Afghan-Style Grilled Eggplant with Tomato Sauce, Yogurt and Herbs

 From the Washington Post Ellie Krieger, food section 7/7/2021 - based on the traditional Afghan borani baijan but the eggplant is grilled (or roasted) and not fried.  Serve at room temperature or warm. Can be a meal, maybe with grilled flatbread.

This was REALLY good - I happened to have grilled eggplant slices on hand from the day before (prepared for pasta alla norma), and that saved me time.  Although, I also had a white potato that I wanted to use, so I roasted that, and added it to the dish.  All eggplant would have been wonderful. 

I had a lot of cherry tomatoes, so I used those.  There wasn't too much liquid to go around, but it was very tasty.  I skimped on the mint because I was too lazy to go outside to get more, but the bites with mint were super special.  I didn't have cilantro, so I can't speak to that.  Definitely a keeper! 

The grilled eggplant and onion, and the yogurt sauce can be kept for 3 days in the fridge.

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 cup non-dairy, low fat or whole milk plain yogurt

2.5 tsp (2 large cloves) finely grated garlic, divided

2 Tbsp water, plus more as needed

3 small or 2 medium firm, globe eggplants, about 1.5 pounds total, trimmed and sliced 1/2" thick

1/2 medium red onion (~4 oz) sliced 1/3" thick

4 Tbsp olive oil, divided

1 tsp kosher salt, divided

1 pound fresh, ripe tomatoes, chopped, with their juices (or sub 28 oz can no salt added diced tomatoes with their juices)

1/2 tsp sweet paprika

1/4 tsp ground turmeric

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 Tbsp chopped fresh mint leaves

2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro leaves

DIRECTIONS:

1) in a medium bowl, combine yogurt with 1/2 tsp of garlic and, if needed, water, 1 Tbsp at a time, until the yogurt is the consistency of thin pancake batter and can be easily drizzled.  Cover and refrigerate until needed.

2) Preheat the grill or a grill pan over a medium-high heat.  Brush both sides of the eggplant and onion with 3 Tbsp of the oil, then sprinkle with 1/2 tsp salt

3) Working in batches, if necessary, grill the eggplant and onion until tender and have grill marks, 3-4 minutes per side for the eggplant and 2-3 minutes per side for the onion.  Transfer the grilled vegetables to a plate.

4) In a large, deep skillet with a lid over medium-high heat, heat the remaining 1 Tbsp of oil until shimmering.  Add the remaining 2 tsp garlic and cook, stirring until it turns pale golden, 20-30 seconds.  Add the tomatoes, paprika, turmeric, remaining 1/2 tsp salt and the pepper and cook, stirring frequently until the tomatoes have broken down and have become thick and saucy, about 6 minutes.  If the mixture seems dry, add 1-2 Tbsp of water.

5) Stir 2 Tbsp of water into the skillet, then add the eggplant and onions, gently nestling them into the sauce and spooning some of the sauce over them. Reduce the heat to low, over, and simmer until the eggplant is very tender and has absorbed some of the sauce, but it still retains its shape, 5-7 minutes.  Remove from the heat and let cool.

6) To serve, spread about 1/2 cup of the yogurt on a serving platter or divide it among individual plates, with each plate getting 2 Tbsp.  Layer the saucy eggplant mixture on top of the yogurt, then drizzle with the remaining y0ogurt and sprinkle with the mint and cilantro.  

Citrus-Marinated Salmon with Fennel Cream

photo 7/15/2019

From Amy Riolo's The Ultimate Mediterranean Diet Cookbook - Harness the Power of the World's Healthiest Diet to Live Better, Longer

I should have read the instructions first - before I discarded the fronds from the fresh fennel.  So the 'cream sauce' made from yogurt and herbs wasn't quite as intended.  Nonetheless, the salmon was soft and tasty - I'm thinking it would difficult to overcook, since it's in liquid and baked while covered.

I'm going to try cutting the fennel and onion into smaller pieces next time and let them soak up the marinade.  Making more of the marinade would help, and perhaps reserving some.
Halve the orange slices to place on top of the salmon.

Fennel is often eaten raw in salads, braised, or roasted as in this recipe.  The seeds can be boiled to make soothing teas.

