another 2-3 minutes.

Add wine; cook, stirring occasionally until wine has been absorbed, another 2-3 minutes. (Seeing a pattern here?!)

Add 2 ladles of chicken broth, cook stirring occasionally until broth is absorbed, about 2-3 minutes.  Repeat, 2 ladles-fulls at a time, until all broth from the pot is absorbed.  This slow addition of liquid and the stirring is what develops the starchy creaminess of the risotto.  Total cooking time will be around 18 minutes.

Add the squash in with the last 2 ladles of chicken broth.

When last of the broth is absorbed, add butter, cheese,sage, nutmeg, salt and pepper.

Stir to combine.

Ta-Da!  You made risotto!  Serve it up as a side dish to pork or poultry, or let it be a yummy meat-free main course like I did.  I think rosemary would be a yummy substitute for the sage.  If you don’t have fresh of either herb, use dried, but only half as much–dried herbs are much more potent!

I absolutely love-love-loved the combination of flavors and the overall texture of this dish.  Not Michael’s favorite since it is not Mexican food and does not contain meat, but he thought it was pretty good and thought he’d be good with having it again sometime.  A very good thing, since there are quite a few squash still lurking in the cellar…

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

slideshow

 

 

Western Colorado Cheese Steak

Isn’t it wonderful when an idea comes together?  Last summer I pickled some peppers from my garden.  Corno di Toros–meaning horn of the bull, as these peppers curl as they grow and are reminisant of bulls’ horns.  I planted them because they are heirlooms, and I am a total sucker for heirloom plants of any kind.  Anyway, everything I read about them indicated they were a mild sweet pepper.  I commenced my pickling and thought, “hmmmmm…these smell kinda hot.”  I took a small bite.  HOT!  Wow.  I continued pickling them and thought about how I might use them this winter; some way to bring a bit of summer garden into the grey days of winter.  Some sort of cheese steak? Like a panini?  Totally forgot about the pickled peppers, until dear friends gave us Wild Onion Salsa for Christmas.  And then today, flat iron steaks were on sale at the grocery store!  Ta-Da!  The premire of the Western Colorado Cheese Steak!

Feel free to adjust ingredients according to what you can find, of course.

• 1 small flat steak, like a skirt steak or a flat iron, grilled medium-rare
• cheese; I used swiss
• dijon mustard
• your favorite bread; this is a semolina batard
• pickled hot peppers
• onion salsa; not hot, kinda sweet, actually.

Grill the steak medium-rare.  Often these flat steaks get tough if you grill them all the way to medium.  Let the steak rest while you get other ingredients ready.  After at least five minutes, cut against the grain into thin slices.

Preheat a panini press or contact grill.  I have a contact grill my mom insisted I needed…..she was right!

Cut bread into slices.  I cut on the diagonal to get larger slices.  Spread each slice with mustard.  Then layer on cheese slices, thin slices of steak, then peppers, then onion salsa.  lay more cheese on the other bread slice, then more cheese then the top bread slice.

Grill the sandwiches until the cheese is melty and everything is heated through, 5-10 minutes.Cut in half and devour!  Look at all those yummy layers!

I really loved the grilled combo of sweet onion, briney hot peppers, savory steak and melty cheese.  It would have been even more yummy if it were snowing, the summer garden contrast with the snow would have been perfect!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

slideshow

Chicken Parmesan

The other night was one of those too-lazy-to-go-to-the-store-gotta-make-dinner-with-what’s-in-the-house kinda nights.  If you have chicken, milk, eggs, cheese, bread crumbs, pasta sauce and pasta, You could make a yummy and yummy-looking meal like this:

Ingredient amounts will vary depending on how much many servings you’re making.  You can make chicken parm for two or a whole crowd.  I didn’t measure, so all measurements are approximate.

• 1 pound chicken tenders (I like the portion size of a tender.)
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1 1/2 cup bread crumbs (I like panko for the extra crunch!)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup milk
• 1 package pasta of your choice, prepared according to package directions.
• 1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce (This is my Zesty Pasta Sauce!)

Preheat oven to 350F.  Spray a 9×13 pan with oil a spread a bit of the pasta sauce over the bottom.

Place tenders a few at a time in a sealed ziploc and pound to a uniform thickness, around 1/4-inch thick, using a wooden mallet or something similar.

Stack them up on a plate until all are pounded thin.

Create a breading station of shallow bowls in this order: milk, flour, egg, and then bread crumbs.

