Thai Basil Eggplant with Tofu

Since I have been home from my vacation in New Orleans, I have been craving vegetables.  However, since I am still having a hard time coping with the death of Crookers, I am just not up to cooking.   Therefore my lunches consist of black bean veggie burgers (soo good for being pre-made) and eggs and rice for dinner.  Sad, but thats all I can manage right now.  I know he was just a pet, but his death left a hole in our home.   There is no one walking around meowing, sleeping next to me when my husband works late at work, or trying to steal the turkey out of my husband's sandwich while he is eating it.  My other cat, Little Kitty, has been sick too.  Last night when I opened up a can of food, she took a sniff and then walked into the other room and threw up.  Since it was the same exact thing that Crookers did the day he died and she had never done it before, I became convinced that she was going to die too.  Totally irrational, especially since it was 11pm and I had to be up at 6am, but I really lost it.  This morning I woke up at 4 am and she wouldn't eat.  6 am and she finished off a handful of treats.  Thank goodness.  I think the next few weeks are going to be touchy but hopefully I can move past this.

This recipe idea came from one of my favorite take out foods.  Whenever I go to my mom's house she orders tofu and eggplant for me.  I went through different recipes and this is the closest I could find to the takeout dish.  Well, if I can't cook right now, at least I can look at good meals!

Thai Basil Eggplant with Tofu

Adapted from Epicurious

Ingredients
4 asian eggplants or 2 Italian eggplants
3 Tbs oyster sauce
3 tsp sugar
3 tsp sesame oil
1 Tbs olive oil
1 container with tofu
2 tsp garlic minced
1 red bell pepper
1/4 cup green onions chopped
Handful of thai basil

Set the oven for 400 degrees.  Press the tofu by wrapping it in a few paper towels, putting on a plate, and putting another plate on the top.  Let it sit for 30 min.  Then blot off moisture with another paper towel and cut into 1 inch cubes or strips.  Toss with 1 Tbs olive oil and put in oven.   Cook for 30 minutes until browning, flipping halfway through.

In a bowl, mix oyster sauce, sugar, and sesame oil and put to the side.  Put the olive oil in a large pan and heat over medium-high heat.   Add garlic and saute for 1 minute.  Add bell pepper and eggplant and stir fry for 10 - 15 minutes until soft.  Add oyster sauce and stir.  Then add tofu and green onions.  Take off heat, add thai basil, and serve.

Thai Spicy Eggplant

I have to say that there is power in vitamins.  With gastroparesis comes gastritis and heartburn medicines such as Prevacid, Omeprazole, and Ranidine.  I have done the full gambit and have been on them for continuously three years.  Lately I have been really negative... every time someone asked me "how are you?" I couldn't say anything positive.  Work hasn't been effected, you can't be negative around my students, but everything else has been.  Then two days ago I took medicine and wasnt able to sleep all night.  You really can't work at my job without sleep so I drank a bottle of 5 hour energy.  It didnt give me more energy but it really improved my mood.  Suddenly I didn't have anything bad to say, it was great.  I looked up proton pump inhibitors and and vitamin B and found that they lead to to vitamin B deficiency.  For the last few days I have been taking large amounts of vitamin B12 and have been feeling so much better, its great!  If you have GP and have been struggling with your mood, check it out.

Back to recipes and food.  I think eggplants have been one of my main ingredients this winter.  I have made many dishes with them because they are so versatile.  This recipe is great because it allowed me to use the rest of my thai basil cubes that I froze in the fall.  Then there was a great recipe in this month's Bon Appetit that had me use the rest of my chives while combining them with potatoes, butter and grated lemon peel yesterday.  I only have a few more cubes of oregano pesto then I am ready for the fresh herbs in spring!  

