Sweet and Spicy Chinese-Style Eggplant

One of my co-workers has a very plentiful garden. Our office is extremely lucky, in that she often brings the bounty in to share with the rest of us. She brings in eggplants, all sorts of peppers, heirloom tomatoes, grape tomatoes, and zucchinis. This past week, there was a large basket full of eggplant that I could not pass up. I definitely took a couple home with me.

We've had a number of Italian inspired eggplant recipes lately, so I wanted to do something a little bit different. This recipe definitely jumped out at me, and I was curious to try it. It's actually meant to be made with Chinese eggplant, but it still tasted delicious with just regular eggplant. I loved the sweet and spicy combination of flavors, and was a cinch to throw together!

Sweet and Spicy Chinese-Style Eggplant

1 medium eggplant, peeled and cut into chunks (or 2 long Chinese eggplants)
1 teaspoon of salt

3 Tablespoons of soy sauce
2 Tablespoons of rice wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons of white sugar
2 teaspoons of corn starch
dash of red pepper flakes

1 Tablespoon of sesame oil

Directions: Place eggplant cubes in a large bowl, and sprinkle with the salt. Fill bowl with just enough water to cover the eggplant, and set aside for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk together soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sugar, corn starch, and red pepper flakes.

Drain water from bowl with eggplant, and pat eggplant dry with paper towels. Heat the sesame oil in a large non-stick skillet or wok. Add eggplant, and cook over medium stirring occasionally until eggplant is mostly brown. Add sauce, stir to coat, and cook for another couple minutes. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

Adapted from allrecipes.com, original recipe here.

Kale and Soba Salad with Salmon, Edamame, and Avocado

Week one of the CSA produce basket included a lot of kale, so this recipe is one of the ones I found to use it all up!

It had a rich, nutty flavor from the tahini and was very filling and delicious.

Kale and Soba Salad with Salmon, Edamame, and Avocado
(serves 4)

12 oz. of salmon fillet
dash of Kosher salt
dash of black pepper

1 large bunch of kale, washed and chopped

2 Tablespoons of tahini
2 Tablespoons of rice vinegar
2 Tablespoons of soy sauce
1 1/2 Tablespoons of honey
dash of red pepper flakes

8 oz. of soba noodles
1 1/2 cups of shelled edamame

1 avocado, pitted, peeled, and chopped

Directions: Preheat broiler. When it's ready, place fish skin side down and season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 7-10 minutes, or until fish flakes with a fork. Remove from oven and tent with foil to keep warm.

Meanwhile, mix tahini, soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey, and red pepper flakes in a small bowl. Place chopped kale in a large bowl and pour the sauce on top. Mix kale and the sauce with your hands for about 5 minutes, or until kale is wilted down.

Bring a large pot of water to boil, and add soba and edamame. Let boil for about 5 minutes, and then drain. Add soba noodles and edamame to kale mixture and stir to combine.

Separate into 4 bowls and top with chopped avocado and flaked salmon. Enjoy!


Adapted from Cara's Cravings, original recipe here.

New Recipe Review- Asian Lettuce Wraps

For my new recipe this week, I decided to make Asian lettuce wraps. I love them at P. F. Chang's and I figured they couldn't be TOO hard to make. I found this step-by-step on the Tasty Kitchen blog and figured I could handle it! I wouldn't call it a recipe, per se, as there were no measurements, and the recipe it linked to had totally different ingredients! But it was enough of an outline for me to  create my own version.

Here's what I did:

Mix
3 Tbsp oyster sauce,
3 Tbsp hoisin sauce,
1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce,
1 Tbsp Thai chili paste,
1 Tbsp minced garlic,
1 Tbsp brown sugar, and
1 tsp dried ginger

in a small bowl. Set aside.

Dice
1 red pepper,
1 onion,
1 bunch of scallions,
large handful of mushrooms, and
1 can waterchestnuts.

Sauté veggies in wok with canola oil, stirring occasionally until mostly cooked through, about 5-8 minutes. Remove them from wok and set aside.

Add more canola to cooking surface if needed, and brown ground turkey until no longer pink. Remove wok from heat. Add the veggies back in and stir to mix. Pour the sauce on top, and stir to coat.

Serve warm, wrapped up in large Bibb or iceberg lettuce leaves. Yum! This one was really good, and way easier than I expected!

New Recipe Review- Vegetable Noodle Stir Fry

For my new recipe the week before last- I promise I will get better at blogging these- I chose Rachael Ray's Vegetable Noodle Stir Fry. I have been dying to try the new wok we received as a wedding gift and this sounded perfect for it. It turned out really good. I added chicken to it, to make it a little more substantial. The only changes I would make next time are to substitute mushrooms for the carrots (the carrots tasted kind of out of place) and slice the bok choy a little thinner. The veggies also needed a bit more time to cook than the recipe called for, but no biggie. All in all, very tasty!


Original recipe can be found here.