Dip each tender in milk, then flour; shake off excess.  Then dip into egg and then breadcrumbs, coating evenly.  Place into a hot pan with 3 TBSP oil.  Fry until each side is golden brown and chicken is cooked through.  Work in batches, overcrowding will steam the chicken and you’ll loose the nice crunch.  Add extra oil as needed.

Drain on paper towels. Don’t they look yummy already?!  All crispity-crunchity?!  Mmmmmm….

When all tenders are cooked, place in prepared pan and schmear with some pasta sauce.

Then top with shredded cheese.

Bake 30 minutes, until cheese is melty and bubbly.

Serve with prepared pasta and garlic bread.  Top with shredded parmesan if you like.

Such an easy and yummy meal.  Great for the fam on a weeknight, impressive for company, fancy-schmancy enough for date night!  Have a bite!

Super yummy left over as well.  One pound of tenders, a jar of pasta sauce and a package of spaghetti was enough for the three of us and then left overs for two the next day.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

slideshow

Nina’s Enchiladas

Mr17’s Granny, Nina, makes the most unique-est and yummiest enchiladas in the land!  She is the queen of comfort food in great abundance–no one goes hungry at Granny’s house!  Everyone looks forward to Granny’s cooking–especially these enchiladas, and maybe the butterscotch cake….or the snickerdoodles….or the pot roast…..  Oh, Mr17 is so lucky to have a Granny like her–because of her cooking and just how wonderful she is in so many ways.  ❤

The ingredients are simple, the spicy heat is easy to control, and I’ll bet even someone who doesn’t much care for Mexican food will LOVE these.  I mean, just look at the ooey-gooey creamy-cheesy yumminess that is a Nina’s Enchilada:

Run to the store for anything you don’t have…

• 1-1 1/2 pounds of chicken, cooked and diced or shredded (Save money by watching for your grocery to mark down chicken close to its freshness date!)
• 3 medium potatoes, diced, cooked, drained (I have 10 little potatoes left from last summer’s garden.  I have a habit of using the bigger ones first.)
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup  (Store brand is cheaper and tastes the same!)
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 can Rotel tomatoes, spiciness of your choice–I like original
• 1 can diced green chiles–spiciness of your choice
• grated cheese–I ended up using a little more than half a pound
• 12 flour tortillas

Preheat oven to 350F.  Oil enough pans to hold 12 enchiladas–I use an 8×8 and an 8×12. 

Cook potatoes and chicken.

Dump cream of mushroom, cream of chicken, Rotel tomatoes and a couple big handfuls of cheese into a large bowl.

Stir to combine and separate 1/3 of the mixture into a small bowl.  Reserve.

Add chicken, potatoes and green chiles to the large bowl.  Stir until all ingredients are well distributed.

Warm the tortillas to make them easier to work with.  Place them one at a time into a prepared pan, fill with chicken mixture and roll; line them up seam-side down.

Continue rolling until you’ve made 12 enchiladas.  Cover with the reserved mixture.  Be sure to spread the mixture to completely cover the tortillas all the way to their edges.  (Uncovered tortilla edges will get hard in the oven.)

Top edge-to-edge with cheese; another two large handfuls or so.

Bake for 30 minutes or until cheese is melty and bubbly.  (If you bake them too long, the bottoms get hard.)  Oh the aroma of these enchiladas when you take them out of the oven…

Serve with your favorite toppings.  My faves are tomatoes, green onion, avocado and sour cream. 

These are so quick and easy, they are perfect to take to potlucks or occasions when you want to take food to a friend.  They are also spectacular left over for lunch the next day! 

For me, the spiciness is perfect with original Rotel and mild green chiles.  Michael would prefer it hotter.  How hot is the perfect yummy-hot for you?

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

slideshow

Lentil Soup and Corn Bread (Vegetarian, Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free!)

Vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free….but most of all, a warm, hearty and seriously yummy winter comfort food dinner.  I have good friends, who between them, have these food requirements.  I love to have friends over for dinner, and these two really challenged my usual repertoire.  Advice from a  few gluten-free cookbooks and a search of recipes I usually make, resulted in this really wonderful combination!

The soup couldn’t be easier, and the corn bread is adapted from my cooking bible, The Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook.

For the Lentil Soup:

• 2 quarts vegetable broth
• 2 cups water (to start–you will probably add more water later to adjust the thickness of the soup)
• 2 cups lentils, rinsed
• 1-16oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 cup rice (I used a wild rice mix.  My original recipe calls for 1 cup barley–a product with gluten.  If you can have gluten and prefer barley, by all means use that instead! I was also thinking quinoa might be yummy…)
• 2 cups chopped onion (1 large or 1 1/2 medium onions)
• 2 cups chopped celery (1 celery “heart”)
• 2 cups chopped carrots (4-5 carrots)
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used canola.)
• 2 TBSP chopped fresh parsley
• 1 TBSP salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 envelope dry onion soup mix
• 2 packages frozen chopped spinach, partially thawed.

