Summer Roasted Eggplant and Tomato Soup

Summer Roasted Tomato and Eggplant Soup with Phyllo Dumplings

 Like everyone else in the food world, my favorite part of summer (aside from not having to wear a jacket outside) is the produce. Trips to the greenmarket become wonderful discoveries of fresh summer bounty and I have to force myself not to come home with everything I see.


Lately, the vegetarian and I have been traveling a lot so we haven't had time to enjoy the greenmarket as much as we'd like. Our travels took us to Hancock, NY, where we were costarring in a new play that about the founding of Laramie, WY. While this was a lot of fun, culinarily it left something to be desired (aside from an amazing restaurant we discovered on the way home, in Ellenville, NY).

Ozzy

The other thing that's been going on is that, do to some lingering behavioral problems, we had to send Ozzy to boot camp for 2 weeks. Now he's home and we're training him pretty hardcore. It's taxing but, ultimately, will be worth it.


So on our trip to the greenmarket yesterday, we wanted something fresh, non labor-intensive and that we could make into comfort food. There were beautiful baby eggplants at the greenmarket and we picked up several (white and purple). To stick with my theme of miniature produce, I grabbed two pints of cherry tomatoes as well. And, because our basil plant had died while we were away, a bunch of lemon basil came home with us as well.


My favorite way to prepare eggplant is to roast it. This concentrates the flavors without leeching out too much moisture. A quick internet search found a recipe for Roasted Eggplant with Tomato and Feta. I loved the flavors but wanted something more comforting than a warm salad. A quick cookbook search found me a recipe for Summer Roasted Tomato Soup. I put on my thinking cap, combined both recipes, and -- poof! Summer Roasted Eggplant and Tomato Soup was born. Enjoy!


Summer Roasted Tomato and Eggplant Soup

Freshly Pureed Soup

adapted from A Slob in the Kitchen and Green Lite Bites

• 4 small Japanese eggplants
• 1 small white eggplant
• 2 pints cherry tomatoes
• 2 teaspoons olive oil, divided, plus more as necessary
• 6 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 1 cup lemon basil leaves, chopped
• 1 15-ounce can chickpeas
• 1/2 cup feta, crumbled
• 1 red onion, minced
• 6 cups chicken stock

Preheat oven to 400 F. Toss eggplants, tomatoes, olive oil (at least 1 teaspoon), garlic, salt, basil, chickpeas and feta together.on an aluminum foil-lined rimmed baking sheet. Roast 45 minutes, stirring halfway through and adding more olive oil if eggplant has dried out. Remove from oven and set aside.

In a stockpot, heat 1-2 teaspoons olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and cooking, stirring, 5-10 minutes, until onion has turned translucent. Add roasted mixture and stock. Cover, raise heat to high and bring to a boil. Remove cover, lower heat to low and simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and puree with an immersion blender. Season with additional salt and, if desired, black pepper, to taste. Serve warm.

Phyllo, hot out of the oven

Make it a Meal: While you can serve this as an appetizer in a multi-course meal, it is also heavy enough to be a wonderful main dish. While everything roasts, make some phyllo dumplings (a wonderful stand-in for croutons) by wrapping basil and/or feta cheese in phyllo packages. While soup cooks, bake phyllo 15 minutes in a 375 F oven. Serve in soup or alongside. To drink, I'd recommend a rose, specifically a 2010 Biohof Pratsch. A sauvignon blanc would be nice as well. And for dessert? Pomegranate seeds. Bon appetit! 

Leftovers: Make a pound of pasta and pour over as much soup as you want instead of a prepared sauce. Yum!

Links to other roasted eggplant noshes:

• Roasted Eggplant and Tomato Soup from Simply Recipes
• Roasted Eggplant with Mint from White on Rice Couple
• Spicy Grilled Eggplant with Red Pepper, Parsley, and Mint from Kalyn's Kitchen
• Roasted Eggplant Soup from Smitten Kitchen
• Roasted Eggplant Pesto from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen

Falafel and Baba Ghanoush

Pita with Falafel and Baba Ghanoush

How often do you cook dinner? Lately I've been finding cooking an entire meal more and more daunting. It's summer and far too nice out to spend unnecessary amounts of time in the kitchen. I also don't have the time to put extra energy into meal planning these days. And never mind trying to make more than one meal if I want non-vegetarian fare. However, much as I'd often like to, we can't have pasta every night!


So I've started, slowly, moving out of my comfort zone and explore foods from other cultures -- cultures that are naturally more bent towards vegetarian-friendly foods than Jewish and French cuisines (where the majority of my cooking experience lies). My first stop on this voyage is Middle Eastern, a cuisine the vegetarian and I frequently indulge in when eating out but, other than a few examples, one I never cook at home. But no more!

