Eggplant is one of my favorite vegetables; you can do so much with it.  My favorite way to have eggplant is to bake it until it is slightly crispy. I made the following eggplant pasta dish based on a slight adaptation of a recipe in an article in the San Francisco Chronicle online.

Eggplant and Pasta

Ingredients
½ package of wheat spaghetti (I used wheat angel hair pasta)
1 eggplant, cut lengthwise, about ½ to ¾ and inch thick
Salt as needed
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 medium onion chopped
5 cloves of garlic chopped
1 small box of cherry tomatoes sliced in half
Salt and pepper
Pinch of sugar to taste
4-6 tablespoons of fresh basil, chopped

1. Arrange eggplant on flat surface and sprinkle generously with salt. Set aside for 3o minutes while you make the sauce
2.  To make the sauce; warm two tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan and sauté the onion and garlic until they are softened
3. Add the tomatoes to the onion and garlic and simmer until the tomatoes reduce, 20 to 30 minutes; add salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar to season
4. Keep the sauce warm while you cook the eggplant
5. Rinse the eggplant in cold water to remove the salt; dry with a paper towel
6. Warm some olive oil in a frying pan; sauté the eggplant in the frying pan until browned on both sides
7. Place the browned eggplant on a baking pan and bake the eggplant in the oven at 400 degrees until the eggplant is crispy
8. Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the package; once cooked drain the pasta saving a little bit of the cooking water (less than ¼ cup)
9. Mix the cooked pasta with the sauce, adding the saved cooking water to help ingredients adhere
10. Serve the pasta on a platter surrounded by the eggplant slices, sprinkle the basil on the pasta to top off the dish

Walnut Cupcakes

Ingredients
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup margarine
1 1/2 cups brown sugar or natural sweetner
Egg replacer for 3 eggs: 3/4 cup of drained silken tofu and 1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup soy milk
1 1/2 cups (5 1/2 ounces) walnuts, chopped medium-fine

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pans with paper liners. Into a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon; set aside
2. In an electric mixer, beat margarine and sugar on medium speed until creamy. Add the egg replacer and vanilla, and beat until combined.
3. With the mixer still on medium speed, add the flour mixture and soymilk in parts alternating between the soymilk and flour.
4. Stir in the walnuts with a wooden spoon.
5. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling each ¾ full
6. Bake until the cupcakes are golden and a cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean; about 18-20 minutes.
7. Frost the cupcakes with icing (recipe below)

Icing

Ingredients
¾ cup powdered sugar
¾ cup margarine
1/8 cup vanilla soy milk

1. Combing the ingredients in a mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer, blend until creamy.
2. The consistency of the frosting may vary. Add more sugar, margarine or soy milk as needed.

Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients
2 tablespoons unsalted margarine
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 butternut squash, peeled and chopped into 1 inch chunks
5 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon nutmeg

1. Melt the margarine in a large soup pot, add the onion, carrots and celery; cook until the onions are translucent
2. Add the squash, carrots, and celery and vegetable broth to the pot and bring to a simmer, cook until the squash is tender
3. Once the squash is tender, pour the soup into a blender and puree
4. Return the mixture to the pot and stir in the nutmeg, salt, and pepper to season ( I started with 1 teaspoon of nutmeg but continued adding until I got the taste I desired)

Vegetable “Fried” Rice

Ingredients
2 teaspoons of olive oil
2 carrots, shredded
1 stalk of celery, diced
6 scallions, sliced
1 ½ cups cold cooked brown rice
½ cup thawed frozen green peas
½ teaspoon ground coriander
1-tablespoon tamari sauce

1. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil; sauté the carrots, celery, and scallions until tender, about five minutes
2.  Mix in the ground coriander
3. Stir in the cooked rice and thawed peas and stir-fry until the rice begins to brown
4. Add in the tamari sauce and cook until everything is heated through, about 5 minutes

I got a ton of zucchini through “Farm to Work” and I was looking for ways to use it. I found a fabulous recipe in the “Vegan Planet” cookbook and tried it out.  It turned out really well and I have made the bread several times since.

Zucchini Tahini Bread

Ingredients
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon salt
Egg replacer for 1 egg: ¼ cup of drained soft tofu and ½ teaspoon of baking powder
¾ cup firmly packed light brown sugar or natural sweetener
¼ cup tahini (sesame paste)
1 cup soymilk
1 ½ cups grated zucchini, well drained

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F; oil a 9×5-inch loaf pan and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, ginger, and salt. Set aside.
3. In another bowl, combine the egg replacer, brown sugar, tahini, and soymilk until well mixed. Stir in the zucchini.
4. Combine the wet and dry ingredients, until just blended.
5. Pour the mixture into the to prepared pan
6. Bake on center rack until golden brown and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, about an hour
6. Let cool on a rack before removing from the pan
7. Remove from the pan, slice,  share and enjoy!