NOTE: Check all packaged ingredients to be sure they are gluten-free.

Place everything EXCEPT the spinach in a large stock pot over medium heat.  Bring to a boil and then cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 50 minutes to an hour.  Leave the spinach packages sit on the counter to start thawing.

After the 50-60 minutes, add the spinach.

Stir to combine, cover and continue to simmer until lentils are tender and rice (or barley) is cooked through; an additional 10-20 minutes.  At this point, you can let the soup sit at a low simmer or in a crock pot until you’re ready to eat it.  How easy-peasy is that?!

For the Corn bread:

• 1 cup rice flour blend (recipe below, after the slideshow)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup yellow corn meal
• 1 tsp powdered xanthan gum
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup unflavored almond or soy milk (I used almond milk)
• 1/4 cup grapeseed oil

Preheat oven to 425F.  Grease a 9x9x2″ pan with a vegetable shortening.

Stir rice flour blend, sugar, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum together in a medium bowl.

Add corn meal, stir to combine.

Add eggs, almond milk and grapeseed oil; stir until just smooth–do not over-beat, or your corn bread will be tough.

Pour batter into the pan. 

 Bake 20-25 minutes–until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

Cut into slices and serve with the Lentil Soup!  Yummy!

I ended up adding an additional 4 cups of water to my soup, and it was still thick and hearty.  The corn bread–my first attempt at making it gluten-free–turned out crispy on the top, with a light, tender texture inside.  It was way yummy, and tasted just like corn bread with regular wheat flour! 

This meal would be delicious with just the fam, but was extra yummy spiced with conversation, laughter and good friends.  ❤

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Rice Flour Blend:

• 2 cups white rice flour
• 2/3 cup potato starch
• 1/3 cup tapioca flour

Mix all the ingredients thouroughly and store in an air-tight container.

All of these ingredients, and the xanthan gum, can be found at health food stores and larger supermarkets.

Celine’s Firehouse Burritos with Guacamole

Today’s blog post is in memory of my Mom.  Famous for her love of cooking and entertaining–especially her holiday parties, Mom went to party with the angels Christmas Eve.  What a party that must have been!  When a loved one passes, one is left with memories and photos.  I have even more–Mom’s recipes and love of cooking.  Everytime I make one of her dishes, everytime I set a pretty table, everytime I have people over and cook for them, I have Mom with me.  ❤

Mom and Dad were part of the Florida (pronounced flor-ee’-da) Volunteer Fire Department in New Mexico after they retired.  Sometimes a fire would take a while to put out; fires don’t care if you miss a meal.  On long fires, one of the other firefighters’ daughters would sometimes bring burritos out to the folks fighting the blaze–they are easily rolled with both ends tucked in and wrapped in plastic or foil. Mom loved them and adapted the recipe.  Here’s a picture of one before it gets rolled….mmmmm!

The recipe couldn’t be more simple.  You’ll be enjoying these yummy and satisfying burritos in no time.

• 1 pound ground pork, browned in 1 TBSP olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3-4 medium potatoes, chopped (Peel ’em if you want–I don’t for this recipe)
• 1 can diced green chiles
• tortillas

For the Guacamole:

• 1 avocado, chopped
• 1 small roma tomato, chopped
• 1/4 cup diced red onion
• 1 clove garlic, mashed with 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• squeeze of lime, if desired
• 1/8 cup cilantro, chopped, if desired

Place a large pot over medium heat.  Start browning the pork in the oil.

Peel and chop the onion, add to the pot.

Here’s my mom prepping the potatoes…I took these pictures last summer.

Add the potatoes to the pot, cover. 

Watch and stir occasionally to prevent the potatoes from sticking.  Cook until potatoes are fork tender.

Add green chiles and cook for an additional 5-10 minutes to infuse the flavor.

Meanwhile, heat your tortillas.  Mom has a groovy tortilla grid thingie she puts right on the burner of her gas stove.  The flames give the tortillas a lovely touch of char.  I have a tortilla warmer for my microwave; or you could wrap them in a damp dish towel.  I usually set the microwave for 10 seconds per tortilla.

Keep the tortillas warm in a towel and make the guacamole.  Check out the authentic molcajete Mom uses for her guac!

Sprinkle the salt in a bowl and use it as an abrasive to rub a clove of garlic into, creating a paste.

