Eggplant

I love eggplant and find it odd that it's one of the more "controversial" vegetables. I've found people either love it or hate it.

roasted eggplant salad
Roasting a whole eggplant makes it creamy and soft without the added oil. I usually just pop the whole thing into a 400°F oven for 20-40 minutes, depending on the size of the eggplant. It's done when it's kind of collapsed on itself. The skin peels off easily and you can dice it and toss it with whatever vinaigrette/dressing you like. This variation is tossed with sesame oil, soy sauce, a litle sugar/mirin and finished off with sesame seeds, toasted of course.
[eggplant, sesame oil, soy sauce, sugar, sesame seeds, mixed greens]

crunchy delicious potatoes

We had a little bit of leftover mashed potato, so I decided to make an almost croquette.

croquette salad
Instead of breading the mashed potatoes with panko, I just shaped them into patties and threw them into the pan. They crisped up pretty nicely, and with the plums and spinach, it made for a good, healthy-ish supper.
[mashed potatoes, spinach, plums, vinaigrette]

bacon salad

I had some goat cheese that we weren't eating quickly enough, so I decided to speed up the process by making breaded goat cheese croquettes. I based my final set loosely on Cook's Illustrated's version (only I fried instead of baked).

baked goat cheese salad with bacon
The goat cheese turned out nicely, warm and tender on the inside and crispy on the outside. The cheese discs went into an egg dip followed by a roll in panko, a few minutes in the freezer and into the hot oil. Spinach greens and a basic vinaigrette pulled it all together.
[spinach, bacon, goat cheese, egg, panko, salt, pepper, vinegar, olive oil]

default

When I'm not feeling inventive, the spice rub comes out. We had some flank steak in the freezer, and I thought we could grill it and eat it with a salad.

grilled steak salad
My mom had given me a bag of these cute mini peppers, so I grilled those as well. Plus finding a few last flour tortillas in the fridge and an avocado, it suddenly became quite a substantial meal.
[steak, spice rub, greens, peppers, avocado, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper]

freezer burn

I realized my freezer was packed full, so in order to start making ice cream, I'd have to start emptying stuff out. This was the remains of a bag of shrimp, some of which were inedible due to severe freezer burn.

shrimp salad
Nothing particularly fancy about the preparation. Sauté the shrimp in olive oil, salt and pepper, and put on greens tossed with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.
[shrimp, greens, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper]

confit

After 1.5 days of salt-marinating and 2-3 hours of braising, I had some very nice duck confit.

duck confit with mixed greens
It's actually quite easy to make confit, you just can't be squamish about the large amounts of fat used in the process. I think I marinated it a little too long, since the duck legs were on the small side, but eaten in combination with a salad, it was perfect.
[duck confit: duck legs & wings, duck fat, salt, thyme, garlic; salad:salad greens, walnuts, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper]

breakfast salad

I just like the idea that you can have breakfast anytime.

bacon and eggs on greens

[bacon, egg, greens, english muffin, salt, pepper]

farmer's market salad

We met up with some friends at the Hollywood farmer's market this weekend and I splurged on some chanterelle mushrooms.

poached egg and chanterelle mushrooms
This was so luxurious, we both felt a little spoiled. I sautéed the mushrooms in butter, garlic and thyme, and dressed the greens with a simple vinaigrette. The addition of Marcona almonds just added to the decadence.
[egg, chanterelle mushrooms, garlic, thyme, mixed greens, marcona almonds, white wine vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper]

chipotle chicken

We didn't have too much in our fridge, and I didn't feel like working too hard, so this is my default meal.

chipotle chicken salad
I'm starting to run low on my chili rub, so I better make a new batch soon. It's such a staple in my kitchen and makes everything so tasty with minimal effort.
[mixed greens, chicken, spice rub, tomatoes, lime juice]