Caponata with Israeli Couscous and Spinach and Feta Meatballs in a Yellow Tomato Sauce

Remember the eggplant I bought a couple days ago? While we’ve been slowly eating leftovers, I’ve been devising my eggplant plan. What did I come up with? Jamie Oliver’s “Incredible Sicilian Aubergine Stew,” also known as caponata. I am also making Spinach and Feta Meatballs to go alongside.

Deviations: 

• Used kalamata olives
• Used balsamic vinegar
• Used 1 red bell pepper
• Used 2 zucchini and only 1 eggplant

Ingredients:

• olive oil
• An eggplant, cut into
large chunks
• teaspoon dried oregano
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 small red onion, peeled and finely
chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
• a small bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley,
leaves picked and stems finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons  capers
• a handful of kalamata olives
• 2–3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 5 large ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
•  2 tablespoons slivered almonds, lightly toasted

Method:

In order to make sure that my eggplant and zucchini were browned and toasty, I did several batches. I think I fried four pans full of eggplant and zucchini–and I’m glad I did. The roasted flavor really came through in the final dish. Between each pan full, I dumped it into a plate to rest.

When I was done doing the eggplant and zucchini in batches, I added them all back to the frying pan and added a bunch of dried oregano. I sauteed this for awhile, then I added the onion, red bell pepper, garlic, and parsley stems to the pan.

Five or ten minutes later (I really let this cook down quite a bit), I added olives, capers, and vinegar. Then the chopped tomatoes, and salt and pepper to taste. I cranked it up for about five minutes, then lowered the heat and put a lid on it.

 While the caponata was simmering away, I began making the meatballs.

Spinach and Feta Meatballs in a  Yellow Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 pound hamburger
• oregano, marjoram, thyme, rosemary
• salt and pepper
• breadcrumbs
• 1 egg
• spinach, microwaved and squeezed dry
• feta cheese

I hand mixed these ingredients together and pan fried the meatballs, a few at a time. When all of the meatballs were done, I took them out of the pan and let them rest on a plate. I drained the grease from the frying pan and added a pint of yellow cherry tomatoes. I let the tomatoes cook until they burst, gave them a drink of wine, and let them reduce for a couple minutes.

Then, I put the meatballs back in the pan with the sauce and let them simmer with a lid on for a few more minutes.

While everything was simmering away, I made a cup of Israeli couscous.

When the couscous was done, I poured a good deal of the yellow tomato sauce into it to finish it off.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Spicy Chicken Soup with Spinach

Adapted from The Best of Fine Cooking: Soups and Sandwiches

Ingredients:

• 1 inch ginger
• 2 med. garlic cloves
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 cup of water
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• juice of half a large lime
• huge squirt of Sriracha
• cilantro
• green onions
• spinach

Method: Poach chicken in broth, water, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sriracha, and lime juice.  Remove chicken and shred.  Add chicken back to broth and simmer for a couple minutes. Wilt in a few handfuls of spinach. Ladle into bowls and top with scallions and cilantro. 

Potato, Spinach, and Sausage Casserole

I am not a big casserole person.  But this looks so warm and comforting. And slightly trashy. And I’m sick, so don’t judge. You’re just lucky I didn’t top the whole damn thing with biscuits.

I’m not sure if I’ll make any changes; well, knowing me, I probably will.  I think I’ll just take the concept of potatoes, spinach, and sausage and put it together however it best makes sense to me.

Ingredients:

• 8 potatoes (7 russet, 1 sweet)
• a bunch of spinach
• 1 onion
• garlic
• 1.5 pounds country style, bulk sausage
• cheddar cheese
• milk and butter
• salt and pepper

Method:

Peel, chop, boil, and mash potatoes. Add milk and butter, salt and pepper.  Wilt spinach into mashed potatoes. Saute onion, and garlic.   Brown sausage. Make a roux and add a bit of milk to the roux and sausage to make a bit of gravy. Spread a layer of potatoes and spinach in a casserole dish; top with sausage gravy; top with cheese.  Bake until heated through–bubbling and brown on top.

Feta and Spinach Chicken Meatballs in a Tomato Sauce over Polenta

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of ground chicken
• 1 egg
• s & p
• spinach (nuked; squeeze the liquid out)
• feta (mine is from Israel.  Not super salty, but very mild and creamy.)
• bread crumbs
• oregano and basil (dried)

Mix it all together.  Form small balls.

Make your favorite tomato sauce.  I added crimini and oyster mushrooms to mine.

