I Ate Eggplant...And I Liked It!!!

So after I left you yesterday we figured out that dinner was spaghetti and meatballs, something my MIL was making. I realized that no veggies were a part of this meal, aside from whatever was in the jar of pasta sauce. I went rummaging around in our fridge and saw that we had about 4 different bags of zucchini hidden away in different spots. It needed to be used! I also found some cute little green and yellow sunburst squash from a nearby farmer's market, and a japanese eggplant. I was a little hesitant on the eggplant because i've tried it at other peoples houses and it was always a slimy flavorless mush. Um, can we say GROSS?!

Well, i've learned in the past that roasting veggies helps with the slimy factor, so i grabbed one and put it in the pile to be chopped. I also came across our bag of scapes, and pulled out a few of those as well.

Once everything was in nice little bit sized pieces (not too little, so they don't dry out) i put it all into an oven safe dish, and tried to decide how to season it. I was flipping through one of my favorite cookbooks and found something that sounded good, so i adapted it to what i had, added some other things i thought would be good, and there i had it!

Nava Atlas makes great cookbooks! I have another of theirs as well.

So, to the veggies i added olive oil, balsamic vinegar, s&p, and some italian herb mix. I tossed it all around together, and let it soak up the flavors while the oven heated to 425*. I popped them in, stirring about every 5 min. to keep it all moist, and roasted them for about 20-25 minutes.

When they came out they were SO good! Nothing got soggy or too dried out, the flavor was amazing, and (horror of horrors!) I LOVED the eggplant! It was kind of silky/creamy/meaty and had an earthy sweetish flavor. Even B admitted that he liked it!!! Good thing i have pictures, so we can remember this momentous occasion!

Will I be making eggplant again? Probably (and I'm not just saying that because we have another one in the fridge). Do you guys have any great eggplant recipes?

Speaking of purple things, while those veggies were roasting i went for a short wander around the garden and checked out my rose. The weather here has been alternately hot and sunny, and rainy, so the plants are growing like crazy! My rose tree that B gave me as a Valentines present about 6 years ago (because a rose tree will give me flowers for years, instead of wilting after a week! Aw!) has had tons of buds, and i've been enjoying it so much. I just have to go over and smell it every time i see it! Beautiful, no?

I also went to check on the plants i re-potted the other day. Everything is looking good in that department. I am SO beyond excited about my chocolate mint plant! And yes, it really does smell kinda chocolaty! I had never even heard of it before, but saw it the other day at the store and couldn't resist. I'm not sure what i want to make with it yet. It would be great in some sort of chocolaty dessert. What else could i make with it? Any ideas?

I guess this little guy is a new recipe waiting to happen!

This is my island, in the sun...oi oi!

Is it hot where you are? Cuz it's hot here!!! So hot, that i have been loathe to do any exercising. Actually I haven't moved much yet today, and it's almost 5pm! (Please remember that I am a baker, and work from 9:30pm until 3am. I'm not as lazy as all that!) I think it might be cooling off a bit now, and the ocean breeze is making it's way up from the coast. Ahhh!

This morning (2pm-ish ;) i tried to eat a bit of blueberry bran muffin that B made at work last night, but it seemed to stick to my mouth. Not because it wasn't delicious and moist, because it was, but because of the heat! So, after downing a few bites i gave up and just drank my tea. Of course, this lack of breakfast meant that i was ravenous an hour later. Luckily we have been doing lots of shopping lately, and have tons of wonderful fresh fruit in the house. I ended up with a bowl of chopped strawberries, honey mangoe, and cherries with a little lime juice sprinkled over the top. I thought this whole luscious bowl of goodness was for me, but when B came over to see what i was up to i suddenly only had half a bowl full. Ah well. The point is, it was amazing! I'm sorry i didn't manage a picture of this, but it was gone so fast!

Last night, to beat the heat, B made a big shrimp and scape salad for dinner (which is likely what we'll have tonight too). Here it is in all it's glory!


Not the prettiest thing ever, but sooo good! lettuce, mushroom, cucumber, avocado, toasted almonds, mangoe, and a saute of shrimp and scapes. What is a scape you ask?

Scapes are the shoots and flowers from growing garlic. I had never heard of these until this week! My father-in-law says they're called scapes because after you eat them everyone want to 'scape from your breath! Ha ha! Not sure how much truth there is in that one. There is a garlic farm down the road from us, and they gave a lovely bag of these to us! Yay! They have a mild garlicky flavor, and can be eaten raw or cooked. We just chopped them up and tossed them in with the shrimp for a quick saute, chilled it, then tossed it on the salad. What a great new discovery!

I'm not sure what the rest of today holds for me, but i think i see a smoothie on the horizon. I bought some vanilla rice milk in town, and we have strawberries that need to be eaten. Oooh, i might be having smoothie sooner than i thought, it sounds good!

I also need to give poor Izzie, my dog, a bath and a haircut. Then, it'll be off to work for me, although it is my Friday! Hurray!

When it's super hot like this, what do you guys have for dinner? Just wondering.

Well, have a happy evening all, until next time!