Ingredients: 

2 Tbsp EVOO
1/4 cup OJ
1/2 tsp unrefined sea salt or salt
Freshly ground pepper
4 salmon fillets, 4 oz each, skin on
1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced - reserve fronds
1/2 sweet onion, thinly sliced
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 oranges - one zested, 1 thinly sliced

Directions: 

1) In a small bowl, whisk the EVOO, OJ, salt and pepper until emulsified.
2) Place the salmon in a glass baking dish and pour marinade over the top.  Marinate for 1 hour.
3) Preheat oven to 400 degrees
4) Scatter fennel and onion around the sides of the salmon and cover with aluminum foil.  Bake until the fish flakes easily with a fork and is opaque in color, 20-25 minutes.
5) While the fish is baking, combine the Greek yogurt with 2 Tbsp of fennel fronds, finely chopped, and orange zest.
6) Remove the fish from the oven and place on a serving plate.  Dollop each with about 1/4 of yogurt mixture and garnish with orange slices.

Unstuffed Cabbage - Vegetarian

In an attempt to share Jewish style recipes with vegetarian friends, I tried to adapt a few parts of three different vegetarian burger, stuffed cabbage and unstuffed cabbage recipes.  Some parts were successes, other parts not so much.  The sauce part of it definitely came out with that sweet and sour taste, familiar from mom's cooking, thanks to a combination of lemon, golden raisins, honey and brown sugar, each in moderation.  The 'meatballs', mostly made up of cannelloni beans and chickpeas, that I attempted to cook in tomato sauce -- sort of disintegrated.  But no great loss - they added to the texture of the sauce.  I decided against trying to steam large cabbage leaves and roll a vegetarian stuffing into them.  Too many opportunities to tear the leaves and have to start over again, and again....

The recipe I ended up with was mainly based on a post on allrecipes.com, called Grandma Elaine's Unstuffed Sweet and Sour Cabbage.  I tried switching out the meat part of it, but may need to either use faux meat crumbles to add to the sauce, or to make 'meat'balls.  The overall recipe takes about 3 hours, but most of the time its simmering on the stove and does not need any attention.  Stay tuned.

2/18/18 - The recipe below seemed good, with a sweet and sour tang, but I needed to freeze it.  When I defrosted it a few weeks later, it seemed to have lost its taste.  I needed to add a LOT of lemon and brown sugar to restore it, but my guests did seem to enjoy it.  I'll have to try it again without freezing.  Also, since the original 'meatballs' fell apart, I made different ones from www.karissavegankitchen.com - appropriately called Vegan Chickpea Meatball Recipe.  They were not bad, but didn't have enough taste.  I might try some fennel sautéed next time to add into the mixture.  I baked them separately and they seemed to have a firm enough outer crust, so they tolerated being reheated gently on the stove in the unstuffed cabbage.

1/29/19  Tried this again when I had lots of carrots to use.  Made the recipe as noted below, with Rao's as the tomato sauce, 2 medium onions, about 1 lb carrots sliced and one small green cabbage.  Ended up adding about 1 tsp of salt (total) and about 2 Tbsp of brown sugar, I think.  Very tasty!


Ingredients: 
1 large white onion
1 (28 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes
1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 pounds green cabbage, cored, and cut into 3 inch chunks
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

3+ tablespoons fresh lemon juice - to taste
1/3 cup golden raisins
1 tablespoon honey
1/3 cup packed brown sugar, or to taste

Directions:
1) Place the vegetable oil into a large pot over medium heat. Stir in the sliced onions, and cook until transparent, about 5 minutes.

2) Add the tomatoes and tomato sauce, using a spoon to slightly chop the whole tomatoes. Season with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cover, and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3) Stir the cabbage into the tomatoes. It will initially look like there is more cabbage than can be absorbed, but it shrinks substantially.  Cover, and simmer 1 hour until the cabbage is tender and mixes easily with the tomatoes.

4) At this point, I made a mixture meant to be chickpea burgers.  I suppose I could have cooked them separately coated with flour as instructed, but I added them to the tomato mixture as you would regular meatballs.  They fell apart --

5) Cover the pot and continue to simmer 45 minutes more. Stir in the lemon juice, and taste for seasoning, adding additional lemon juice if required. Stir in the raisins, and honey. Add the brown sugar, a little at a time, tasting after each addition. Cook mixture over medium heat 15 minutes more.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/143362/grandma-elaines-unstuffed-sweet-and-sour-cabbage/?internalSource=hub%20recipe&referringContentType=search%20results&clickId=cardslot%201

http://www.amuse-your-bouche.com/easy-chickpea-burgers/

Onion Roasted Chicken

One pot roasted chicken and vegetables.  Looks great for a shabbat dinner.

http://passthechallah.com/popular-recipe-2016-onion-roasted-chicken/

Persian Chicken with Pomegranate and Walnut - Fesenjan

Adapted from The Paleo Slow Cooker - Healthy Gluten-Free Meals the easy Way by Arsy Vartanian. Page Street Publishing Company, 2013.

