Asian Vegetable-Rice Bowl with Fried Eggs

There's a definite division of cooking labor in our apartment. While I handle most food preparation tasks, Joe is the go-to guy for anything involving eggs: scrambling, frying, hard-boiling, even pickling. That's not to say that I can't cook an egg, or that Joe isn't great at cooking all sorts of other things (he is); it's just that he has a comparative advantage in the egg preparation category.

So last night I did most of the legwork for this very yummy meal: manning the rice cooker, prepping veggies, mixing up a sweet-spicy Thai chili sauce. But I saved the very last task for when Joe got home from work -- frying four eggs, which he did to the perfect degree of doneness. And then our meal felt like a collaborative joint effort, which added to the deliciousness in an intangible, but definitely real, way.

Asian Vegetable-Rice Bowl with Fried Eggs and Chili Sauce
From Real Simple

• 1 cup short-grain brown rice
• 1/3 cup Thai sweet chili sauce
• 3-4 teaspoons Sriracha or Asian chili-garlic sauce
• 3/4 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 bunch broccoli, florets broken apart and stalks sliced thinly
• 2 red or yellow bell peppers, thinly sliced
• 2 carrots, peeled and cut into thin sticks
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon vegetable/canola oil
• 4 eggs

Cook the rice according to package instructions. In a small bowl, combine the sweet chili sauce, Sriracha, sesame oil, and vinegar; set aside.

Meanwhile, heat the oven to 450 F. After the rice has been cooking for about 20 minutes, place the broccoli, bell peppers, and carrots on a large rimmed baking sheet; toss with 1 tablespoon of the oil. Roast, tossing once, until tender, 20 to 25 minutes.

Heat the remaining teaspoon of oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Crack the eggs into the skillet and cook, covered, 2 to 3 minutes for slightly runny yolks. Serve the vegetables and eggs over the rice and drizzle with the sauce.

Roasted Autumn Vegetable and Noodle Toss

Dinner tonight was the kind of meal where I mess up tons of stuff, yet everything ends up turning out great anyway. But seriously, I screwed up repeatedly. I realized too late that I had no foil for wrapping the garlic; I threw it in the oven anyway, and it made little difference (well, maybe it got a little charred, but so what?). Then the garlic wouldn't mash into the fine paste I wanted, but the fact that there were big chunks of roasted garlic in the sauce was kind of awesome. And I forgot to reserve the pasta cooking water until it was almost too late.

But ultimately, this ended up being one of those really great dinners that's filling, has an intriguing blend of spices, and is actually really healthy on top of it all. I guess you could call that fool-proof.

I promise there are lots of veggies in here - they just all fell to the bottom!

Roasted Autumn Vegetable and Noodle Toss

• 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
• 3 medium carrots, sliced 1/2-inch thick
• 1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• One small head of garlic, top sliced off, wrapped in foil
• 12 oz uncooked egg noodles
• 1/2 cup sour cream (reduced-fat if you prefer)
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• Cayenne pepper to taste
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450 F.  Spray a large baking sheet with cooking spray and place onions, carrots, and squash on it. Drizzle vegetables lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with a big pinch of salt. Roast the vegetables along with the foil-wrapped garlic for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare noodles according to package directions, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking water. In a large saucepan, stir together sour cream, broth, cinnamon, ginger, cayenne and reserved cooking water. When vegetables are done, remove garlic from the foil and squeeze the flesh out of the skin into a small bowl. Mash garlic and whisk into sauce. Stir in roasted vegetables. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Add noodles and toss with sauce. Season to taste and serve.

Fontina and Roasted Eggplant Pita Pizzas

I'm not entirely sure how to classify this recipe. It's extremely easy, but it's not quick, since it requires 45 minutes of roasting vegetables. However, if you've already got the vegetables roasted -- say, from having this the day before -- making leftovers couldn't be quicker.

One thing is clear, though. This recipe is super delicious, and the way it makes your house smell while the garlic is roasting simply cannot be described. Oh, man. So amazing. It'll make you want to roast garlic every night of the week.

