What is this? Snowflakes in July? Yes, I know. But when you are getting ready for a picnic/firework excursion and at the last minute realize that plates would be really, really handy, you may find that the only paper plates you in fact own have snowflakes. We are not exactly holiday themed or even particularly well organized here at the House of Yum. Shhh. Don’t tell anyone.
I had spent half of the day in a feverish whirlwind making 3 batches of brownies, 1 batch of sorghum flax onion rolls, seared crimini mushrooms and roasted eggplant slices with a tahini sauce. So, we dined on delightfully refreshing snowflake plates, and didn’t even notice because everything tasted so good, and we had such nice company. Friends, food, and fireworks, that’s all you need to celebrate the 4th of July. Being a food blogger, I had to take a photograph of the food, snowflake plates and all.
I hope you don’t mind. The combination of rubbing lemon olive oil onto the eggplant and drizzling it with a tahini sauce spiked with lemon zest brought unexpected new life to an old favorite method of preparing eggplant. Even the alleged eggplant-haters had to admit it was addictive and tasty. And for eggplant lovers… well, lets just say, eggplant proved itself once as a fitting ingredient for ye old Book of Yum. We went home without a single eggplant slice left- and I’d baked two whole ones up just for the occasion. Alas for no leftovers, but hurrah for a very delicious picnic, with just the right amount of food.
This makes me want to make this recipe all over again. The tahini sauce is terrific on salad, as a dip for red pepper and/or carrots… and even on sauteed mushrooms, as we found out. Enjoy!
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Roasted Lemon Eggplant Slices
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Ingredients
2 medium-sized American Eggplant (or one, if very large)
Lemon olive oil
Directions
Preheat oven to 425F. Get out a baking sheet. Wash, dry and slice eggplant into generous 1/4 inch slices.
Pour about 1/8 cup lemon olive oil into a small bowl and add herbs, salt, and pepper to taste. Baste eggplant slices on both sides with oil-herb mixture and place on baking sheet. When sheet is full, place in oven and roast for 20-30 minutes or until one side is golden brown. Turn slices and brown the other side for at least 10 minutes until it is also browned and slices are soft and succulent. You may have to baby these a little- don’t let them burn! Remove any that cook faster than the others when they are done.
Notes
Some slices are less sturdy than others due to seed composition etc. If any fall apart- put them in a bowl and drizzle with tahini sauce for a chef’s snack or serve to family members to tempt their appetite.
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Roasted Vegetable Tahini Sauce
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Ingredients
Equal amounts pure tahini and water
1 tsp. agave nectar (or honey) lemon zest, to taste (I used a meyer lemon but anything will work) fresh squeezed lemon juice, to taste generous sprinkle of salt
Directions
Blend tahini and water in a mini food processor. Add agave, lemon juice and salt and blend again. Taste and adjust seasonings. Add your lemon zest, stir, and serve.
Wonderful on roasted eggplant slices! |
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When Diane of the Whole Gang suggested that this month we have an Oscar theme for our Gluten-free Progressive Dinner, I was both excited and perplexed. I’ve never held an Oscar themed dinner party. What could I make? Searching online, it seems that people hosting Oscar parties usually either go for a movie-theme (10 varieties of popcorn, anyone?) or prepare food inspired by one or more movies up for nomination. Popcorn didn’t inspire me, but I thought it might be fun to prepare a menu inspired by one of the nominated movies. 
might be the most obvious choice, and I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Hello, a movie about a food blogger and a woman who learned to cook in Paris- what could be better? I couldn’t remember much inspiring vegetarian fare, though, and the whole thing seemed a little too obvious. I briefly considered 
as I love making gluten-free Southern-inspired vegetarian fare. But, of this year’s nominees, 
was the one that really stood out to me. I loved its imaginative depiction of an alien society, its beautiful visuals, its interesting commentary on the exploitation of native peoples, and illustration of the anthropologist’s problem of “going native.” What could be more fun than creating a menu of other-worldly food? This vegetarian Avatar-inspired meal begins with an appetizer of spicy and lovely lotus root chips. If you prefer, you can try my healthier 
