Chargrilled Eggplant And Zucchini Salad

After a long weekend away in Tasmania, eating and drinking lots of delicious things, I was in desperate need of some simple vegetables!

As much as I love to eat out and enjoy new and different food, nothing beats a simple homemade meal.

With a few vegies left in the fridge before we headed away, I knew that they needed to be made into something before they would be wasted. This salad is the result of using up leftovers, and I must admit that it was pretty tasty.

The creamy Danish feta combined with the oil and lemon juice to make a lovely dressing on the vegetables. Being chargrilled first, the zucchini and eggplant were nice and soft, but still with a little bit of bite. You could also roast some red capsicum and add that to the salad for extra sweetness.

I served my salad so that the vegetables were still warm. I think the flavour in the eggplant and zucchini are much nicer when they aren't too cold. If you were preparing the vegetables earlier in the day, either take them out of the fridge an hour or so before serving to warm up, or give them a short burst in the microwave to heat them up.

Toasted almonds would also be perfect in this salad, if you didn't have any pinenuts. You just want something to add a little bit of toasty crunchiness.

Enjoy this salad on it's own or with some beautiful fresh crusty bread and butter.

Chargrilled Eggplant And Zucchini Salad

1 eggplant
1 zucchini
3 spring onions, trimmed and white and inner green parts cut into thin rounds
2 tsp toasted pinenuts, plus extra to serve
50g Danish feta, diced
A handful each of baby spinach and rocket
A sprig of parlsey, leaves coarsely chopped
1 Tbs lemon juice
2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Slice eggplant and zucchini lengthways into 5mm thin slices.
Spray with an oil spray and season lightly with salt and pepper.
Heat a grill pan over medium heat and grill vegies for 2-3 minutes each side or until grill marks form and the vegetables are soft. The eggplant will need a little bit longer to soften.
Remove from the pan and allow to cool slightly.
Thinly slice each piece of eggplant or zucchini into long strips. You should get about 4 strips from the zucchini and 5 or 6 from the eggplant.
Put the eggplant and zucchini strips in a bowl with the spring onions, pinenuts, rocket, baby spinach, parsley and feta.
In a small jar, combine the extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice. Season the taste and shake to combine.
Pour about half of the dressing over the salad and toss well to combine. The feta should 'melt' and make a creamy dressing. Season to taste.

Serve the salad piled on to plates, topped with a few extra toasted pinenuts.

Enjoy!

Vegie Stacks

For this week's vegetarian meal, I thought I'd try and get a bit creative and do some thing different. It's so easy to get into a rut and just do the same old things week in and week out!

I saw some beautiful zucchini and eggplant at the fruit shop and decided that chargrilled vegies were going to be the way to go. With a pack of haloumi in the fridge and a few other bits and pieces, my mind was made up.

Vegie stacks are a bit 90's, but I figured that these would be pretty tasty none the less.  I layered the grilled zucchini, eggplant and haloumi and then baked it in the oven until the vegies were really soft. To give a nice crispy topping, I used grated parmesan, panko bread crumbs and some pine nuts, which browned up nicely in the oven.

The sauce I served it with was blended roasted red capsicum and hummus, but you could use any dip, pesto or tomato pasta sauce you had on hand. I didn't have time to make my own hummus, so don't worry if it's shop bought, rather than homemade!

This dish does take a little bit of preparation, but you could easily grill the vegies and make the hummus one night and then prepare the stacks the next. If you do, you might need to cook the stacks for a bit longer as the vegies will be cold, rather than warm.

Let's revive the 90's vegetarian line-up with something a bit more modern!

Grilled Vegie Stacks With Red Capsicum Hummus

1 medium zucchini

1 medium eggplant

200g packet of haloumi

1 Tbs grated parmesan cheese

1 Tbs panko bread crumbs

2 tsp pine nuts

Olive oil spray

Salt and pepper to taste

1 roasted red capsicum, skin removed

1/2 cup hummus

A handful of oregano leaves

Rocket to serve

Slice zucchini and eggplant lengthwise into 5mm thick slices.

