“Was I always going to be here? No I was not. I was going to be homeless at one time, a taxi driver, truck driver, or any kind of job that would get me a crust of bread. You never know what’s going to happen.” ~ Morgan Freeman, American actor and movie producer (1937 – )

If you have never had the urge to try bread pudding, you should pick up a copy of James Michener’s book, The Covenant. In telling the history of South Africa, he masterfully describes the influences of the various cultures that it took to create the country that exists today and subtly parallels it with the description of a bread pudding full of textures and colors, fruits and nuts. Every time I read it, I get a craving for this rich, complex treat.

Some bread puddings are savory, like the Breakfast Bread Pudding on page 2 in the Mosaic Meals cookbook (which, by the way, I noticed is on sale on Amazon.com today), and some are sweet – like the one below. Nearly all of the standard recipes contain cream and eggs. However, baking them in a mug for a single serving allows us to minimize the saturated fat while still enjoying all of the delicious flavors.

Use the crust end of a loaf of bread if you have one; even better if it is a few days old and slightly dry. Sometimes leftovers aren’t for the birds!

Bread Pudding Muggie

Serves 1
Time: 5 minutes

2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 slice whole grain bread
1 tablespoon raisins or dried cherries
1 tablespoon chopped pecans (optional)
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons maple syrup
¼ cup milk (non-dairy milk is great here)

Measure the oil into a 12-ounce capacity microwave-safe mug. Tear the bread into small pieces and put them into the mug. Stir in remaining ingredients in the order given, mixing until the bread has absorbed the milk. Press the mixture down so that it fits firmly into the bottom of the mug and the top is flat.

Microwave on highest setting for 1 minute. Allow to rest for 3 minutes, then run a sharp knife along the edges to loosen the pudding from the mug. Turn the pudding out onto a plate and allow to cool a bit before eating (the raisins stay hot longer than the rest of the ingredients).

It seems that every region of the world has a different topping for their bread pudding. For me, eating it plain or with just a little warm coconut milk does the trick. For others, it might be a spoonful of bourbon, rum, or caramel sauces. What is your favorite?

“The best thing I have is the knife from Fatal Attraction. I hung it in my kitchen. It’s my way of saying,’ Don’t mess with me.’” ~ Glenn Close, American actress (1947-)

Our garden has been blessing us with a bumper crop of eggplant and we are truly delighted. Everyone knows that my favorite use for it is in the easy Baba Ghanoush, but Larry asked for Eggplant Parmesan-No and, coincidentally, reader Karen in Florida asked for a healthier version than the recipes requiring eggs and oil. If the health issue doesn’t sell it for you, though, perhaps the part about this version not being so messy (read “way easier clean-up”) will.

Eggplant can be like a sponge when it hits the oil, especially if it has been sitting on the grocer’s shelf for several days, and absorbs way more than we should ever show up on our plates. Instead of going through the oil-splattering-all-over-the-kitchen frying process, it is easier to dip the slices in a non-dairy creamer and breadcrumbs, and then bake. The creamer is thicker than milk, so it holds the crumbs on a little better. Don’t worry if some falls off, though, because you’ll have the opportunity to sprinkle any of the toasted breading that fell off back onto the eggplant after it is in the baking dish.

This recipe uses a creamy ceci bean (Italian name for chickpeas) sauce in place of the customary cheese. With the intense flavor of the basil and oregano, you won’t miss anything, and your heart will be a lot happier. And when supper is over, you’ll also find that Ceci Bean Sauce doesn’t bake onto the pan like cheese does.

Eggplant Parmesan-No

Serves 3-4
Time: 45 minutes

1 cup breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 large whole eggplant
¼ cup plain non-dairy creamer
Ceci Sauce (recipe below)
3 cups meatless, organic pasta sauce
6 pitted olives, sliced or chopped

Oil a large baking sheet and preheat oven to 375° F.
Mix breadcrumbs, oregano, and basil together on a plate.
Cut eggplant into ½-inch thick slices and dip in the milk. Dredge in breadcrumbs to coat and place on oiled baking sheet in a single layer. Place in oven and bake for 10 minutes, then flip the eggplant slices over and continue baking for another 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Meanwhile, prepare Ceci Sauce, below.