Thai Spicy Eggplant

from Vegetarian Times

Ingredients
2 Tbs of oil
1 tsp of crushed red pepper
2 large eggplants, cut into bite size chunks
1 medium onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tbs of nam pla
3 Tbs of soy sauce
2 Tbs of dark brown sugar

3 Tbs of chopped fresh thai basil
1 tsp of sesame oil

Heat a skillet over high heat and add oil, crushed red pepper flakes and saute for 10 to 15 seconds.  Add eggplant and stir fry 2 - 3 minutes.  Add the onion, bell pepper, and garlic and stir fry for another 3 minutes.  Add the soy sauce and nam pla.  Then sprinkle the sugar and toss for 2 minutes.  Take the pan off the heat and toss with basil and sesame oil.  Serve over jasmine rice.

Grilled Asian Noodle Salad

I just finished making around 5 pounds of fudge (I'll post them up later). We are going to my husband's bar's holiday party tonight (yes, it is in the middle of January--after the holiday craziness has stopped). As owners we have to put together the celebration and I spent 6 hours this week wrapping presents. I am so sick of presents! We play a game at the party, which came from his family. We wrap good and funny gifts- for example you could get a shamwow or an ipod, a box of noodles with a $50 gift certificate taped to the outside or one without one, a microwave or a box with a pillow pet. In the game you have two dice. You roll the dice and if you get doubles you get to pick a present. If you open the present, you are out of the game, but if you keep playing you can accumulate more presents. The problem is, if someone else rolls doubles, they can steal your present from you. This year there are soooo many presents so I'll be glad when it is done (2 hours and counting until I have to leave and try to put the presents in 2 cars).

So last week was my week of trying to clear out my fridge. I had random ingredients that my husband and I had bought and wanted to make sure that I could use them up before they went bad. I was able to make two different fresh dishes with what I had in the fridge, so I was happy. It was also the first time that I had used the small eggplants, they are really cute!

Grilled Asian Noodle Salad

Adapted from Bon Appetit

Ingredients

6 small eggplants (unpeeled, cut on diagonal into 1/3 inch thick slices)

2 containers of fresh shiitake mushrooms (stemmed)

2 bunches of green onions (trimmed so you have green and white)

1 15 oz box of asian rice noodles

2 cups of sugar snap peas (trimmed)

1/4 cup of sesame oil

3/4 cup of hoisin sauce

1/2 cup of fresh lime juice

3 tsp of grated lime peel

3 Tbs of minced fresh ginger

3 Tbs of toasted sesame seeds

Salt and pepper to taste

Place eggplants, mushrooms and onions in a bowl. Add sesame oil and toss to coat. Add salt and pepper. Grill vegetables (I used a grill pan) turning often until the vegetables are tender. Cut mushrooms and onions if you would like.

Boil a pot of water. Drop in sugar snap peas and cook for 1 minute. Take out and place in a bowl of ice water. Use the water to cook the rice noodles. Put into a serving bowl and add in vegetables.

Whisk hoisin sauce, lime juice, lime peel and ginger together. Add to noodles and toss. Add toasted sesame seeds and serve.

Eggplant Three Ways

So, yeah, I am sooooooo bored. I know that is a luxury, but with this new schedule I am still in work mode and then have nothing to do. I have already steam cleaned my parents carpet, fixed and cleaned our fridge, done all the laundry, created 3 DVDs (2 of wedding videos and 1 of the bachelor party), played video games, read 2 books, and I don't know what else, but now it has been a week and I am going stir crazy. I've got NPR going on in one ear for background noise because I am so used to having people around and am in the middle of roasting a whole butternut squash. I still have my National Board stuff to do and other things for work but it is hard for me to concentrate and write at my house unless it is on a deadline. It is almost impossible to go to a library around here and I miss the one by my parents house, which is an hour away from here. I don't feel like driving in the freezing cold (10 degrees right now) to go to a library to write, so I guess I'm stuck here knocking my head against the wall. I wish it was summer so I could at least go outside, but noooo, now I have to have my weeks in the freezing cold where there is nothing to do!!!!!

