Orzo and Vegetable Bake - Italian Style...

Last night I looked in the fridge, saw what was there and invented this Italian style bake. My kids absolutely loved it. They begged me to put it on the blog and enter into the Vegetarian Times recipe contest :) Well, I dunno about that one... This is a super fast easy way to treat your family to some Italian style comfort food. It takes less than 1/2 hour.

Orzo and Vegetable Bake - Italian Style...

You'll need:

1 box of orzo 12 oz or 16 oz
1 eggplant, cut in 1 inch cubes
About 3 cups of organic spinach
1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce
2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup of grated Parm cheese (can be less)
Salt, pepper, olive oil

You can use any combination of vegetables for this. I would imagine bell peppers, zucchini, mushrooms, cannellini beans etc would work just fine. Sprinkle eggplant with salt and let it sit in a colander for about 30 min (feel free to skip this step is pressed for time). Boil pasta. While the pasta is cooking, heat oil in a sauté pan, add eggplant and cook until barely soft - a couple of minutes. Add spinach and cook, stirring, until wilts. Add the sauce, mix well and bring to boil. Drain pasta and transfer to a large Pyrex casserole dish. Spread in an even layer. Top with the vegetable mix, sprinkle with cheeses and bake until the cheese melts. About 15 minutes. Enjoy!

Baked Eggplant Dip or the Upside of Natural Disasters

I suspect my family members pray for various natural disasters...When that collective prayer is answered, I am forced to close the studio and come home after work or better yet - stay home altogether. That usually means a five course dinner and baked goodies. Last night, instead of fixing knees in Warrior 2 in my Iyengar class I've got to experiment with a whole baked eggplant. As the flood waters crept to my studio, the blender was going... It resulted in a tasty dip, that could also replace ketchup for your home baked fires or your veggie burger. It can served as a side dish too, which it did last night.

Backed Eggplant Dip

1 large eggplant

2-3 Tbsp of tomato paste

1-2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1/4 tsp of coriander powder (or your favorite spice mix)

About 1 tsp of olive oil (optional)

Small bunch of fresh cilantro, chopped

Salt, pepper to taste

Cut several slits on the eggplant. Place it on a foil lined baking sheet and bake at 500F for 45 minutes. Let it cool, then peel the skin off. Transfer all that soft, gooey, baked goodness into a frying pan, add tomato paste and garlic and cook on medium heat until the liquid is evaporated. Remove from heat, add coriander, olive oil, salt, pepper, cilantro and pulse in a food processer/blender/chopper until smooth. Cool to room temperature and enjoy!