Monday, July 26, 2010

Good Monday Morning

Hello and welcome back....I am hoping that everyone had a relaxing and event filled weekend. I had the great fortune of raiding our friend's garden yesterday and picked a plethora of fresh vegetables and herbs. My husband and children and I had a wonderful time picking the veggies and explaining to them what everything was and how it grew.

Our friends, Tae and Kerri meticulously planted the garden and had a variety of fresh veggies to choose from. I picked a little bit of everything and cooked it all up last evening for family members that came over for a dinner party. I have to say the favorite dish of the evening was an appetizer that I had made. It was a roasted eggplant spread which I served with toasted foccacia wedges and tortilla chips. I topped the spread with roasted beets that I chopped and sprinkled on top. It was very easy and a big hit. Even the kids tried it....and my husband too!

I took...
2 medium eggplants and cut them lengthwise (left the skin on)
Washed, peeled and cut fresh beets
Washed, peeled and cut fresh shallots
Spread out on a sheet pan and sprinkled with olive oil, salt and pepper. Mixed all together and put in a 500 degree oven for 20 minutes to roast. I put eggplant flesh down to begin and flipped over all veggies after 10 minutes.
After veggies cooled I scraped out center of roasted eggplant flesh and put in a food processor along with shallots, fresh garlic, salt and pepper and whirled around until smooth. While it was processing I added about 3 tablespoons of olive oil.
Scraped out of processor and put in a decorative bowl. Chopped up beets and sprinkled on top. Chillled for about an hour. Served with garlic toast wedges and tortilla chips.

Happy cooking and entertaining. Send me a reply with any questions.
Melanie

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