(Another fabulous post from contributor Betsy Dorfman!)

“Eat colors!” is just plain good advice. Most meats, starches and carbs are not colorful; chances are if your plate holds an array of bright colors you are eating vegetables and fruits, always a good thing. We’re talking natural colors here, not jello or frankenfoods. This mélange of vegetables was the preamble to a vegetarian meal served over rice. Our mix included Bermuda onion, green pepper, eggplant, and both orange and yellow carrots, the latter courtesy of Trader Joe’s. I like to julienne the carrots and leave the onion and green pepper strips rather long as they make a nice presentation draped over the rice, and they stay crisper than if chopped fine. The dish would have been more colorful but I held the eggplant too long in the crisper (which we call the rotter) and the purple skin became mottled brown and so was pared away. The eggplant was first precooked in the microwave and was added, as was a can of black beans and two chopped Roma tomatoes, at a later stage.

A recipe for the finished dish follows. The amounts of vegetables are arbitrary, depending upon how many mouths you have to feed. Any other vegetable can be added, to your liking. The quantities below fed three adults with lunch portions left over for the next day.

Eat Colors mélange:

INGREDIENTS
2-3 carrots, peeled and julienned
2 green peppers, pared, seeded, and cut into thin strips
1 large bermuda or other sweet onion (2 if small), peeled and sliced
1 eggplant, cubed and peeled if the skin is tough or bruised
3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced or put through a grater
1  12 oz can of black beans, unsalted if possible, drained with liquid preserved
2  roma tomatoes, pared and rough chopped. Peel if skins are thick and/or waxed
1/2 half cup of cashew nuts, chopped fine for topping
2 TB olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tsps Ras-al-hanout seasoning, or to your taste. Tandoori seasoning is also a fine option.
plain nonfat yogurt for topping
3-4 cups cooked white or brown rice

TECHNIQUE
Place the cubed eggplant in a microwave safe dish, mix with the minced garlic cloves, cover tightly and microwave on high until softened but not fully cooked, approximately 5-7 minutes.

Sauté carrots, peppers, and onion in 2 TB olive oil over medium heat until onion is becoming translucent and the carrots are softening but still al dente. The vegetables should not brown.

Add the eggplant and garlic, together with any cooking liquid left in the microwave pan. Add the drained black beans and the chopped tomato and stir to distribute.

Stir the ras-al-hanout into 1/2 of the reserved black bean liquid. When blended, add to pan. Cook 3-6 minutes until heated through. If too thick add remaining bean liquid or other liquid. Taste and add salt and pepper, adjust seasoning as needed.

Serve over or aside rice with a dollop of yogurt and chopped cashew nuts as topping. Also good served with chutney.

Healthy, delicious, and satisfies all the senses!

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I will admit, I get a little overzealous when making mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving. I always seem to think that each person is going to eat the equivalent of their arm’s weight. I practically do. Allow me to digress for just a moment to explain how much I really like this tuber.

When I was about four my parents took my brother and I to a steakhouse. I barely touched my steak, but proceeded to eat everyone’s large baked Russet potato. All four. Every bit. I was in heaven. Truly, I would have traded my favorite doll for them. It may have been my first encounter with a dressed up tater, I don’t know, but ever since that night I apparently have “an exaggerated sense of what a normal potato portion should be.” I’ve heard that more than once. Clearly I believe the body:potato ratio is much greater than most people would believe it to be. Whatever. Needless to say, we have a crock-pot full of mashed potatoes leftover.

Amateurs.

They sure did come in handy though, along with the other leftovers, when we assembled this delicious Lamb Shepherd’s Pie.

We didn’t use a recipe for this dish as it was a hodgepodge of things in the fridge. First, we ground up our leftover lamb with my new favorite toy: our KitchenAid food grinder attachment (I’m grinding up everything!). Then, we sautéed that with a bit of red wine, garlic and onions.

In an soufflé dish we started layering: lamb first, then carrots, peas, some of Tracy’s corn pudding (a coarser this time as she added more polenta), some sautéed Chanterelle mushrooms, and topped it all with a healthy layer of mashed potatoes. We finished it by sprinkling the top with some of our favorite new black lava flake and set it in the oven to warm and brown.

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On the eve of Saint Patrick’s Day, in order to miss the crazy crowds drunk on green beer (are we officially old!?), our friend kindly opted to prepare us a delicious, nay splendid, Irish-American boiled dinner.

This was not a throw-together dinner; this was cooked on the stove all day with loving care gooooood.

Corned beef, gently and thoughtfully seasoned along with boiled cabbage, carrots, new potatoes and turnips and a wonderful, crumbly, dense as-it-should-be Irish Soda Bread.

The luck of the Irish to ya!

Traditional Irish Soda Bread from Bakingsheet

New England Boiled Dinner from Simply Recipes

An interesting article on the history of Corned Beef in America.

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