Tonight I was able to reconnect with my body feeling its aliveness and the energy flowing within me and around me.  Reconnecting with my “aliveness” tonight made me realize how rare it is that I am actually present in my body and connected to it. I find a cyclical pattern in my life that the more disconnected I am from my body the worse I treat it and then in turn the more separated and distanced from my body/ myself I become. When I am disconnected, I am less concerned with how I nourish myself, how much I sleep or exercise or what unnecessary substances I put into my body (caffeine, alcohol), but as I become more connected I crave unprocessed fresh homemade food, exercise and water. Tonight I also remembered that it is about practice not perfection, and the process not the end point.  I am hoping to integrate yoga back into my life to help me remain present during all days, not just on the momentous ones.

August was Green Chile season and I one night I had a hankering for some Green Chile Stew, so I looked up recipes and combined them/converted them to come up with the vegan recipe below.  The stew turned out really well, hearty, spicy, rich and warm. It was good that night and even better the subsequent days in fact I wish I had some right now as I write this.

Green Chile Stew

Ingredients
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
4 cups of vegetable broth
3-4 red skin potatoes, chopped in large pieces
3-4 fresh carrots, chopped in large pieces
1 jalapeño, diced
4 fresh green chiles, roasted, seeded, and chopped
½ teaspoon (or more) of chipotle
½ teaspoon (or more) of chili powder
Thickener- 2 tablespoons of flour and 4 tablespoons of water
Salt and pepper to taste

1. In a Dutch oven or stew pan, sauté the onion and garlic in the vegetable oil until the garlic is golden brown.
2. Add in the vegetable broth, potatoes, carrots and jalapeño and bring the mixture to a boil.
3. Once the stew is boiling, lower the heat and simmer for 45 minutes.
4. Add green chile, chipotle, chili powder, thickener, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for another 20-30 minutes then serve and enjoy!

In August I hosted a girls movie night at my house with a couple of girl friends. That night we were watching “A Leauge of their Own.” We decided to have veggie hot dogs and vegetarian chili to go with the baseball theme of the night.  I had an abundance of squash through “Farm to Work” so I made this squash pasta salad as a side dish. It turned out to be a great accompaniment to the veggie-dawgs.

Squash Pasta Salad

Ingredients
Wheat pasta (I used penne pasta but it may be better with wheat spaghetti noodles)
1 tablespoon of olive oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
2 yellow summer squash, diced
1 small zucchini, diced
3 stems of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
Handful of fresh basil leaves, chopped
Handful of fresh parsley leaves, chopped

1. In medium pan, cook pasta noodles according to instructions on the package. Drain the pasta and rinse it with cold water.  Drizzle 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil on pasta.
2. While the pasta is cooking, sauté garlic in the olive oil and red wine vinegar in a medium skillet until the garlic is a golden brown.
3. Add in the squash and zucchini to the skillet and sauté for 2-3 minutes.
4. Next, add in the fresh basil and parsley and continue to sauté for 2-3 more minutes.
5.  Finally add the sliced cherry tomatoes to the skillet and sauté. Once the tomatoes skin starts to peel away remove the mixture from the heat.
6. Mix the sautéed vegetables in with the wheat pasta; chill the entire mixture in the refrigerator for at least two hours.

My father was in Austin a couple months back to celebrate his 60th birthday. I made this okra for him one night and he was very adamant that he had never liked okra (didn’t like the sliminess or something), but being the good father that he is he agreed to taste mine. Two helpings later I think his opinion on okra may have changed. I got most of the ingredients for this dish from a farm to work program where fresh local produce is delivered to my workplace.

Okra and Tomatoes

Ingredients
1 pound of fresh okra
1 tablespoon of olive or vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 large tomatoes, peeled, cored and chopped
1 jalapeño pepper, chopped
1-3 banana peppers, chopped
2 dashes cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Rinse okra. Dry well. Remove tops and slice okra crosswise in ¼ inch pieces.
2. Heat vegetable oil in a skillet.  Sauté okra 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it begins to look dry and loose its slimy texture.
3. Stir in the onions, banana peppers, and jalapeño peppers.  Cook until onions are transparent.
4. Add tomatoes and seasonings.  Lower heat and continue cooking for several minutes.