Dinner

I made an air fried eggplant dish with grits on the side. I used Ener-G Egg Replacer to have a sticky "egg" that I dipped eggplant slices (about 3/8" thick) into, followed by dredging them in a mixture of panko bread crumbs, along with a little nutritional yeast, sesame seeds, salt, and black pepper. I air fried with no oil for 5 minutes at 400°F. I also made a fresh tomato sauce by gently simmering cubes of tomato with onion, dried oregano, a little hot red pepper, and salt, and serving it atop the eggplant. I prepared grits by getting 3 cups salted water boiling then adding maybe 1/2 cup frozen shelled edamame. I cooked for a few minutes till the edamame was defrosted, then added 1 cup grits and a few tablespoonfuls of nutritional yeast. I stirred occasionally and cooked for 5-7 minutes until thick. Results Dinner was very good! My daughter particularly liked the meal and ate leftovers again later in the evening. The eggplant was nicely crispy and the sesame flavor wa...

I had some friends over and had made a very early dinner for them when my daughter and wife came home, so I had a fun, extended cooking time, launching right into our own dinner. I used pans that I had just used for the earlier meal, so I didn't have extra cleanup. I wanted to get a meal going and served quickly, so decided to make a waterless meal. Here is what I did. Ingredients 1/2 cup onion cut into 3/8" cubes 2 cloves garlic, finely (1/8" or so) chopped 3 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1/2" cubes (just under 1/2 cup) 1 cup eggplant, cut into 1/4" pieces 1 cup frozen chopped spinach 1/2 of a small (about 14 1/2 ounce) can of diced tomatoes (i.e., about 7 ounces) 1/2 t salt 1/4 freshly ground black pepper Process I put, in this order, the onion, garlic, potato, eggplant, and spinach into a small  Saladmaster stock pan; it almost filled the pan. I cooked waterlessly - i.e., I covered the pan and heated it on medium high until the vapor release started j...

We're vegan and occasionally eat some vegan cheese (rarely for my wife who never liked cheese and once in a while for me as it tends to be high in fat and processed). I do like Miyoko's Kitchen (I met Miyoko at a conference where I was also presenting) products and recently found their vegan version of mozzarella , and thought I'd make an eggplant dish with this. Here is what I did. Ingredients 1 1/4 cups onion cut into 3/8" cubes 4 cups eggplant cut into 1/2" cubes (about 2/3 of a medium eggplant) 1 clove garlic, finely (1/8") minced - 15m 5m more 1 1/4 ounces marinara sauce 1/4 t salt 1/2 t freshly ground black pepper 1/4 t dried oregano 3-4 ounces of vegan "mozzarella cheese" cut into small chunks as per chef's preference (mine were approximately 1/2" chunks) Process I put, in this order, the onion and then the eggplant into a large Saladmaster stock pan. I cooked waterlessly - i.e., I covered the pan and heated it on medium high until...

I wanted to continue experimenting with pumpkin puree to add a holiday taste to main courses, like I did with my seitan dish  last Wednesday . I thought that I'd try a dhal. Ingredients 1 cup red split lentils 4 T pumpkin puree 1 cup eggplant cut into small 1/4" cubes (I used 6 small graffiti eggplants) 1 clove elephant garlic cut into small cubes app. 1/8"-1/4" (or regular garlic cut into 1/8" or smaller dice) 1/4 t turmeric 2 1/4 cups water (red split lentils cook in a ratio of one to between two and two and a half of lentils:water pressure cooked for 13-18m; I picked 16m) 1/4 cup onion cut into approx. 3/8" cubes 2T lemon or lime juice (we were out, alas, but tangerines have just started becoming available - yay! - so I used fresh squeezed tangerine juice, instead (optional) 1T vegan yogurt per serving  Process I put the lentils, pumpkin, eggplant, garlic, turmeric, and water into my  Instant Pot  pressure cooker and cooked for 16m. After the cooking was...

Ingredients 1 1/2 cups beans rinsed, soaked overnight, and rinsed again 1/3 cup red lentil Just enough water to cover lentils and beans 1 1/2 cup Yukon Gold potato (medium potato) cut into 3/8" cubes - 23m 2 cups eggplant (about 1/2 eggplant) cut into 3/8" cubes 1 1/2 cups carrot (medium carrot) cut into 3/8" width and halved 1/3 cup fennel cut into 3/8" cubes 1 cup onion cut into 3/8" cubes 10-12 oregano leaves 2t lime (or lemon) juice 1 t garam masala (or 1/2 t turmeric) (optional) 1/4 t fenugreek seed 1/2 t freshly ground black pepper 1/2 t (or to taste) salt Process I cooked the beans, lentils, water, potato, eggplant, carrot, and fennel for 23 minutes (20-25 would have been fine; I wanted a thick result, so went with 23m). After the cooking was done, I waited a few minutes and gently released pressure, then mixed in the onion, oregano, and spices. I served with a tomato salad (heirloom tomato and some grape tomatoes that our neighbor brought over while I w...

I've enjoy cooking lentil stews and dhals, as I described, for example, in December 2014 . I thought that I'd make a double serving so that we could send half to our neighbors who just had a baby. Lentils cook in a 1 part to 1.5-2 part water ratio for 15-20m. I wanted something thick, so initially chose 1.5x water for 20m, but I put a lot of ingredients in, so added another half cup of water (with 2 cups lentils, it ended up being a 1:2 ratio). By the way, I recently got a third Instant Pot, the Duo Plus 60  and donated my original Duo 60. I've used the Duo Plus 60 in making yogurt  but tonight was the first time I've used it for dinner. Here is what I did. Ingredients 2 cups brown (which I used) or green lentils 4 cups water Approx. 4 cups potato in 3/8" cubes (I used 3 medium Yukon Gold potatoes and ended up with approx. 4 1/3 cups chopped potato) Medium eggplant cut into 3/8" cubes (about 2 cups) 3 medium carrots halved and then cut into 3/8" slices (a...