All Apologies

Things have been a little crazy in my life lately. Well, not crazy busy, just crazy in a draining sort of way. My pups recently ruptured a disk in his spine. Oh yea, my dog went beyond normal dog problems to major surgery. I was an absolute wreck for a few days. There were all sort of crazy scenarios going through my head, the worst being "what if they can't fix him and I have to put him down." I now know that when he actually does die, I'll need to take at least a week of vacation so that people at work aren't subjected to my persistent sobbing. It will not be fun. Luckily, they were able to fix him. And, while he'll be spending a long two months in his kennel all the time while his disk scars over even though he feels just fine and has no idea why I keep telling him he can't jump on anything or walk up and down the stairs on his own, he should eventually recover the strength and nerve response in his hind legs. I can only imagine what I'll be like at the end of all this. He's already driving me nuts barking at everyone outside and trying to run around. He needs exercise. I think the animal hospital should throw in free dogging swimming sessions so that he can work out his energy.

Anyways, back to the real purpose of this blog. Food! The CSA is ramping up. I didn't write down everything I received the last few shares, but let's just say there have been green beans, carrots galore, napa cabbage, potatoes, eggplant, zucchini, kale, herbs, fresh cut flowers, and so on. It's been delicious. I have also purchased some local, healthy meats (the maple sausage was delicious), eggs, and organic blueberries (with cream, to die for). I recently made a great salad: a giant mound of greens, bacon, boiled egg, and a warm maple-mustard-bacon grease dressing. So delicious. I would provide a recipe, but can't tell you the exact measurements for the dressing. It was more like, okay, I have some warm bacon grease in that pan; whisk in a giant scoop of maple-mustard; whisk in some rice vinegar, pour into a bowl to be spooned over salad.

Also, I've shared the Chilled Ginger-Carrot Soup and the Curried Quinoa with Vegetables. Well, a friend came over for dinner recently and I made both for our meal. It was the perfect combination. We also drank Vin D'Alsace Pinot Blanc 2007 with it. Sometimes meals are a complete bust (like the salt overload meal I made for one friend once, what a disaster), but sometimes they are exquisite. This was the latter. You must try it (but maybe don't add quite as much ginger as I did. Spicy!).

Last night I made up a layered vegetable dish that was absolutely wonderful, though a bit salty. I'm going to try reducing the salt for you guys, but you may want to be careful when salting the vegetables for weeping. I think that's what pushed this one over the top. But, salting the vegetables is essential to reducing the amount of water in your dish.

Baked and Layered Eggplant, Zucchini, and Tomato

2 Asian eggplants, ends trimmed and sliced thin vertically
3 small zucchini, ends trimmed and sliced thin vertically
salt
2 tbsp basil olive oil
1 medium onion chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
1 can diced tomatoes
1/4 c fresh oregano leaves
1/4 lb thinly sliced prosciutto
3 tbsp chopped kalamata olives
2 medium tomatoes, cored and sliced thin
fresh mozzarella slices
2 tbsp grated Parmesan

Preheat over to 375 degrees.
Place eggplant and zucchini slices on a cooling rack over your sink and salt. Allow to sit. Once water has collected on one side, flip and salt again.
While those are weeping, heat olive oil is a heavy skillet over medium heat.
When oil is hot, add onion and garlic and cook until onion is transparent.
Add canned tomatoes and oregano and cook until most of the liquid is cooked off, remove from heat.
Rinse eggplant and zucchini well, then press between sheets of paper towel to remove excess moisture. (Lean down on your hands, but not so hard as to squash the vegetables.)
Pour a little olive oil in the bottom of a 9 by 13 inch cake pan and spread evenly.
Lay eggplant down in pan to create a layer.
Put a layer of prosciutto over the eggplant.
Layer the zucchini slices over the prosciutto.
Sprinkle the olives over the zucchini.
Layer tomato slices over the olives.
Evenly spread cooked tomato sauce over fresh tomatoes.
Layer mozzarella slices over sauce.
Sprinkle with Parmesan.
If there is any leftover prosciutto, chopped and sprinkle over the top.
Put in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Cover with foil if cheese is browning too much for your taste.
Slice and serve warm.