This is a special Persian dish, high in omega 6's thanks to the walnuts and very high in protein with the combination of chicken and nuts.  On the recommendation of a Persian friend, we used pomegranate molasses (from a Persian grocery store) instead of pomegranate juice, and was delicious meal.  He also prefers the dish made with beef or dark-meat chicken rather than chicken breasts.  As with many dishes in sauce, it was infinitely better 2 and 3 days later.

Ingredients:
3.5 pounds bone-in, skinless chicken thighs, breasts and legs
1 tsp sea salt
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cups water
4 cups walnuts, coarsely ground, some of it more finely ground to thicken the sauce
1.5 cups pomegranate juice
1/2 cup pomegranate molasses
2 Tbsp honey
1/2 tsp ground saffron
Salt and pepper just before serving
Pomegranate seeds for garnish

Directions:
There were directions for browning the chicken, sautéing the onion and spices and forming a paste with the walnuts, but I always disregard those instructions for slow-cooker recipes.

Here's my way of doing it:
1) Put all ingredients in the slow cooker.
2) Cook on low for 4 hours.  Remove chicken, debone, shred with 2 forks and place back in slow cooker on high with lid removed.  Cook for 30 minutes to thicken the sauce.
3) Salt and pepper to taste, then serve - but it's much better if you wait a few days.

Lebanese Vegan Moussaka

WEEKNIGHT VEGETARIAN MAY 9, 2016
https://www.washingtonpost.com/pb/recipes/lebanese-vegan-moussaka/15279/

Calling this a 'weeknight' recipe is a misnomer, unless you cook it on the weekend and heat it up on a weeknight.  BUT - all the time it took to make it is worth it.  The spice blend is delicious, really does take just a few minutes, and will likely be good on anything you choose to cover with it. 

3/2025 Used this spice blend to roast veggies and it was amazing - cauliflower, onions, white and sweet potatoes, red peppers, and fennel.  Tossed veggies with OO, S&P, then sprinkled this leftover spice blend. Roast for about 30 minutes total at 400 or so, tossing once in the middle.

A very simple version of the moussaka, which would not exactly be Lebanese or Greek, would be to just bake the eggplant slices, drain the chickpeas, and use a pre-made tomato sauce.  It still takes time because it would need to bake for 40 minutes or so after baking the eggplant and assembling the casserole, but it's still WAY faster than the recipe below.  My favorite store-bought sauce these days is Rao's.  It's more expensive than most others, but is relatively low in sodium, sugar and calories and has a short list of only natural ingredients.



This hearty casserole differs from the Greek version of moussaka in that it is a simple combination of eggplant, tomato sauce and chickpeas. In Lebanon, it is called maghmour. It uses a classic spice blend that gives it a unique flavor, but if you'd, like you can substitute another Middle Eastern blend, such as za'atar or baharat.

This recipe makes more spice blend than you'll need; it can be used on a wide variety of vegetables and in salad dressings, dips and more.

Make Ahead: The spice blend can be stored in an airtight container for up to 1 month.

SERVINGS:

Tested size: 8-10 servings

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE 7-SPICE BLEND
2 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 teaspoons ground allspice
2 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
2 tablespoons freshly grated nutmeg
2 tablespoons ground fenugreek
2 tablespoons ground ginger
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
FOR THE EGGPLANT AND CHICKPEAS
3 1/2 cups cooked, no-salt-added chickpeas (from two 14-ounce cans), drained and rinsed
1/2 cup gluten-free flour blend (may substitute all-purpose flour)
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 large eggplants (about 3 pounds), trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch disks
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
FOR THE SAUCE
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 bay leaf
6 large tomatoes (about 4 1/2 pounds), finely chopped
7 sun-dried tomatoes, preferably oil-packed, chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
One 14-ounce can no-salt-added diced or chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon unsweetened pomegranate molasses (optional)
Juice of half a lemon
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more as needed
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more as needed
DIRECTIONS

For the 7-spice blend: Combine the allspice, cloves, nutmeg, ground fenugreek, ground ginger, pepper and cinnamon in a small bowl or jar and thoroughly mix. The yield is 1 scant cup; reserve 4 teaspoons for this dish and store the rest (for up to 1 month).