Brown meatballs; add them to your sauce and simmer for awhile.

Make your polenta.  Mine will include milk, chicken stock,  and feta cheese.

Top the polenta with sauce and meatballs.

Add some Parmesan cheese if you please.

Drink copious amounts of red wine.  And if you spill it on your carpet, remember:  White wine will take out red wine stains.

Sunday Morning Menu

Last weekend, the husband and I cleaned out our cupboards.  The contents we unearthed?  Split peas–yellow and green. Lentils– red, brown, and green.  Rice–red, brown, jasmine, arborio, long grain, short grain, sushi.  Barley.  Couscous.  Orzo.  Mountains of grains, pasta, and beans that we have shoved to the back of the cupboard.  So, it is going to be my goal to use up these staples each weekend.

When I went grocery shopping yesterday, I had this in mind, so I didn’t buy as much as I normally would have.  I made the bratwurst soup yesterday, and today, I decided to make a split pea soup. The recipe got great reviews, can be made vegetarian, and can be made in a crockpot.

The other meal I plan to make this weekend is chicken meatballs with feta and spinach in a tomato sauce over polenta.  I bought some ground chicken, which I will mix with an egg, some bread crumbs, some crumbled feta cheese, spinach, garlic, and salt and pepper.  I’ll make a tomato sauce with oyster mushrooms and make some polenta with Parmesan cheese melted into it.

Pesto and Ricotta Stuffed Shells

Last weekend, I made this mushroom ragout (with crimini and oyster mushrooms).  I intended to make the polenta, but I didn’t get around to it.  Instead, I made a double batch of the sauce and tossed half of it with penne.  So, this weekend, I have a batch of ragout that I either need to freeze or use.

With this in mind, I picked up some large pasta shells at the MoC, along with some cottage cheese (I sometimes like to use cottage cheese or a combination of ricotta and cottage cheese in stuffed pasta).  I had some leftover ricotta from last weekend’s  stuffed tomatoes recipe, too.  Oh, and the rest of the pesto from that particular recipe.

This dish comes together so easily: mix your cheese (ricotta, cottage, what have you),  an egg, pesto, and some Parmesan cheese (or some Italian blend).   Salt and pepper to taste. Minced garlic if you like.

Cook and drain your shells.  Don’t cook the shells all the way–you will be baking them after all, and if they are cooked completely in the boiling water, they will turn to mush in the oven.

Stuff your shells.  Top with the mushroom ragout and more Parmesan cheese.  Layer in some sautéed spinach if you feel so inclined (Remember the spinach I was going to use in my curry?  Here is where it ended up.).

Bake, in the oven, at 400 degrees until your spider senses tell you to take it out.  You should cover it for part of the cooking, and in the last several minutes (or so–nothing is exact when I cook), take the aluminum foil off and let the cheese brown and crisp.

Sweet Potato and Red Lentil Curry

The dish I am making today is a combination of two recipes I found this morning.  The first one is from The CopyCat Cook.  The combination of creamy sweet potatoes and red lentils sounds like a good pair.

This curry seems to be (and I’m definitely not a curry expert) an Indian-inspired curry (cumin, turmeric, and lentils) and I’m in the mood for Thai, so I found this recipe, which calls for Thai curry paste, cilantro, and fish sauce:  Sweet Potato Thai Curry.

The final dish will use green curry paste, coconut milk, fish sauce, spinach, lentils, ginger, garlic, onion, cilantro, and of course,  sweet potato.

(Vegetarians should omit the fish sauce!)

Finals Notes:

I decided to partially cook the sweet potatoes and lentils in their own pots prior to adding all the ingredients together in the curry.  I wanted to make sure that all the ingredients were cooked through at the same time, spent the right amount of time in the curry sauce, and cooking those ingredients separately seemed the best way to do it.  It was a bit more work, but I felt I had more control over the final dish this way.  No crunchy lentils or potatoes for me!

As I added the potatoes and lentils to the curry sauce, I also added some veggie stock to thin out the coconut milk.  Green curry also tends to taste soapy to me (am I the only one?) and the veggie stock mellows out the curry paste.

I ended up leaving out the fish sauce and the spinach and adding a healthy dose of lime juice at the very end of cooking.

This is, by far, the best curry recipe I’ve ever made.  I highly recommend it!

Sunday Menu: For reals, this time.

• Mexican Red Lentil Stew
• Ricotta Stuffed Tomatoes
• Mushroom Ragu with Spinach and Parm Polenta