Skip to main content

Roasted Baby Eggplant with Parmesan

Today I spent much of the day in the quaint little town of Mt. Laurel where my good friend Laura and her husband Mark live. Mt. Laurel has a farmer's market every Saturday (Farmer's markets are another thing that says "summer" to me!). I love the bright colors of vegetables and the amazing shapes and sizes of home-grown veggies. Among my typical tomato purchases, I decided to branch out and get some tiny eggplant. I don't typically like eggplant but these were just too cute to pass up. I came home and found this recipe.

First I'll say that I learned after the fact that the ones I bought were actually not considered "baby" but of the "fairy tale" variety. Quite a difference. In this image I found online, the fairy tale eggplant is on the left and baby squash is on the right. The ones I had bought were so much smaller, that the seasoning the recipe called for was too much. Also, since they were small, you can actually eat the skin and all instead of scooping out the meat to use as a spread. I probably didn't need to pre-salt them as they were likely not bitter to begin with. Test Kitchen Fail? Not really. My husband gave them an 8/10 since they were the only eggplant he has eaten that he liked - just a bit over-seasoned. The farmer told me they were good enough roasted with salt and pepper alone. But did I listen? 😑

The pictures below show the eggplant as a side with green beans (Sam's frozen), fancy smoked salmon from Mt. Laurel Piggly Wiggly, and seasoned/toasted bread for crustini. My husband likes salmon "well done" so I grilled his even more. My plate includes just a heated salmon and adds some slices of a beautiful Heirloom tomato!

So thank you, Laura and Mark, for a sweet visit and facilitating my dinner plans for tonight! 


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Our Favorite Chicken Pot Pie

Few things are more comforting than crescent rolls with yummy chicken goodness. There are many ways you can make chicken pot pie. I've tried several ways and the winning method was one I adapted by taking some from Joanna Gaines' recipe and some from another recipe I already had. I've made it with ready-made pie crust - both one-crust and two-crust. It just pales in comparison to the crescent roll top. I love how you can customize the dish to however small or large you want. You might even want to add hard boiled egg! That would be a "No" for my husband, but bring on more peas and he's happy. It's definitely a great supper for any time of the year! Our Favorite Chicken Pot Pie
Post a Comment
Read more

A Southern Girl's Chess Squares

So my last post was about healthy food and this one, well, is not so much! But it's such a popular dessert I had never made, that I decided this was my opportunity. This weekend is Family Reunion weekend and my husband's extended family is quite extensive! Lots of people. Lots of food. So why make chess squares? Well, first of all, I am sure they will all be eaten so fewer calories for me lol. Secondly, I have been wanting to try them because some time ago my sister-in-law made some and my youngest step-daughter raved about them. So, this post is dedicated to Molly!  Three things I know that Molly likes are butter, sugar, and cheese! This recipe is a creative combination of those ingredients plus just 2 more. Super easy. Mine didn't look ready after even 50 minutes so I put them under a low broil for a couple of minutes to get the browning on the top. I let them cool overnight and cut them with a plastic knife. These don't have to be refrigerated and can stay in an airt...
Post a Comment
Read more

Tomato Pie - Southern Living

My love for tomatoes has been a thing for as long as I can remember. My parents didn't grow up southern and didn't cook that way, so I was ignorant of  uniquely southern cuisine until later in my life (i.e. I had to have a high school friend explain to me what a "grit" was 🤣). So when I learned that you could make a pie full of tomatoes it made my heart sing!  Many recipes are simple and include lots of cheese and mayo resulting in a runny (yet yummy) substance on your plate. I saw this recipe in Southern Living magazine and the picture lured me in. The main difference I believe is the addition of bacon and an egg.  Bacon can make it "dinner worthy" because it's a meat/protein, and the egg firms up the consistency as it cools. It is time intensive because of the need to blind-bake the crust, pre-roast the tomatoes, and allowing them to cool. It takes even longer if you follow the recipe exactly and you make your own crust. HA! Who has time for that? So ...
Post a Comment
Read more