Heat a chargrill pan on medium heat.

Spray vegie slices and grill for about 2 minutes on each side or until there are brown grill marks and the vegetables have softened. The eggplant may need slightly longer.

Repeat with all the slices and set aside.

Cut the haloumi into 5mm thick slices and pat dry with kitchen paper.

In the same grill pan on medium heat, grill haloumi for 1 minute each side or until grill marks appear.

Set aside.

To make the hummus, in a small blender, whiz up the roasted red capsicum with the hummus and a few oregano leaves. Season to taste and set aside.

Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees.

Line a baking tray with foil.

Build your stacks by layering eggplant, zucchini and haloumi with a spread of the hummus mixture on the vegies. I managed 3 stacks with 3 layers each.

Season the eggplant and zucchini well as you layer.

Sprinkle the panko crumbs and parmesan over the top.

Bake in the oven for 10 minutes or until the vegies start to soften and the crumbs brown.

Throw the pine nuts on the top and cook for another 5 minutes, or until the pine nuts have browned.

Remove the stacks from the oven before the pine nuts and crumbs burn!

To serve, place one stack on each plate, sprinkle with the oregano leaves and top with some rocket. Dollop the hummus mixture around the stack.

Enjoy!

Warm Eggplant And Pomegranate Salad With Haloumi

Meat free Monday came a day late this week! And I'm back on the haloumi bandwagon after forcing myself to make vego meals without it for the last month or so.

Tonight I was inspired by the Middle East, with gorgeous fried Lebanese eggplant, capsicum and tomato with a tart, but sweet, pomegranate molasses dressing. The salty fried haloumi complemented it perfectly.

This was actually quite a light meal, so would be perfect on a warm summer's night, sitting outside, eating by candlelight. I can't wait for the weather to warm up!

I hope you like this simple meal as much as we did. Especially if you match it with a crisp, dry Riesling.

Warm Eggplant And Pomegranate Salad With Haloumi

2 Lebanese eggplants, halved and chopped into chunks
1 red onion, cut into 8 wedges
2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 red capsicum, cut into chunks
2 tomatoes, cut into quarters
A couple of handfuls of fresh mint, finely chopped plus extra to serve
250g block of haloumi, sliced into 5mm slices
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbs pomegranate molasses, plus extra to drizzle
1/2 Tbs white wine vinegar
A handful of pine nuts, toasted

Combine the pomegranate molasses and vinegar in a small bowl and season to taste. Set aside.

Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil and add the chopped eggplant.
Boil for about 3 minutes, or until starting to soften. Drain well.
Heat a good drizzle of oil over medium high heat in a large frypan and cook onion, garlic and eggplant until starting to brown and soften.
Add the capsicum and stir for a minute or two or until it just begins to loose it's crunch.
Remove the pan from the heat and gently stir through the tomato and mint.
Pour over the molasses dressing and stir to combine.

Heat another good drizzle of oil in a second frypan.
Place haloumi slices into the hot pan and fry for 2-3 minutes each side, or until golden brown and crispy. Drain on paper towel.

To serve, place the warm vegetables on to plates and top with the haloumi. Sprinkle with pine nuts and extra chopped mint, if desired. Drizzle with a little bit more of the pomegranate molasses for extra flavour.

Enjoy!

And To Drink....

To go with the strong flavours in the warm salad and the salty cheese, you need a wine with plenty of body, but also some acidity and freshness. The 2011 Cofield King Valley Riesling was perfect. Plenty of lemon and lime on the palate, with a dry finish and lots of acidity.

The only thing that could have made this dinner better is a warm night, sitting outside under the stars. I'll definitely be making this one again in summer when I can really appreciate the food and wine.

