Portabella Eggplant Stacks

Posted on February 5, 2014 by jacky grace

This is a super easy, super light, super healthy dinner that was almost no effort at all.

I love eggplant parm., but boy can it be a process. If you don’t believe me, check it out here. Don’t get me wrong, on a lazy Sunday I have no problem hanging in the kitchen and frying up slices of eggplant.

But on a weeknight I just can’t see coming home from work and spending the time at the stove. Everything has its time and its place and the same is true for food.

So when I saw Giada making eggplant and portabella sandwiches on Food Network, I knew I had found the week night eggplant fix.

I eliminated the sandwich portion and instead made bigger stacks to make this a hearty and filling, yet healthy meal.

There is no frying. And the eggplant and portabella leaves you feeling full and satisfied, even without any meat.

For this recipe you will need

1 eggplant sliced into 1/2 inch thick discs
2 portabella mushrooms, stems removed
Italian-seasoned panko bread crumbs
1 egg, beaten
flour (for dredging)
mozzarella cheese
marinara sauce

Preheat the oven to 425.

Lay out your veggies.

And set up a dredging station. Flour, Egg, Breadcrumbs. Place a lightly oiled cookie sheet at the end of the assembly line.

Take a piece of eggplant and start by dunking it in the flour

then into the egg

then into the panko bread crumbs

Continue until all of the eggplant slices and the portabellas are coated and lined up on the cookie sheet.

Bake for about 20 minutes.

Plate up the stacks and top them with some mozzarella cheese and some marinara sauce.

Steak Sandwiches – Cooked by the Fiance!

Posted on October 2, 2013 by poulosc

So I’ve been a little stressed lately. And a little overwhelmed.

So this post is brought to you by my wonderful fiance who kicked an amazing dinner the other night. I actually admitted that it was better than some of my dinners.

This is inspired by something we saw Giada make on Saturday morning.

So, here it is, the steak sandwich recipe inspired by Giada and brought to you by the best man on earth.

Chop 3 onions

and put in pot with olive oil, salt, pepper, a little sugar and herbs to provence. turn on medium heat and let them caramelize.

slice 2 green peppers in half, remove seeds, and place on tray, skin side up.

broil for 10-15 minutes.

cover with aluminum foil after removing from the oven for another 15 minutes to cool and steam.

them remove the skin using your hands.

slice the peppers and add them to the onions with 2 cloves of chopped garlic

cook for another few minutes till peppers soften

remove everything and put on a plate.

slice up a slab of steak (I used skirt steak b/c it has good fat and flavor, but you can use rib eye for the same reason) into strips.

add a little olive oil to the pot, and fry the steak

until brown with a little salt and pepper

add the onion and pepper mixture back into the pot and let simmer on low stirring occasionally for 5 minutes. then ready to serve.

serve on rolls – hollow out the rolls a bit, spread some marinara sauce on the roll and add a slice of provolone.

microwave or broil the rolls for a minute to melt the cheese,

add the steak mixture

close the sammich and press down to meld flavors.

NOM

the end.

Caprese CousCous Stuffed Tomatoes

Posted on August 23, 2013 by jacky grace

It’s in the air.

You can smell it.

You can feel it.

Fall is coming.

There’s that hint of a chill when the sun goes down that has me grasping at summer.

And to me, summer is a bowl of peaches and some ripe juicy Jersey tomatoes. While I would be satisfied with peaches for dinner, I know my fiance would not.

So I turned to Giada DeLaurentiis’s cookbook and found a lovely recipe for tomatoes stuffed with rice.

I used my creative license and switched out the rice for couscous and so was born Caprese Couscous Stuffed Tomatoes!

One of the best things at an Italian restaurant in the summer is a caprese salad with ripe, bright red tomatoes and fresh mozzarella.

I took that concept and, instead of layering it nicely on a plate, decided to stuff it into a tomato.

For this recipe you will need

Tomatoes (I did 2 per person plus one extra as a lunch for someone the next day)
Couscous (I used the quick cook kind because, well, who wants to use long cook couscous?)
Basil
Mozzarella
Black pepper
olive oil

Preheat the oven to 350.

Prepare the couscous according to the package directions and set aside in a bowl.