Add half the onions to the bowl and crush into the garlic. You can see my little note pad I used to right down Mom’s recipes and stories about them in this picture.  🙂

Add the rest of the onions, tomatoes and avocado.

Stir to combine.  Add a squeeze of lime and the cilantro if desired.  Let guac sit for a few minutes to allow the flavors to mingle.

Take the tortillas, burrito filling, guacamole and any other ingredients to the table and allow everyone to build their burritos their own way–cheese?  Sour cream?  Chopped green onions?  Chopped tomatoes?  And….a lovely Temperanillo to pair your yummy burritos with!

Here’s how I built mine.  I’ve also had these burritos smothered with green chile sauce, cheese, onions and tomatoes on top with a side of Mom’s refried beans.  Mmmmmmm–yummy!

How lucky am I to have Mom’s recipes and these pictures of her cooking for me?!  Here’s hoping you have some great memories of your mom, or that you’re still making those memories.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

❤

 

Grampa Tom’s Turkey Tetrazzini

Mr17’s Grampa Tom is one amazing cook.  This is most evident around the outdoor griddle at the cabin and at Thanksgiving.  Tom is the master of Thankgiving leftovers; most famous for his “Pilgrim Stew” and this fast, easy and delish Turkey Tetrazzini.

When I’m buying groceries for Thanksgiving, I always toss in an extra tub of sour cream (light), mushrooms and sliced mushrooms.  I know I’m gonna want to make “the tetrazzini,” it’s Mr17’s favorite.

• 1 1/2-2 cups shredded turkey (I use a mix of light and dark.)
• 1-2 cups shredded parmesan cheese
• 1 pound mushrooms, sliced
• 2 ribs celery, chopped
• 1 package sliced almonds
• 1-1 1/2 cups sour cream
• 1 package pasta of your choice, prepared (Or use leftover pasta if you have it!)
• reserved pasta water

Cook pasta according to package directions, drain, reserving a cup of pasta water.

Saute mushrooms in 3-4 TBSP butter.

Return cooked pasta to pot and add sauteed mushrooms, celery, almonds, turkey, and sour cream.  Stir to combine, add a bit of pasta water to help make it easier to mix if needed.

Add cheese, stir to combine.

Serve with a garnish of grated parmesan and a sprinkling of black pepper.  Mmmm!

How’s that for easy comfort food?!  It’s also delish garnished with a some chopped green onions.  Take some for lunch the next day–even more yummy!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Turkey Pot Pie

If you cooked a turkey this Thanksgiving, chances are you’ve got leftovers.  There are lots and lots of options for using leftover turkey, but I’m here to tell ya–try turkey pot pie!!!  Now, I’m not talking bland and boring Swanson-style (no offense, Swanson fans), I’m talking super flavor-y, spicy, warm, gooey little pots of turkey yumminess that you’ll plan an extra pound of turkey to have leftover for next year!

Gather up some turkey and a few other items:

• 1 premade, rolled pie crust
• 1-1 1/2 cups pepper jack cheese, shredded
• 1 can diced green chiles
• 2 small potatoes, cubed
• 1/2 small onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 bag frozen corn
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1/2 lb or so turkey, shredded into bite-size pieces  (I used dark meat; I like the heavier flavor in soups, etc.)

Preheat oven to 350F and assemble eight 4-oz ramekins on a cookie sheet.  (Really, any oven-safe container will work.  I just got these little ramekins, and am still enamored by them!)

In a medium sauce pan, combine soup along with enough milk or half and half to get a thick but workable consistancy.  (Keep the milk handy in case you need to thin it a bit later.)  Add the green chiles.

Add corn and turkey, stir to combine.

Meanwhile, cube and boil the potatoes until fork tender.

And saute the onion and garlic until translucent and aromatic.

Add potatoes, onion and garlic to the pan.

Add shredded cheese, stir to combine.

Divide filling evenly between your containers.

Divide pie crust into eight sections (or how many you need for the containers you’re using) and roll into circles 1/2 inch larger than your containers.

Mix 1 egg and 1 TBSP water to make an egg wash.

Brush egg wash onto the rim and top part of the sides of each container.  Place pastry on top, press to adhere and cut 3 slits to let steam escape.

Brush the tops and sides of all the pastry with egg wash, sprinkle with a bit of sea salt and freshly ground pepper.

Bake 25-30 minutes (or possibly a bit longer if using a larger container), until tops are golden brown and inside is bubbly.  You’ll be able to hear the filling bubble, even if it is not escaping through the slits.

Use a spatula and an oven mit to transfer warm pies to plates.