Here are three eggplant recipes. They aren't the most beautiful pictures but the meals are really good. I was actually wishing that I was having the eggplant caviar today while I was eating at Manny's. It is a famous deli, which we haven't gone to before, despite the fact that we have lived here for 10 years. Today we had nothing in our fridge because it broke down and my husband had 45 minutes before going to work, so he decided to go there. Honestly, a year ago I would have loved it- a huge pile of corned beef on rye with mustard, but now I could only eat the meat and it just was bland. It was kinda depressing because with the way my gastroparesis is going I have become the hardest person to take out to eat. There is nothing that I want to eat at restaurants... it seems like everything makes me sick, unless I make it on my own. Eating out has always been one of our hobbies and now I still go out but I don't enjoy it at all.

The second recipe may not look at good as it should, because I don't have a wok. My kitchen is small and there is absolutely no more room for any pots/pans/cooking utensils/anything! However it still works out well in a pan.

The eggplant recipe without a picture is a recipe that I made this summer. You may not be able to see the final product, but do not let that discourage you. It was an awesome side and had a unique flavor that was a fun addition to a family picnic at the beach.

Eggplant Caviar

Adapted from Color Me Vegan

Ingredients

1 purple Italian eggplant

1 tbs olive oil

1 yellow onion, finely chopped

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 cup of quinoa (if you have black quinoa, looks even cooler)

2 cups of vegetable stock

3 Tbs of minced fresh cilantro

2 Tbs of minced thai basil

2 Tbs of gluten free soy sauce

2 Tbs of lime juice

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Prick the eggplant with a knife all over and put on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Roast for 45 to one hour until soft.

Add the olive oil to a pan and cook the onion and garlic over medium heat until soft and slightly golden. Then add in the quinoa and stir constantly for 1 minute. Add in vegetable stock and bring to boil. Then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and let sit for 10 minutes. Then transfer quinoa to a mixing bowl, fluffing it, to cool.

Once eggplant is cool enough to touch, peel off the skin and put the flesh of the eggplant into a food processor. Add the cilantro, thai basil, soy sauce and lime juice. Puree to a paste and add salt and pepper to taste.

Mix the eggplant mixture and quinoa together and add additional seasoning if needed.

Garlic Eggplant

Adapted from The Breath of a Wok

Ingredients

2 Italian eggplants (or 4 Asian eggplants if you've got them)

1/4 cup gluten free soy sauce

2 Tbs of balsamic vinegar

2 Tbs of sherry

1 Tbs of sugar

1 tsp of salt

2 tsp of red pepper flakes

2 Tbs of oil

6 cloves of garlic, chopped

2 Tbs of ginger, minced

2 tsp of sesame oil

1/4 cup of green onions, sliced

Peel the eggplant and cut into two inch sections. Then halve each lengthwise and then cut into thirds to make sticks. You then steam the eggplant for 5 -8 minutes until soft*.

Combine the soy sauce, vinegar, sherry, and pepper in a bowl.

In a wok (or frying pan, like I did it) on high heat, add in oil and stir fry garlic and ginger for 10 seconds. Add in the steamed eggplant and stir fry for 30 seconds. Add in the sauce and cook for around a minute. Take off of heat and add sesame oil and scallions.

*When I made this I looked up a way of steaming without using a steamer rack, because I dont have one. If anyone knows how, please let me know. I remember it was putting the chunks in a pan and adding around a 1/4 cup of water... but I cant find the directions now anywhere online. Thanks

Honey Garlic Eggplant

Adapted from Beyond Salmon

Ingredients

2 eggplants

2 Tbs honey

2 Tbs olive Oil

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

Salt and Pepper

Peel the eggplants so you have stripes of skin and no skin then cut into 1/2 inch circles. Toss eggplants with kosher salt (around one Tbs) and let sit in a colander for an hour. Rinse the eggplant to remove the salt and then squeeze it to draw out more moisture. Pat dry with paper towels.

Preheat grill (I used a grill pan) to high. In a large bowl mix all other ingredients. Dunk dried eggplant slices into the marinade.

Brush oil on grill. Place the eggplant slices on the grill, cover, and turn the heat to medium. Grill until marked, which is around 3 minutes. Then turn 90 degrees so you have tic tac toe marks. Grill for around 3 more minutes. Brush the slices again with the rest of the marinade and flip. Do the same thing on the other side. You want the eggplant to brown, but not burn. Take off of grill and put on a plate. Drizzle with olive oil.