VeganMoFo: Eggplant Parm

His specialty is Eggplant Parmesan!

Mister Bear Chef is for sale here

Medium: Watercolor on heavy Arches paper
Size: Approximately 5"x7" (image size is 4"x6")
Will fit in 5"x7" frame! Signed on back.

Note: I am doing a painting-a-day challenge for VeganMoFo, and will be creating a new painting of rescue animals or vegan food throughout the month of October, and placing them for sale. All proceeds (minus shipping) will be donated to For the Animals Sanctuary, because they are a pretty super-great non-profit animal rescue and sanctuary, in Blairstown NJ, and are vegan owned and operated. Feeding, housing, and taking care of these animals costs a lot of money, and as a non-profit organization, they rely entirely on donations. Hopefully (with your help!), I'll be able to make a size-able donation at the end of the month!  You can check out all the paintings I have created so far that are still for sale here! 

Oh eggplant parmesan, you are my ultimate comfort food.  Childhood dreams and all that jazz. I'm pretty specific about how it's put together though...

Requirements:  

1) Must salt eggplant beforehand to soften.  It's true. Skipping this step will result in chewier eggplant, and no one wants that (right?) Salting makes the texture dreamy.  Let your eggplant sit in a colander with salt tossed around on it until you are able to take a slice, squeeze it in your hand, and water drips out. If it's still stiff, resists bending, or just breaks in half, the salt has not finished it's magic yet. 

2) Breading makes everything better.  Whether you bread/fry or bread/bake the eggplant first, it makes the end result DELICIOUS.  I used a crunchier panko breading, with added italian spices to the mix. Also, peel that skin off the eggplant for maximum breading area!

3) More sauce is better than less sauce.  Not much is sadder than running out of sauce and having dry eggplant!

Best part: leftovers!

VeganMoFo Day 17: Eggplant Parm!

hello! I missed a day yesterday, but that's okay. Blogging on the weekends is extra, so it totally evens out. I went to see Where the Wild Things Are last night and have been listening to the stream of the soundtrack all day. Soo good! I wanna build a fort! I super-loved it and had a stupid smile on my face the whole movie I think. It was so pretty too.

Anyways, eggplant parm! It's a favorite, but I don't make it that often 'cause it tends to use a bazillion dishes to make it. And Nik is a hater when it comes to eggplant (!!), and hates veggies in his marinara (I know! hater!) I just did a simple breading with flour + spices for this, and baked them in the oven, drizzled with olive oil, 'til tender. Combine with marinara sauce in casserole dish and baked again, with Teese shredded on top for another 20-30 minutes. It was super-tender and crunchy (from the breading) in parts. Yum!

Are you guys ready for Iron Chef tomorrow?? Lemon and Ginger are the two ingredients and there is still time to get yours in!

Well well

So I've never really been sure I've liked sauerkraut or not, but I'm going to put it in a DEFINITE yes category after this past week. I never had it growing up, and I guess it never really has crossed my path in a memorable way thus far in my life. I finally made the Tempeh Reuben from VCON and it resulted in a happy taste-bud party in my mouth! Nik is a big sauerkraut fan, so he was pretty excited about this sammich. And ohhh what a sammich it is. We even had leftovers for lunch the next day! The bread is really yummy kalamata olive bread from one of the stands at the farmer's market too. Ohh delicious delicious messy sammich.


I haven't made these in a realllllly long while, but eggplant started popping up in my CSA last week and eggplant wingz are always the first thing that come to mind. Really easy to make and perfect for a summer meal. I cut my eggplant up, long wise (you could prolly skin it if you hate breading things that have a skin on one side), salted it and let it drain for 20 minutes or so in a colander. After rinsing the salt off, I dipped the eggplant in a mix of flour, spices (I go italian, with basil, parsley, thyme, garlic powder, sea salt, pepper), then dip in soymilk, and then into a bowl of panko bread crumbs. Bake on a pan with olive oil drizzled or misted over it, on 350F for about 30 minutes or until nicely browned and tender, flipping halfway through. I make up a hot sauce mix of Earth Balance + hot sauce + a little vegan worcheshire sauce + a few tablespoons of ketchup + a small drizzle of agave + pepper. I'm not really precise about it. Just make your favorite BBQ or hot sauce! I toss the eggplant in the sauce and serve. I had these with sides of fried green tomatoes, and a red onion/cucumber salad.


Pasta salad! It wouldn't be summer without a gigunda bowl of clean-out-the-fridge veggies because I don't wanna cook or go shopping!


Spicy stirfry! Which, by my standards, means it really isn't all that spicy. Veggies include bok choy, carrots, zucchini, red onions, and broccoli. Whole wheat lo mein noodles.


Blueberry-banana ice cream! One frozen banana + half a pint of blueberries + 1-1.5 cups soymilk + agave to sweeten. Whirled it in the vitamix and put in ice cream maker. Mmmm.