Crispy Eggplant Fritters

Sometimes I'm inspired about what to cook by recipes I've seen on television or in magazines. Gourmet Traveller is one of my favourites for foodspiration! Other times it's something I've eaten at a restaurant or cafe or a dish I've come across online. Days like today, I'm inspired by the beautiful fresh produce I find at the fruit and veg shop or market. Today I picked up a bag of gorgeous purple and white striped eggplants and knew that I had to create something delicious with them.

What to cook though? Layers of chargrilled eggplant and mince in a cheesy moussaka? Indian eggplant curry? A slow cooked ragout, a la ratatouille? In this case the healthy options lost and the deep fried eggplant fritters won!

I'm usually not a fan of deep frying things, but I couldn't resist. Crispy panko crumbed eggplant slices, cooked until golden brown on the outside and soft and creamy inside. Perfect!

To counteract the oiliness of the deep fried eggplant, I wanted some fresh flavours with a bit of acidity. The herbed yogurt and tomato, rocket and fennel salad matched perfectly. This actually was quite a light meal and the eggplant didn't taste too greasy. My husband was a bit sceptical at first, but ended up loving it. A win for all!

Eggplant Fritters With Herbed Yogurt And Tomato, Fennel and Rocket Salad

2 medium eggplants

1 egg

A dash of milk

Plain flour for coating

Panko breadcrumbs

Salt and pepper to taste

Oil for deep frying

1 cup natural yogurt

A handful each of parsley and mint leaves

2 tomatoes, diced

1 small fennel bulb, trimmed and thinly sliced

A handful of rocket leaves

A drizzle of balsamic vinegar

Cut the stalk end off each eggplant and then slice lengthways into roughly 1cm slices.

Place on a tray and generously sprinkle both sides with salt.

Leave for 30 minutes to release the bitter juices and then rinse well. Pat dry with paper towel.

To crumb the fillets, prepare three bowls, one with plain flour, one with panko crumbs and one with the egg and milk lightly whisked and seasoned with salt and pepper.

Dip each eggplant slice into flour, egg wash and then crumbs. Set aside on a tray until all pieces have been crumbed.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

Por oil into a medium sized saucepan until it is about 4-5cm deep.

Heat over medium heat until a few pieces of the panko crumbs start to sizzle as soon as they are added. The oil is now hot enough.

Two pieces at a time, fry eggplant for about 1 minute each side, or until crumbs are golden brown.

Carefully remove with a slotted spoon and place on a baking tray covered with paper towel.

Repeat with remaining eggplant slices, making sure they are in a single layer on the tray.

When all pieces have been fried, place the whole tray in the oven for another 5 minutes to really crisp up.

To make the yoghurt, finely chop the herbs and add to the natural yoghurt. Season to taste.

To make the salad, combine diced tomato, sliced fennel and rocket leaves in a bowl. Season to taste.

Drizzle with balsamic vinegar to your liking. You don't need any oil in this dressing as the eggplant is oily enough.

To serve, place eggplant fritters on a plate, dollop herbed yoghurt around the outside and place a mound of the salad on top.

Enjoy!

Haloumi And Chargrilled Eggplant Salad

Haloumi is a cheese that I often use to cook with when I'm making a vegetarian meal for dinner. It's so tasty when fried until crispy on each side and gives a beautiful texture and saltiness to any meal.

Often I match haloumi with asparagus and orange to make a light and fresh salad for when the weather is warm. Now that the weather is starting to cool down a little bit, it's nice to have a bit more body to a salad to make it more filling and hearty.

I often chargrill zucchini, but don't tend to use eggplant so much. When eggplant is roasted or chargrilled, it becomes soft and starts to fall apart, giving it such lovely flavour and soft texture. If you don't like the regular spongy texture of eggplant, then you must give this a go.

 To go with the extra body of the chargrilled eggplant, I wanted a dressing that also had a bit of oomph. Roasted red capsicum it was to be! I had some roasted and preserved red capsicum in the fridge that needed using up, which were perfect to whiz into a dressing. You could use bought red capsicum, but making it yourself is so easy.

