Tag: great vegetarian dish

All recipes paired with wine, Veggies based & Vegetarian

Simple Indian dish, all roasted in oven

Vera C.

Although I am not a vegetarian, I occasionally enjoy meatless dinner options without even thinking twice. And having this demand from my clients, I am constantly searching for more and more options and various cuisines to make my menus more interesting. Flipping through old Food & Wine magazines, I found this recipe, created by Grace Parisi. It had all the ingredients I like. Here is my slightly adapted version of

Curried Eggplant with Chickpeas and Spinach

Curried eggplant

INGREDIENTS:

  • 3 large garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 teaspoons Madras curry powder
  • 1 dried, crumbled chili if you like to add heat
  • 1/2 cup organic coconut oil
  • 1 medium eggplant (about 1 1/2 pounds), cut into 3/4-inch pieces (I did not peel the eggplant)
  • 1 large red onion, cut into 1/2-inch wedges
  • 1 15-oz can chickpeas, drained and washed in colander
  • 1/4 cup finely julienned fresh ginger
  • Freshly ground pepper and Himalayan pink salt
  • 1 5-oz bag baby spinach
  • Warm naan and Greek yogurt, for serving

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat the oven to 425°. On a work surface, mash the garlic to a paste with a pinch of salt. In a large bowl, mix the paste with the curry powder and vegetable oil. Cut eggplant into similar size cubes, mix with onion, chickpeas and ginger, season with salt and pepper. Toss well together with the dressing so every piece is coated with seasoning and oil.

Spread the vegetables in an even layer and roast for about 30 minutes, stirring once or twice, until the eggplant and onion are tender. Take out of the oven, stir in the spinach (mix so it’s covered with roasted vegetables) and roast just until wilted, about 2 minutes. Serve with warm naan and yogurt.

Curried eggplant, chickpeas and spinach

Seasoned yogurt:

  • 3 full tablespoons of Greek yogurt
  • 1 clove of garlic, mashed
  • Juice from half a lemon
  • Salt and pepper
  • Freshly cut mint and parsley

Mix together and enjoy with curried eggplant dish.

Curried eggplant

All recipes paired with wine, Salads, Summer Grilling, Veggies based & Vegetarian

Grilled summer salad

Vera C.

Grilled summer salad

I have seen Giada on TV once, making something like this as an Italian antipasto. I didn’t take any notes and believe it was originally combined with orzo, cheese and meat. Well, it looked delicious so I tried to create a meal based on that inspiration. It served us as a delicious light dinner with few grilled shrimps and we loved it! Use your fantasy with different veggies or serving suggestions.

Grilled summer salad

Ingredients:
2 medium green zucchini
1 small eggplant
1 green bell peppers
1 red bell pepper
1 large red onion
2 large Portabella mushrooms
1/2 lb of snow peas
1/2 cup combined of chopped basil, parsley and tarragon
juice from half a lemon
salt and pepper
olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Bring water in large pan to broil. Rinse snow peas in water, then cut the tip of each snow pea and pull out the tough string that runs along its side. Add peas to boiling water and quickly blanch them for 30 – 40 seconds. Drain and let cool.

Preheat your grill. Clean all your vegetables and cut into about 1/2 inch thick slices – zucchini and eggplant lengthwise, bell peppers seeded and cut in half or quarters, red onion in thick slices and mushrooms caps leave whole.

Sprinkle with olive oil and grill on each side until soft. Take off the grill and let cool a little. Cut each veggies into small pieces (about the same size) and mix in a large salad bowl with blanched snow peas.

Add chopped herbs, sprinkle with a generous amount of good quality olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and balsamic vinegar, mix well and serve at the room temperature. As the warm flavors of veggies blend with aroma of herbs and oil, this is a mouthwatering experience.
Grilled summer salad
For a non- vegetarian version throw a few shrimps, sprinkled with olive oil and a sea salt (devained, but unpeeled) on the grill and dress up your salad with a delicious seafood. Enjoy a light, great summer dinner.

Wine pairing suggestions:
As I added grilled shrimp to this summer salad, I opted for crisp white wine to go with it. My first choice was Californian Pacific Rim Dry Riesling. The herbs and aromas of this salad went great with this super aromatic wine. The second choice was Kris Pinot Grigio from Italy. Both wines worked really well.

All recipes paired with wine, Veggies based & Vegetarian

Vegetable Lentils

Vera C.

vegetable-lentilsVegetable Lentils

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups of lentils (cook according instructions, drain and set aside)
  • 1/2 medium onion, minced
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 carrots
  • 1/4 of celery root
  • 1 leek
  • 1/2 zucchini (optional)
  • 2-3 table spoons tomato paste
  • 1 cup of chicken broth
  • 1 teaspoon of crushed hot red peppers (optional)
  • 2 table spoons of ketchup (optional)
  • salt and pepper
  • fresh basil and parsley
  • olive oil
  • salt and pepper

Clean all the vegetables – peel root vegetables – carrots and celery root, and chop into small pieces. Sometimes I like to chop it into thin strings in the contrast with rounded lentils, sometimes into little square, it’s totally optional. Important is to cut it into similar sizes so it cooks equally.

In large pan cook onion and red pepper flakes on a little bit of olive oil, medium heat for 1 minute. Add root veggies, and saute to caramelize a little. Add tomato paste, mix and let cook for a minute. Add chicken broth and ketchup, if using, mix together and let simmer for 5 minutes. Add zucchini (I don’t peel it but it’s up to your personal preferences), cut into similar size squares and cook with the rest of veggies until soft. Season with salt and pepper.,

When vegetables are cooked, mix in already cooked lentils and stir well together. Let it heat up and mix the flavors together for another 2-3 minutes. Garnish with chopped fresh basil and parsley and serve with fried egg.

Wine pairing suggestion:
I paired this recipe with Cabrini Malbec, an excellent value from Argentina. Any Italian table red wine would work as well.

Vegetable Lentils