Meatless Mondays: Open-faced Eggplant Parmesan Sandwiches

Rachel here: I am obsessed with eggplant (I know-it's a picture of a tomato, not an eggplant, but more on that in a bit). Until recently, I counted it as a food I didn't particularly care for. Our dear friend N came to visit and help us out right after M was born, though, and she put eggplant in lasagnas that she made us. Ever since then I've had a hankering. While my mom hates the texture, that's precisely the thing that I'm so gaga for these days. Anyway, after making stir-fry the other night I found myself with half an eggplant leftover. What to do? Simple. Buy the prettiest heirloom tomato I could find, a delicious loaf of bread and make open-faced eggplant parmesan sandwiches for dinner.


I know, I know. There should be a picture of eggplant and a sandwich in this blog post somewhere. The photos I took, though, fall into the category of epic failure, so instead I'm keeping you hungry with pictures of tomatoes and bread (personally, they're two of my favorite things). This was a really simple and delicious dinner and I don't want to turn you off with unappetizing pictures.



ingredients
loaf of your favorite bread (I bought a loaf of rustic whole wheat sourdough made by the local Acme bakery...so so good)
tomato (heirlooms just came into season here and I won't by a different kind of tomato until they go out)
basil
parmesan cheese
olive oil
eggplant
salt and pepper

method
Slice the eggplant in 1/2-inch slices. Rub with salt, pepper and olive oil. Grill. Place bread under broiler and toast (don't toast too much as you will be placing bread back under broiler later). On top of toasted bread, stack basil leaves, slices of tomato, and piece of grilled eggplant. Shred parmesan cheese generously over the top before placing sandwiches under the broiler. Broil until cheese is good and melted. Devour!

Holy Guacamole!

Rachel here: There are few things better than good avocados, I think. I've always loved them, but once I became pregnant with M I became kind of obsessed because they're a superfood of sorts. A superfood that is easy to eat? Sold. At some point during my pregnancy I began eating avocados sprinkled with a dash of salt nearly everyday. Anyway, fast forward to last night and we're not only in the peak of avocado season but M was in the midst of a hearty evening nap.


The stars rarely align so nicely. Anyway, John and I tiptoed away from our sleeping baby into the kitchen and I sliced into the avocados I'd bought earlier that day. One taste and I knew that I'd be forgoing a more involved guacamole in favor of the simplest version possible. These were the creamiest, most perfect avocados around.


I made a little side salsa with the ingredients I'd bought on the chance that the avocados weren't so wonderful. We popped open a bag of corn chips and a couple of beers and stood in the kitchen relishing the quiet and each other's company as the evening settled in around us. It was so simple and so wonderful.


ingredients
4 extra large avocados
1 medium white onion, diced
4 medium roma tomatoes, diced
1 small lime
1/2 a medium lemon
3/4 tspn. salt, divided

method
Scoop avocado into a medium bowl and squeeze the juice from one lime over it. Add 1/2 tspn. salt and mash with a fork (I like mine chunky). In a separate bowl (or the same one if the avocados aren't great), combine tomatoes, onion, juice from the half lemon and the remaining 1/4 tspn. salt. Mix and serve with the guacamole and chips. Enjoy!



Janet here: I don't make guacamole often for one simple reason: I would eat the whole damn bowl. Yup, I love it, especially guacamole that's got a little zing to it. Sadly in the Northeast, buying ripe avocados is virtually impossible so you have to plan ahead if you want to get your guacamole fix to give them time to ripen. (Another example of California's food superiority.)

Anyway if you want an avocado fix, this salad adapted from the Barefoot Contessa at Home does the trick quite nicely. It's easy to whip up and makes a nice side salad on a hot summer night when turning on the oven is the last thing on your to-do list.


Guacamole Salad
serves 4

ingredients
1/2 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced into 1/2 inch pieces, seeded
7 oz black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup diced red onion
1 tablespoon minced jalapeno peppers
1/4 teaspoon lime zest
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 ripe avocados, seeded and peels, 1/2 inch diced


method
Place the tomatoes, pepper, black beans, red onions, peppers and lime zest in a large bowl. Whisk together the lime juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic and cayenne pepper and pour over the vegetables. Toss well.

Just before you're ready to serve, fold in the avocados. Check the seasoning and serve at room temperature.

Hot Summer, Cool Dinner

Janet here: I'm holding down the blog fort on my own this week as Rachel recovers from having a baby — Maxine! — and gets used to life with an infant. It's hotter than hell here in the Northeast where I'm based, so the idea of standing in front of a hot stove and oven is not that appealing. I also find myself less hungry in general when it's really hot.

The joy of summer is that you can whip up a salad with just about anything you've got in the fridge and voila! Instant dinner. That's often a harder sell for the young men in my house. What? Just cold veggies for dinner? Adding this buffalo chicken — which was cooked on the grill, keeping the kitchen cool — made this an easy sell. Basically I could add buffalo chicken to arsenic and they would be willing to try it. Happily, this salad was declared anything but poisonous. I served this with my homemade onion rings and it was a major hit. Son G declared that he would ask for this as his last meal if he could. Now that made me feel great.


Buffalo Chicken Salad
serves 4

ingredients
1 pound boneless chicken breasts or chicken tenders if you're in a rush
2-3 tablespoons hot sauce (We're a Frank's family but whatever is your favorite will work)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Romaine lettuce, ripped into bite-size pieces
4 stalks celery, diced
2 medium carrots, diced
2 scallions, green and white part, thinly sliced


Blue Cheese Dressing
from Ellie Krieger's The Food You Crave

ingredients
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese
salt and pepper to taste

method
Mix the oil and hot sauce in a bowl. If you've got tenders, put them in and toss with the sauce until coated. If you've got breasts, pound them into thinner slab and cut into strips. Then toss with the sauce.

Make up the salad plates with the ingredients above.

Make the blue cheese dressing. If you make Ellie's be aware that you should strain the yogurt for 30 minutes (put a paper towel over a small bowl to act as a strainer and then spoon the yogurt on top to get rid of the excess liquid). I did not do this and my dressing while tasty was a little more liquidy than I like my blue cheese dressing. After the yogurt is strained, whisk all the ingredients together.

When you're ready to eat, grill the chicken, place on top of the salad, add the dressing and you're good to go.