Simply cut a red capsicum in half, remove the seeds and membrane and then grill under high heat until the skin blackens and blisters. Really, the blacker the better! Wrap the whole lot up in some foil or place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap for about 10 minutes. When cool enough to handle, the blackened skin will peel right off.

To make the dressing, you need the soft, juicy roasted capsicum, some extra virgin olive oil, verjuice or vinegar and salt and pepper to taste. Whiz it all up in a small food processor until it's of a drizzling consistency and season. You don't want the sweetness of the capsicum overpowered by the acidity in the verjuice or vinegar, so add a little bit at a time. I used about a tablespoon for 1/2 cup capsicum and 1 tablespoon of oil. Adjust to suit your taste.

Chargrilled Eggplant Salad With Roasted Red Capsicum Dressing

3 small vine ripened tomatoes, halved

Olive oil for drizzling

2 eggplants, sliced lengthways into 5mm slices

Salt for sprinkling

1/2 cup roasted red capsicum pieces

1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

1 Tbs verjuice

A handful of rocket leaves

1 spring onion, sliced into thin rounds

A handful of pine nuts

250g packet of haloumi, cut into 5mm slices

A teaspoon of sumac

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

Place halved tomatoes on a roasting tray and drizzle with oil and season to taste.

Roast for about 10 minutes or until the skin starts to split and the flesh softens.

Remove from the oven and set aside.

While the tomato is roasting, place the pinenuts in a small tin and roast in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes, checking and shaking frequently so they don't burn.

When they are golden brown remove from the oven, tip onto a cold plate and set aside to cool.

For the eggplant, sprinkle salt generously over the eggplant slices and leave for about 15 minutes until the bitter juices start to seep out.

Rinse the eggplant to remove the salt and bitter juices and then pat dry with paper towel.

Drizzle the oil over the eggplant and fry in a chargrill pan until the flesh starts to soften and grill marks appear on one side. Turn and cook on the other side.

Remove eggplant from the pan and set aside in a bowl to cool.

For the dressing, place red capsicum, verjuice and oil in a small food processor and whiz until combined. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Into the same bowl as the cooled eggplant, add the rocket, spring onion and toasted pinenuts.

Pour the dressing over the top and mix carefully to combine. Add the tomato at the final moment so it doesn't break down too much. Season with a bit of extra pepper, if you like.

For the haloumi, heat a good drizzle of oil in a frying pan until hot.

Fry the haloumi slices for a couple of minutes each side, or until crisp and golden. Sprinkle each slice with a pinch of sumac for extra flavour.

Remove and briefly drain on paper towel.

To serve, place the salad on to 2 plates and arrange the fried haloumi around the eggplant.

Enjoy!

And to Drink....

Now that I've started to enjoy and develop an appreciation for chardonnay again, I seem to be drinking a lot of it.  Not such a bad thing!

This beautiful 2006 'Ithaca' chardonnay from Nepenthe in the Adelaide Hills is a cool climate chardonnay that retains so many beautiful fruity flavours, while still having some buttery oakiness and complexity.

Admittedly, we opened this wine to have with our roast pork belly the night before and had some left over. It also matched perfectly with the sweetness of the roasted capsicum dressing and the saltiness of the haloumi. The saltiness actually enhanced the citrus flavours in the wine. The toasted pine nuts also brought out the nuttiness from the oaking process.

What a beautiful match to a lovely salad.

If you didn't have a chardonnay, any other dry style of white wine would match perfectly too. Even a dry rose with plenty of red berry and plum flavours would be perfect, especially if the weather was warm.

Udder Delights Cheese

Last weekend I was in Adelaide for my Mum's birthday and was lucky enough to pick up an enormous pack of gorgeous Udder Delights Cheese. Udder Delights produces goat and cow's milk cheeses in the beautiful Adelaide Hills town of Lobethal, with their shop and cafe in Hahndorf.