My mom is coming for a weekend visit tomorrow! We're going to a FREE show tomorrow night at Coney Island. Blondie, Pat Benatar, and The Donnas! How freaking cool is that?? I'm excited. I just hope it doesn't rain! Have a fabulous weekend everyone!

Oh weekend: I love you

I took a Letterpress class last sunday at The Arm, a letterpress studio near me. So much fun!! We got to spend the majority of the classtime working on the presses and I have some cool things to show for it. I'm working on some pieces that I want to print of my own on the presses. I think I am going to have some of my artwork engraved on a copperplate and then print from those. I'm still deciding how best to do it, I guess. I can't wait to do some new bookmark/business cards too on one of the smaller presses. Also, typesetting takes FOREVER! Ha. Here are some things I printed:





I scored a super-cheap loaf of Kalamata Olive Bread at the closing of the farmer's market after work yesterday, so I made some grilled cheese and fakin' bacon (leftover from quesadillas earlier in the week) out of it. SO GOOD. I let the FYH Cheddar get all melty by putting the burner on super-low and covering the pan. I had a healthy smoothie with it, to counter the greasiness of the sandwich.


I haven't had eggplant in awhile, and I was craving some sort of eggplant parm action. I salted my eggplant slices and let them sit to sweat out the water for a good 25 minutes. This makes them tastier, not chewy, and able to absorb more flavors. If you can wring them out with your hand without it breaking in half, they are salted and sweated to perfection. I breaded them with a flour/panko/italian spices mixture and panfried them in some olive oil. The sauce! I threw a can of fire-roasted tomatoes, a can of cannellini beans, and 4-5 cloves (what!) of garlic, and some basil/thyme/parsley/pepper in the vitamix and it made a damn tasty sauce. I sauteed some red onions and threw them in when heating the sauce. Hello yummers.


I tried making sushi the other night, using quinoa instead of rice. I'm always trying to eat more quinoa, but the boyfriend hates it, so I made separate sushi for me. It was a little messy and didn't hold together as well as rice, but it worked well enough and was yummy! I marinated some tofu in tamari sauce, garlic, and some lemon juice. Filled sushi with the tofu, red onions, and avocado.

VeganMoFo Day 1: The Sky is Blue and Eggplant is White

Today is the first day of VeganMoFo! I'm going to try to be reaaaaal good about this and blog every weekday, and shoot for weekends as a bonus!

I stopped by the farmer's market, in Union Square, today after work to pick up dinner for tonight and tomorrow. Not much of a plan, which is usually my case whenever I grocery shop, I was immediately drawn to the wooden cases of white eggplants. So EGGplant looking! It got me wondering if these are THE original of of all eggplants. The Mother Hen. The Mack Daddy. The Queen Bee. I mean, they are obviously where they got their name from, right?? I looked into where eggplant derived it's name from and lo and behold, "The English name, eggplant, arose in the eighteenth century to describe goose-egg-size fruits of a white or yellowish hue, rather than their now-familiar deep purple colour." The name "Aubergine" has a MUCH more interesting history of it's name: "Aubergine goes all the way back to Sanskrit, a classical language of India, where one playful name for the fruit was vatinganah which means literally ‘fart, go away.’" Ha! (info from this guy)

Some other interesting facts about eggplant (via wikipedia):

+native to India and Sri Lanka.

+The fruit is botanically classified as a berry, and contains numerous small, soft seeds, which are edible, but are bitter because they contain (an insignificant amount of) nicotinoid alkaloids, unsurprising in a close relative of tobacco.

+Eggplant is richer in nicotine than any other edible plant, with a concentration of 100 ng/g (or 0.01mg/100g). However, the amount of nicotine from eggplant or any other food is negligible compared to passive smoking.[7] On average, 20lbs of eggplant contains about the same amount of nicotine as a cigarette. (whoa! uh, ew!)

+Because of the eggplant's relationship with the Solanaceae (nightshade) family, it was at one time believed to be poisonous. While it can be eaten by most people without ill effect, for some, consuming eggplant as well as other edible nightshade plants (tomato, potato, and capsicum/peppers) can be harmful. (those poor people!!!!)

+Some sources, particularly in the natural health community, state that nightshades, including eggplant, can cause or significantly worsen arthritis and should be avoided by those sensitive to them

+It can block the formation of free radicals, help control cholesterol levels and is also a source of folic acid and potassium.


So anyways, I breaded and baked my eggplant (note to self: whole wheat panko breadcrumbs do NOT stay on item you are breading), with some drizzles of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Side salad rocked and contained swiss chard, cut-off-the-cob corn (why does this taste so goooood), and radishes in a dressing of olive oil, apple cider vinegar, sea salt, pepper, and thyme. Yum!