Doesn’t that look yummy?

Break the top, let it cool a bit and have a bite….mmmmmm!

The salt and pepper on top of the pastry seasoned the filling perfectly–no need to add salt and pepper to the filling before you put it into containers.  I love how cute these little pies are and love, love, love how they taste.  Ooey-gooey comfort food-o-rama!  Yummy!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Zucchini-Ricotta Fritters

Zucchini.  I love it–the plants are lush, the flowers beautiful, they create a LOT of food for my family for a very small investment.  Did I mention a LOT?  One of the joys of growing zucchini is the continual search for another way to prepare it.  The August 2011 Food and Wine and Mario Batali provided this easy-peasy and fast zucchini solution.

I’ve made zucchini fritters before I found this recipe, and they were pretty good.  And then I made them from this recipe and they were uh-maze-ing!  The magic?  Ricotta and lemon zest.  Oh, yeah.  So fresh!  So citrusy!  So yummy!!!

This recipe is MOSTLY zucchini!  It calls for 2 medium, but I had captured 3 while they were small that day…

• 2 medium (or 3 small) zucchini
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 3 large scallions, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
• 1 tsp each salt and pepper
• 3/4 cup flour
• olive oil for frying
• lemon wedges for serving

In a large bowl, combine zucchini, scallions, garlic, ricotta, eggs, lemon zest, and salt and pepper. 

Stir to combine and add flour.  Stir until just incorporated.

Line a large baking sheet with paper towels.  In a large skillet, heat 1/4 inch of olive oil until shimmering.  Working in batches, add 2-tablespoon mounds of the zucchini batter to the hot oil, spreading them to form 3-inch puddles.

Fry over medium-high heat, turning once until browned and crisp, about 3 minutes.  Drain on paper towels.

Serve right away, with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

Yum-yum-yummy!  Perfect with pasta, or with a fresh tomato slice, or the next morning, reheated, with an over-easy egg and a bit of cheese on top!  Zucchini–it’s what’s for breakfast!  🙂  Food and Wine suggests a wine pairing of a citrusy, spritsy, Spanish white.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Garden-Fresh Ratatouille

I had never had ratatouille before this summer; knew there was an animated movie about a rat gourmet and that’s about it.  I came across a recipe in my newest cookbook, Gluten-Free and Easy.  How fabulous to find all the ingredients for ratatouille right in my very own garden!  What could I do?  I had to try this yummy-yummy recipe.

• 1 large onion, finely sliced (My onions are still a bit small, so I pulled 7 smallish ones.)
• 2 TBSP olive oil
• 1 tsp crushed garlic
• 1 large eggplant, about 1 pound, chopped (I’m growing a lovely heirloom striped variety called Italian Bicolor.)
• 1/4 tsp ground coriander
• 2 zucchini, chopped
• 1 large green pepper, seeded and diced (this is a Big Bertha Bell)
• 2 baby yellow squash, chopped
• 2 1/4 pounds ripe plum (roma) tomatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 cup white wine (REALLY makes all the difference in the flavor!!!)
• 1 TBSP tomato paste
• 3 thyme sprigs
• 1 bay leaf (I bought a sweet bay plant from the greenhouse this year, so I have fresh bay!  Woot!)
• 2 TBSP chopped basil
• 1 TBSP chopped flat-leaf Italian parsley
• 1 tsp salt
• good grind of black pepper

(Wow does this use a bunch of my garden produce!  Yay!)

Cut a small x in the bottoms of each tomato (helps the peel to separate), blanch in boiling water for a couple minutes, shock in ice water, cut off stem end, peel and chop.

In a large saucepan or skillet over medium heat, saute the onion in olive oil until soft.

Add the garlic, eggplant and coriander and cook, stirring for 5 minutes.

Add zucchini, green pepper and yellow squash.  Cook for another few minutes.

Stir in tomatoes, wine, tomato paste, thyme (the leaves will cook off the stems, which can be removed later), and bay leaf.  Lower the heat and simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes until vegetables are tender.

(Now we’re smellin’ yummy!)  Stir in basil and parsley.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve with your choice of starch.  The recipe suggests a baked polenta or mashed sweet potatoes with pumpkin.  I had some pasta.

So good warm with a bit of parmesan!  It was also yummy cold the next day for lunch, with a bit of basil pesto.  The eggplant provides a sort of meatiness that makes this vegetarian meal (or side dish) satisfying to the meat-lovers in your house.  The flavor from the wine melds with the veggies to create a yumminess that is more than the veggies would be on their own.  And, with all of those freshly picked veggies?  Gotta be good for you.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.