Good Looks to herald Spring

Like many of us, I can't afford much real shopping, so I have to settle for virtual shopping.

To practice and try to remember my French, I like to poke around in the French edition of the app for Elle magazine. A special treat is when they run one of their Shopping Guides (Le Guide Shopping!).

So, here are a few favorites from their recent guide on skirts to herald the start of spring.

For the Working Girl -- Ellie Saab

A casual look from Paul Joe

Jupe a pois Forever 21 

Jupe crayon a motifs geometriques Sinequanone

Jupe bordeaux effet cuir Zara

Jupe foret Leon Rose Magma

Sweet Potato Stir Fry with Chickpeas and Prunes

One of the joys of cooking is taking advantage of what's available to come up with something that is different and better.

My friend and I started with a recipe for braised eggplants by Antony Worrall Thompson, but our eggplant had gone bad.

So, we used a sweet potato instead, added a couple different vegetables (carrots and asparagus), and turned it into a stir fry.

She and I both liked it, so we thought we’d share it with you.

The chickpeas are a good source of protein and fiber, which you also get from the other veggies.

The chopped prunes add a bit of sweetness without pushing up the glycemic index too far, so it works for diabetics like my friend. Quinoa has twice the protein of long grain rice, so it is a good accompaniment.

For a truly meatless Monday dish, use vegetable broth. We used chicken broth because it's what we had.

Here is the result:

Ingredients:

1 cup dry chickpeas or 1 15-ounce can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 medium sweet potato, peeled and sliced

1 + 1 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger

1 Tbsp finely chopped garlic

1 medium onion, peeled and coarsely chopped

1 large carrot, peeled or scraped and sliced diagonally

4 oz asparagus, cut into 2 inch pieces

1 stalk celery, chopped

1 Tbsp sesame oil

1 Tbsp light soy sauce

1/3 cup vegetable or chicken broth

3-4 oz pitted prunes, cut in half, then chopped into smaller pieces

2 tsp cornstarch, mixed to a paste with ¼ cup water

Directions:

1.       If using dry chickpeas, soak them overnight in 3-4 cups water. Then heat to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 3 hours or until they are tender, but not mushy.

2.       Toss the sweet potato slices in 1 Tbsp vegetable oil in a shallow baking pan or cookie sheet and spread in a single layer under a preheated broiler. Broil for about 10-15 minutes, turning and shaking occasionally, until they start brown and soften.

3.       Heat the other Tbsp vegetable oil in a large wok over medium-high heat and add the ginger, garlic, and chopped onions and cook for 2 minutes, stirring often. Add the carrot slices and stir-fry for another 3 minutes.

4.       Add the sweet potato slices, chickpeas, asparagus, and celery and stir-fry for another 3 minutes.

5.       Add the sesame oil, soy sauce, chicken broth, and prunes and bring to a boil.

6.       Reduce heat and simmer for 2-3 minutes.  Separate the vegetables in the middle of the wok, add the cornstarch and stir into the broth to thicken.

7.        Serve by itself or over cooked rice or quinoa.

Scene Stealing Shoes

A good pair of shoes or boots can add extra kick ;) to your outfit.

My current favorites are my Naturalizer Aria strap boots (no longer available)

They're warm for the cold winter days (or just plain windy), and quite comfortable for walking.

I can tuck my jeggings inside to show off the straps, or hide them inside my boot cut jeans.

For a little change of pace, I thought I'd share this slide show of famous shoes from the movies.

Scene Stealing Shoes

There are even some thigh boots (or higher) in the mix.

Which ones are your favorite?

And, Catherine Deneuve is still Belle!

Have a nice day!

I'm looking forward to my spring break!

Italian Eggplant Bake with Mozzarella

Not Ready For Prime Time, But Still Tastes Good

This recipe illustrates the creative process as I begin to develop a recipe.

I was looking for a recipe to use some eggplant (and other vegetables I had bought), so I went on line for inspiration.

I often go to the Allrecipes.com site, although like all recipe sharing sites, there's a lot to sift through to find something that's close to what you're looking for. In this case, I picked a recipe for Briam (Greek Mixed Vegetables in Tomato Sauce) as a starting point. It made lots more than my friend and I could eat (2 potatoes + 2 eggplant + 3 zucchini + 3 green bell peppers + 2 cups okra !!!). It also called for a fresh tomato sauce blended from 4 tomatoes and some spices and olive oil. I decided to cut way down on the vegetables, use a can of Hunt's fire roasted diced tomatoes with garlic (any canned diced tomatoes will probably work), and top it with grated mozzarella cheese (mostly because I had some in the refrigerator).

So, this is what I came up with. The instructions are revised a little bit from what I actually did to, hopefully, give a little better result. (We liked the taste, but there was too much liquid. Also, it would be nice if the cheese were lightly toasted to be a little bit browner.)

Ingredients
2 Tbsp Olive oil
1 tsp minced garlic
1 cup chopped onion
1 tsp dried basil
2 tsp dried oregano, crumbled (grind it between the palms of your hands)
2 carrots, sliced diagonally
1/2 eggplant, sliced then cut into quarters or sixth's
1 zucchini, sliced
1 red bell pepper, cut into chunks
1 14 1/2 oz can diced tomatoes
1 cup shredded mozzarella

Method
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Cut the vegetables, separate the onions in one bowl, the carrots in a second bowl and set aside the rest in a third bowl.

2. Heat the olive oil, garlic and onions in a 2 quart Corning Ware pan over medium-high heat until they start to sizzle. Add the basil and oregano and sauté for 1 minute.

3. Add the carrots, stir and sauté for 2 minutes.

4. Add the rest of the fresh vegetables and sauté for another 2 minutes.

Saute vegetables with olive oil and spices

 



5. Add the can of diced tomatoes, heat to a boil and boil for about 2-3 minutes to reduce most of the liquid.

Simmer vegetables to reduce liquid

 

6. Put the pan in the oven and bake the vegetables for 10 minutes.

 

Sprinkle the mozzarella over the partly baked vegetables

 

7. Return the pan to the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, until the cheese is melted and lightly browned.

Eggplant bake with melted cheese

 

8. Serve and enjoy. Sprinkle with parmesan if you like. The recipe makes about 8 servings as a side dish.

 

We both thought it tasted good, but had too much liquid, so I've revised the method a little bit. Now I need to eat the results (which won't be hard) and test the new method.

 

Happy cooking!