 Fontina and Roasted Eggplant Pita Pizzas

• 1 medium red onion, sliced into thin rounds
• 1 medium eggplant
• 1 bulb (note: not clove) garlic
• Cooking spray
• 2 large wheat pitas, split in half crosswise
• 1/2 cup canned tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup fontina cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 450 F. Coat a sheet pan with olive oil cooking spray and spread onions on it; set aside. Prick eggplant all over with a fork. Coat garlic bulb with cooking spray; wrap in foil. Roast eggplant (unwrapped) and garlic (wrapped in foil) until very soft, about 45 minutes. Add onion to oven for last 20 minutes of roasting. Remove vegetables from oven and reduce temperature to 400 F.

Peel and mash eggplant; set aside. Squeeze garlic from its skin. Set pita rounds on a baking sheet and spread each with some garlic. Top with tomato sauce, eggplant, fontina and onions. Bake until crisp on the edges, about 15 to 20 minutes. Serve hot.

Roasted Eggplant and Chickpea Soup

When the weather is cold, I crave two things:

1. Soup.
2. Roasted stuff.

So I was pretty psyched today when Joe made me a roasted eggplant and chickpea soup for dinner. What?!

This recipe is from what I like to call Martha Stewart's "weeknight magazine" -- Everyday Food. They did a whole feature on roasted soups, but I immediately flagged this one for immediate preparation. I'm glad I did, since it's really delicious. Roasting the veggies gives it a nice full flavor, and a swirl of yogurt adds just the right amount of tang. A sprinkle of fragrant fresh oregano tops it all off.

Roasted Eggplant and Chickpea Soup

• 2 medium eggplants, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 small yellow onion, diced medium
• 2 garlic cloves, unpeeled
• 6 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
• Fresh oregano
• Plain yogurt

Preheat oven to 400 F. In a large bowl, toss together eggplants, onion, garlic, and 4 teaspoons oil and season with salt and pepper. Arrange in a single layer in a roasting pan or rimmed baking sheet, leaving a wide strip of empty space at one end. In the bowl, toss chickpeas with 2 teaspoons oil. Transfer to empty space on sheet. Roast until eggplant is golden and cooked through and chickpeas are slightly crunchy, about 35 minutes.

Set chickpeas aside. Peel garlic and add to a medium pot, along with eggplant, onion, and broth. Bring mixture to a simmer over medium-high. With a potato masher or back of a wooden spoon, mash some eggplant until soup is thick and chunky. Stir in chickpeas and season to taste with salt and pepper. To serve, top with fresh oregano and plain yogurt.

Pot-Roasted Eggplant with Tomatoes and Cumin

So I was traveling over the long Labor Day weekend. And I was so exhausted when I got home yesterday that when I cooked dinner, I forgot to take a picture. Unforgivable, I know.

But this dish is so good that I have to post the recipe, even if it has no images to accompany it. It's an older Food & Wine recipe that's a favorite in our apartment. Despite the name the magazine editors gave it, it should really be called Pot-Roasted Eggplant with Tomatoes and Smoked Paprika, because that smoked paprika is what gives it the most amazing flavor. Don't even think about substituting regular paprika, because it won't be nearly as special.

The magazine refers to the dish as a salad, but I eat it as a meal with some brown rice or couscous. And you should, too.

Pot-Roasted Eggplant with Tomatoes and Cumin

• 1 large eggplant (1 1/4 pounds)
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• Kosher salt
• 1 cup drained, canned diced tomatoes
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 1 tablespoon cilantro leaves
• 2 teaspoons sweet smoked paprika
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• Freshly ground black pepper

Heat a large enameled cast-iron casserole (or any other large pot with a lid). Using a fork, prick the eggplant in a few places. Add the eggplant to the casserole, cover and cook over moderately low heat, turning once, until charred on the outside and soft within, about 40 minutes.

Transfer the eggplant to a colander set in the sink. Using a sharp knife, make a lengthwise slit in the eggplant; let drain for 10 minutes. Scrape the flesh into a bowl, discarding the skin and any hard seeds; mash to a puree and transfer to a large skillet. (I just put it back into the pot I used for roasting.)

Using the side of a large knife, mash the garlic to a coarse paste with 1 teaspoon of salt. Add the paste to the skillet along with the tomatoes, olive oil, parsley, cilantro, paprika, cumin and cayenne. Cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until all the liquid has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Serve warm or at room temperature.