Lettuce, Tomatoes, Cucumbers and Onions 

First up was falafel, a ball or patty traditionally made from ground chickpeas and/or fava beans. We opted for chickpeas and, rather than relying on various hot sauces for flavoring, we added lots of spices right in with the beans. The flavor was delicious. The texture, unfortunately, left something to be desired. The falafel patties never quite stayed together so we ended up with fried crumbles more than we did patties. Inside a pita, all was soon forgiven. But any suggestions to improve the texture are much appreciated!


Falafel is traditionally served with tahini, a paste of ground sesame seeds, but, always looking for an excuse to sneak extra vegetables into our diet, I took that a step further and served it with baba ghanoush, a spread made of roasted eggplant with tahini. Enjoy! 


Falafel

Falafel

adapted from How to Cook Everything and One Perfect Bite

• 1 3/4 cups dried chickpeas
• 6 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 yellow onion, quartered
• 1 teaspoon coriander, ground
• 1 tablespoon cumin, ground
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• safflower oil, for deep-frying
• 6 pita breads
• 1 head romaine lettuce, shredded
• 2 slicing tomatoes, cut into wedges
• 1 red onion, sliced
• 2 kirby cucumbers, sliced
• baba ghanoush (recipe follows)

Put chickpeas in a large bowl and cover with water. Let soak for 24 hours. They will double/triple in volume. Drain the beans well and transfer to a food processor along with all other ingredients through the lemon juice. Pulse until very finely minced but not pureed. Heat a large skillet over a medium-high flame and pour in safflower oil until it coats the pan by at least 2 inches. Heat oil until it flows like water in the pan and a pinch of batter sizzles immediately. Take heaping tablespoons of batter and shape into small patties, using a spoon to shape them as tightly as possible to give them the greatest chance of staying together. Fry in oil, until nicely browned, about 2 minutes on each side. Stuff pita with lettuce, falafel, tomatoes, onion and cucumbers. Drizzle with baba ghanoush. Serve immediately.

Baba Ghanoush

Baba Ghanoush

adapted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone and One Perfect Bite

• 1 large American eggplant
• 3 cloves rocambole, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup sesame paste
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon Himalayan salt
• lemon garlic olive oil
• Italian parsley, chopped

Preheat oven to 425F. Slash eggplant in several places so it won't explode in the
oven. Place on a baking pan and bake 40 minutes. Let rest until cool enough to handle. Peel off eggplant skin and discard. Squeeze flesh a bit if very watery. Transfer to food processor and puree with rocambole, sesame paste and water. With motor running, drizzle in lemon juice. Add salt. Transfer puree to a bowl. Drizzle olive oil on top and garnish with parsley.

The Whole Spread

Make It a Meal: This is really a meal in itself. I'd recommend it with a rose or sauvignon blanc. Perhaps some yogurt for dessert. Bon appetit!

Leftovers: Make some big couscous and mix in the baba ghanoush and falafel. Yum!

Links to other falafel noshes:

• An Easy Falafel from The Hummus Blog
• Baked Sweet Potato Falafel from 101 Cookbooks
• Baked Falafel Patties with Yogurt-Tahini Sauce from Kalyn's Kitchen
• CrockPot Falafel from A Year of Slow Cooking
• Chickpea Falafel from The Perfect Pantry

Belated IMBB: Fried Eggplant with Avgolemono Sauce

I will not miss another blogging event. I will not miss another blogging event. My excuse? I moved. Again. This time to sunny Southern California and I won't be leaving, except to go to New York, until May. So this is the last time I can use that excuse for almost a year. Period.

The worst part is, I participated in At Our Table's IMBB (Summer's Flying, Let's Get Frying!) in San Francisco! Or, at least, I made a dish for it. It was ridiculously simple and quite good. I had read about using the Greek soup, Avgolemono, as a sauce for vegetables all over the internet and I was anxious to try it out myself. So I fried some eggplant and poured it on. It was creamy, refreshing and delicious. I'm sure the sauce would be just as good with other foods as well, such as artichokes or even chicken breasts.

Fried Eggplant with Avgolemono Sauce

Avgolemono Sauce

1 cup Chicken Stock
2/3 tablespoon Cornflour
Water
3 Eggs
Juice of 1 Lemon

In a saucepan, bring Chicken Stock to a boil. Mix Cornflour in a cup with just enough Water to make it smooth. Add to Stock, stirring as it thickens.

In a bowl, beat Eggs until fluffy and mixture is all one color.

Add the Lemon Juice and boiling Chicken Stock. Pour this mixture back into the saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly. Be sure it does not boil.

Prepare the Eggplant:

Fried Eggplant

1 Egg, beaten
Salt and Black Pepper
Oil for frying
1 Eggplant, sliced

Mix Egg in a bowl with Salt and Black Pepper to taste. Heat Oil in frying pan over high heat. Dip Eggplant slices in Egg mixture and fry in Oil until crispy.

To Assemble:

Place Fried Eggplant on plate and drizzle with Avgolemono Sauce.

Serves 2 as a side dish.

Update: Check out Linda's fabulous Round-up!

IMBB #18 + Vegetarian + Recipe