Pour 1 cup of the pasta sauce into an 11×13-inch baking dish. Cover with ½ of the cooked eggplant slices. Top with 1 cup of Ceci Sauce (or ½ of the cheese) and cover with remaining slices of cooked eggplant and any of the breadcrumbs that fell off, making neat stacks so they are easy to serve. Spread with 1 cup of pasta sauce and remaining Ceci Sauce (or cheese). Place in oven for 10 minutes, until heated through.

Garnish the eggplant stacks with the olives, then serve hot with crusty Italian bread, a salad, a bottle of Chianti, and a recording of Andrea Bocelli singing love songs. Not bad for a Monday!

Ceci Bean (chickpea) Sauce
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas/Ceci beans, rinsed and drained
¾ cup plain non-dairy creamer
1 tablespoon chopped onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon salt

For sauce: Combine all Ceci Sauce ingredients in food processor or blender and puree to a very smooth sauce, stopping to stir down as needed.

Leftovers? Reheat and stuff into a pita pocket to make a tasty eggplant sandwich!

“I never worry about diets. The only carrots that interest me are the number of carats in a diamond.” ~ Mae West, American actress known for her voluptuous figure and bawdy humor (1892-1980)

This may come as a surprise to some of you, but carrots are my least favorite of all vegetables. Except… Well, I do like them raw. But not boiled or steamed. Carrots in stir-fries are tolerable only because they are cut into very tiny pieces and covered with sauce. Then, there is the roasted carrot; now there’s a version I can get along with!

The old wives tale that eating carrots will help us see in the dark isn’t a myth at all, and the story only gets better. Carrots contain very high levels of carotinoids (evidenced by their orange color), which are converted to Vitamin A by the liver to protect our night vision, reduce our risk of heart disease, and help prevent breast cancer, lung cancer, and colon cancer. Fortunately, carrots are also rather high in natural sugars, which helps to make them very pleasant to eat.

Roasting carrots to the point where they begin to turn brown around the edges intensifies their sweetness. So, just like making French fries, or sweet potato fries in the oven, I like to make carrot fries.

Using baby carrots that come in a bag all washed and peeled makes short work of creating carrot fries, but if you have only the big guys on hand, don’t let it stop you, just cut them down to pieces about ¼ inch thick and 2 inches long. Carrot fries are great with a sandwich, or just as a treat by themselves.

Baked Carrot Fries

Time: 5 minutes prep + 15 minutes in the oven

For each serving,
1 cup “baby” carrots sliced in half lengthwise
1 teaspoon olive oil
Salt to taste
Herb seasoning or dip (optional)

Preheat oven to 450°F. Meanwhile, toss the carrot slices with the olive oil on a baking sheet where they can fit in a single layer. Bake for 10 minutes, then turn and bake for an additional 5 minutes, or until they just begin to brown. Remove from the oven and salt to taste, if desired. Sprinkle with an herb blend such as the Za’atar from Wednesday’s post, or serve with a dip such as Baba Ganoush or Zucchini Dip for eating out of hand – just make sure they are cool enough not to burn fingers.

That should get your weekend off to a pleasant start. Weather permitting, we will be riding our bicycle in Ferndale’s “Green Cruise” tomorrow – the Sierra Club’s response to the popular “Woodward Dream Cruise”
of old cars scheduled for later this month. I hope you find something fun to do, too. See you again on Monday!

“I don’t even butter my bread; I consider that cooking.”
~ Katherine Cebrian, San Francisco socialite

Middle Eastern restaurants – those specializing in foods from Israel, Jordan, Palestine, and Lebanon, for example – liberally use a beautiful, citrusy seasoning blend known as za’atar (also spelled zhatar, zatar, zaktar, zatr, etc.), that I can’t explain better than to say it massages the senses awake.

Never having seen za’atar on the grocery store’s spice rack, I began a quest to find out a little more about it and found that the required components are sesame seeds, thyme, and sumac. And therein lies the rub. Not only does the local grocery store not carry za’atar, it also does not stock sumac. In fact, the only place to find sumac appears to be in a grocery store specializing in Middle Eastern foods or online.