Their range includes a goat curd, chèvre, goat camembert and brie and a goat blue. They also make a camembert, brie, double cream brie and Heysen blue from cow's milk.

My pack included a 1kg tub of the amazing goat curd, three 100g mixed goat brie and camembert and 500g of the Heysen blue. Paired with some crackers, dried fruit and nuts, it made the perfect cheese platter for the birthday party.

Unfortunately there was a big wedge of the blue, one camembert and half a tub of the curd left over that I just had to bring back home! As a result, we've been living on goat's cheese this week. Such a tough life, but someone has to do it!

I thought I'd share with you a couple of the salads and side dishes I've made this week and give you a couple of other suggestions of how to use goat's curd.

The Udder Delights curd is not too 'goaty', which means it is low in acidity and very creamy. It matches perfectly will all sorts of fruits and vegetables, so you can use it for sweet and savoury dishes. It is a great match in zucchini fritters, atop pasta, wrapped in prosciutto for an appetiser or on its own, spread onto fresh bread. Goat's curd on a pea and broad bean tart is a match made in heaven!

I have only made savoury meals this week, but will try something sweet next week. Goat's curd matches perfectly with fresh figs, ripe peaches and nectarines, if you wanted to make a dessert that wasn't overly sweet. It also bakes well into muffins, cakes or tarts. I think I might try a cheesecake or panna cotta.

For the first meal we had this week, I paired asparagus with the curd and served it with a nice steak, marinated in some red wine, garlic and pomegranate molasses. I also roasted some home grown potatoes with whole garlic cloves, lemon rind, lemon juice and a touch of chilli, for something different.

Tonight we had the zucchini and eggplant salad, served with panko crumbed snapper. Simple but very tasty.

I can't wait to finish the rest of the tub!

How would you eat your goat's cheese? I'd love to know how you enjoy this amazing product.

Asparagus With Goat's Curd

1 bunch of asparagus, woody ends removed

1/2 cup goat's curd

1 Tbs toasted pinenuts

A squeeze of lemon juice

A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

A drizzle of pomegranate molasses

Freshly cracked black pepper

Place asparagus in a heat proof container and pour boiling water over it. Allow to sit for approx 1 minute, then drain.

Place blanched asparagus on a serving platter and sprinkle with pine nuts.

Decoratively blob the goat's curd over the asparagus.

Drizzle with oil, pomegranate molasses and a squeeze of lemon juice, to taste.

Finish with freshly ground black pepper.

Simple but delicious!

Chargrilled Eggplant And Zucchini With Goat's Curd and Pomegranate

1 zucchini

2 Lebanese eggplants

1 pomegranate

A handful of fresh parsley, coarsely chopped

A handful of fresh mint, coarsely chopped

Juice of 1 lemon

2 tsp verjuice

1 1/2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil plus extra for grilling

1/3 cup goat's curd

Salt and pepper to taste

Slice the zucchini and eggplant lengthways into roughly 5mm slices.
Place the eggplant in a colander and generously sprinkle with salt. Set aside for 15 mins to drain the bitter juices. Rinse the salt and pat dry.
Heat a chargrill pan or BBQ over medium heat.
Brush vegetable slices lightly with oil and chargrill until golden and tender. Remove to a plate and set aside.
For the dressing, combine lemon juice, verjuice, oil and salt and pepper to taste.
Pour half of the dressing over the eggplant and zucchini and toss to combine. Allow to absorb the dressing.
To remove the seeds from the pomegranate, cut it in half and then hold in an open palm over a bowl in the sink. Using a spoon, beat the skin side until all the seeds fall into the bowl. Remove any bits of the white pith that fall into the bowl.
To serve, drain vegetables from extra dressing and place on a platter. Top with chopped mint and parsley, pomegranate seeds and blobs of goat's curd. Drizzle with a little of the remaining dressing and a good grinding of black pepper.

Enjoy!