Balancing Act

https://ift.tt/2Th9fwD

Padmacara has added a photo to the pool:

I had a couple of baby eggplants and some leftover tomato sauce but it took me a while to figure out how to make a balanced vegetarian meal out of them. What I came up with is:

GRILLED BABY EGGPLANT ON A BED OF SPICY QUINOA, DRIZZLED WITH HOME-MADE TOMATO SAUCE AND HARD-BOILED EGG

• For the Quinoa

Combine 1 part rinsed black quinoa with 2 parts water in a medium or small saucepan, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook, covered, until all the water is gone (15-20 minutes). Remove from heat and let sit for another 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine some

olive oil
lime juice
capers
diced shallot
Maggi (or soy) sauce
finely chopped parsley
salt
freshly ground black pepper
maybe fresh minced chilli?

in amounts to your liking in a bowl, whisk, and let the flavours blend.

When the quinoa has cooled a bit add the amount you want to the sauce in the bowl, and again, let sit for a while to blend the flavours.


•. For the eggplant

Slice the baby eggplant in half lengthwise, brush with olive oil, and grill until soft and slightly charred

• For the tomato sauce

Sauter 1/2 onion and a small shallot (diced), and a couple of cloves of garlic (minced) in a glug of olive oil until translucent. Add 3 or 4 ripe, diced tomatoes. Add seasoning: salt, freshly ground black pepper, a good dash of Maggi sauce, herbs (I use GFresh 'Italian' or 'Spaghetti Bolognaise', but oregano, basil, and thyme would be good), along with a pinch of curry powder for depth. Simmer until the tomatoes are nice and mushy. If you like a smyoothe sauce, hit it with a stick blender.

It's pretty obvious how to hard-boil an egg and slice it, but if you don't have a slicer, you should: fitzgeraldmuseum.net/top-10-best-egg-slicers-reviews/.

To hard-boil eggs, bring enough water to cover the eggs in a small saucepan to the boil, (pierce the fat end of the egg shell with a piecer, if you can), put the eggs in the water gently with a slotted spoon, and let them cook at a gentle boil for 10 minutes. When the 10 minutes is up, remove the eggs with the slotted spoon and immediately plunge into cold water (cold tap water is fine) to 'shock' them, so they'll be easier to peel.

So, all that's left is to dress the plate: lay down the bed of the quinoa, place the grilled eggplant on it, drizzle generously with the sauce, and top with slices of hard-boiled egg.

Hope you enjoy! Lots of protein from the quinoa and the egg, some good stuff from the cooked tomato.

via Vegetarian Food and Recipes! {ALL WELCOME!} Pool http://www.flickr.com/photos/normanjackson/45901294691/in/pool-74921284@N00