Disappointed, but not dispirited, a little more research revealed that it is possible to make a reasonable substitution for the sumac. However, for those of you that know and love za’atar, using lemon peel or lemon thyme instead of sumac will not provide the same dark, sultry color you are accustomed to. It isn’t the same, but it is actually quite close and very pleasant.

Za’atar is sprinkled on tomato or zucchini slices before roasting, or rubbed on fish or meat before cooking. Some restaurants also sprinkle it on a rimmed plate and pour olive oil over it to be used as a dip for bread if they don’t serve the bread already seasoned (instructions for that follow the recipe for blending za’atar).

The first three ingredients listed in this recipe are the essence of za’atar and the rest are added to the cook’s preference. Indeed, many cooks keep how they blend their own za’atar secret. Use the most fragrant thyme you can find, and toast the sesame seeds yourself to provide the most striking flavor.

A Za’atar

1 tablespoon grated lemon peel OR 2 tablespoons sumac
1 tablespoon thyme
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon marjoram
1 teaspoon coarse salt

Measure ingredients into a small jar, close tightly and shake. Store in the refrigerator if any fresh ingredients were used, but a mixture of using all dried ingredients will be shelf stable for up to six months if kept in a cool, dry place.

To make the traditional za’atar on pita, simply brush the top side of the loaf with a generous coating of olive oil, then sprinkle the za’atar on top. Lay the loaf on a baking sheet and put into a 305°F oven for about 3 minutes, just to warm it up. The restaurant’s cashier told me that this is what children in Israel eat before going to school in the morning. A much better option than sugary toaster pastries, don’t you think?

“I cast my bread on the waters long ago. Now it’s time for you to send it back to me – toasted and buttered on both sides.” ~ Jesse Jackson, American civil rights leader and Baptist minister (1941-)

When I was a child, if I asked for a snack, my mother’s first response was almost always that we should make some toast. Toast soldiers to dip in cocoa. Toast with jam or honey. Toast with cinnamon and sugar. And sometimes leftover gravy or a cream sauce over toast. It is no wonder that today, whenever I think of an easy meal, such memories turn my mind to finding what tasty morsels can be served over toast. Mushrooms showed up on sale at the grocery store yesterday and reminded me…

Did you know that mushrooms are a good food for those on low calorie diets? Their high fiber makes them very filling, they have a satisfying chewiness, and they are fat free. If you buy the canned variety, rinse the mushrooms well, or choose the “no salt added” in order to keep the sodium level down. In this Mushroom Stroganoff recipe, the flavor difference between fresh and canned is minimal.

Some food for thought: While canned mushrooms are an undeniable convenience and quite tasty, most come to us from somewhere in Asia. Fresh mushrooms are almost always grown nearby, so not only do we reap more nutritionally, but buying locally produced products is also friendlier to the environment and the economy.

Mushroom Stroganoff on Toast

Serves 1 (may be doubled, tripled, etc.)
Time: 10-15 minutes

1 can (4 ounces drained weight) sliced OR ¾ cup fresh, thinly sliced mushrooms
1 tablespoon thinly sliced onion
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/8 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable broth or milk (non-dairy is fine)
3 tablespoons low fat sour cream (non-dairy is fine)
1 slice whole grain bread, toasted
½ teaspoon chopped parsley

If using canned mushrooms, drain well, dump them onto a towel, and pat to dry.

Place mushrooms in a non-stick skillet with the onion and olive oil, lightly sautéing over medium-high heat to soften the onion and lightly brown the mushrooms, about 6 minutes for canned or 8 minutes for fresh. Sprinkle with the black pepper.

Reduce heat to lowest setting. Stir in the broth or milk and the sour cream to coat the mushroom mixture and remove from heat. Spoon over the toast and garnish with parsley. Serve with a colorful garden salad to round out the meal.

This summer heat is really exhausting my supply of easy, light lunch and dinner ideas. What do you like to eat during hot weather?