For the eggplant and chickpeas: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Have a large, deep baking dish or casserole at hand. Drain the chickpeas.

Whisk together the flour, the 4 teaspoons of 7-spice blend and the salt on a large plate. Dab each side of the eggplant disks in the flour mix so they are lightly coated, discarding whatever flour mix is left. Lay them on the lined baking sheets, drizzle them with the oil and bake until fork-tender, about 20 minutes. Let cool while you make the tomato sauce.

For the sauce: Heat the oil in a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until it starts to soften, 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, then stir in the cumin and bay leaf and cook, continuing to stir frequently, until the cumin is fragrant. Stir in the finely chopped fresh tomatoes and their juices, the sun-dried tomatoes, tomato paste, diced or chopped canned tomatoes, water, pomegranate molasses, if using, the lemon juice, salt and pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, to form a sauce that is thick and rich and has reduced, 30 to 40 minutes. Taste, and add salt and pepper as needed. Turn off the heat, and discard the bay leaf.

To assemble, create a layer of about one-third of the baked eggplant disks in the bottom of the baking dish or casserole. Top with about one-third of the chickpeas and one-third of the sauce. Repeat in two more layers, finishing with the sauce. Bake (uncovered) until bubbling around the edges, about 40 minutes. Let cool slightly, and serve warm or at room temperature.

Calories per serving (based on 10): 260

% Daily Values*

Total Fat: 8g 12%

Saturated Fat: 1g 5%

Cholesterol: 0mg 0%

Sodium: 210mg 9%

Total Carbohydrates: 42g 14%

Dietary Fiber: 12g 48%

Sugar: 16g

Protein: 10g

*Percent Daily Value based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

Total Fat: Less than 65g

Saturated Fat: Less than 20g

Cholesterol: Less than 300mg

Sodium: Less than 2,400mg

Total Carbohydrates: 300g

Dietary Fiber: 25g

Chicken with Lemongrass

From The Complete Asian Cookbook  Thailand Vietnam Cambodia Laos & Burma
by Charmaine Solomon

We started using more Asian spices and recipes after returning from Vietnam and Cambodia in March, 2016.  I was having difficulty finding recipes online the way I usually do, so we searched on Amazon and there were remarkably few books there either.  Tonight was my first attempt at using one of the recipes from this book and it was simple and delicious.  Fresh lemongrass can be found at some general supermarkets, and certainly at the Asian markets.  It is grown in Florida and California, as well as Australia, Brazil, Mexico and West Africa.  If lemongrass is old and dried out, you are probably better off using grated lemon rind.

According to one of my go-to books, Jill Norman's Herbs & Spices, the cook's reference, the taste is, "tart, clean, and citrus like with peppery notes."  Only the lower part of the stalk, which is white with just a tinge of pale green should be used.  You should first pound or "bruise" the stalk with a mortar and pestle (or a flat part of a knife if needed) to release the oils that contain the flavor.  You can then either cook your dish with the stalk in chunks and remove it before serving, or slice VERY thinly and leave it in.  The stalks are used in curries and stews as well as for tea or for flavoring vinaigrettes.

Tonight, I chose a little of both, using some lemongrass as stalks and letting the rest incorporate into the dish as thin slices.  This part of the meal was simple but excellent.  I usually don't cook chicken stovetop, but this worked out well.  We were a bit tired of fish sauce, so I omitted that.

INGREDIENTS:
2 lb chicken - bone in pieces or boneless breasts
3-4 lemongrass stems, white part only, thinly sliced
3 scallions, thinly sliced
1 tsp salt (or a little less)
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
2 Tbsp canola oil
1 fresh red chili deseeded and chopped (optional)
1/2 cup roasted peanuts, finely chopped
2 tsp sugar
2 Tbsp fish sauce (optional)

DIRECTIONS:
1) Cut chicken into serving pieces.

2) Gently bruise the lemongrass with a mortar and pestle (or other hard object).

3) Place the lemongrass in a bowl with the scallion, salt, pepper and chicken and toss well to combine.  Set aside in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

4) Heat the oil in a wok or large heavy-based frying pan over medium heat.  Add the chicken mixture and stir-fry for 3 minutes.  Add the chili and stir-fry for a further 10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

5) Add the peanuts, season with the sugar and extra pepper and stir well.

6) Add the fish sauce (optional) and toss to distribute evenly then serve with rice, noodles, (or quinoa, the western version).

photos (3) - lemongrass with sliced scallions, chopped peanuts, chicken with lemongrass, 4/13/16.