Hello Blogger's World

New experiences, new recipes, new adventures, new crafting projects, including a new English class has led me to this point of endeavoring to embark into the world of cyber society and chatting on the web. The topics covered in this blog will be new things that I learn; random things I want to share with you. Sometimes, I find amazing big ideas, but more often, I find something that is small and more trivial than new to the world, quite possibly it is interesting just to me. Sometimes it is just observations that will stop me and I wonder at the intricacy and the beauty of the world, like the ripples on the sand left by the receding waters. Come see the world through my eyes.

One trivial thing I learned not so long ago is that eggplant, you know that big, shiny, purple, vegetable with the dull brownish green capped stem on top? That huge royal purple thing is a berry, that’s right a berry, related to a tomato! It grows on bushes, and not only that it comes in various sizes from small to large, and are common to most of the world. I have cooked eggplant, I love Eggplant Parmesan, but I’ve not been able to sell it to my husband as a favorite food choice. Maybe you’d like to try this dip, Roasted Eggplant with Garlic Puree, it’s good as a dip for vegetables, and it’s great on pita bread. You can put it on a pizza crust or a whole pita for a gourmet pizza, top with some ripe red tomato slices, and fresh mozzarella cheese, and sprinkle with a little bright green, fragrant cilantro for a real taste treat. Bake at 400 degrees F. till the cheese is bubbly. This easy recipe for eggplant takes a bit of time, time you could be using to learn something new!

Be green with me; be willing to learn. I’d love it if you would share what you’ve learned today in the comment space. Tell me of your personal experiences with eggplant. Was it a positive egg-perience?

Garlic Roasted Eggplant Puree

1 eggplant, weighing about 1-1/2 pounds
4 large garlic cloves, sliced
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
1+ tablespoon virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon cilantro or parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon Greek unsweetened yogurt (any unsweetened plain yogurt will do but Greek is best)
Salt
Pepper
Cilantro or parsley leaves, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. With a sharp knife, make incisions all over the eggplant and insert a sliver of garlic into each one. In a baking dish, bake the eggplant until it is thoroughly soft and wrinkled all over, about one hour; then set into a colander to drain for 30 minutes.

After the eggplant has drained, slice it open and scrape the meat and the garlic slivers out of the skin, discard skin. Chop the eggplant meat and garlic finely with a knife or work it in a food processor to make a coarse puree. Stir in the lemon peel, olive oil, herbs, and yogurt. Season to taste with lemon juice, salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Mound it in a bowl, and garnish with some whole cilantro or parsley leaves. Serve with wedges of fresh pita bread, pita chips, or fresh vegetables.