Monday, April 26, 2010
6:26 PM | Posted by
LibraryKerri
Why is the lovely, yummy eggplant is such a wallflower of a vegetable? It is such an awesome vegetable to behold: it's purple, it has a funny shape, and it's slightly smooshy. What I love about the eggplant is how easily it can be chopped. I'm a big fan of squash, especially acorn squash; however, I always fear I'll end up in the emergency room after fighting a squash while cutting it. The eggplant causes me so much less stress, plus people can eat the skin. Take that, Squash!
I think it tastes like a cross between a potato and a zucchini. While our culture seems to appreciate the other two, eggplants are rarely used. If you are looking for a wonderful use for an eggplant, here's an idea: Take your favorite lasagna recipe and use eggplant instead of the noodles. To do this, here is what you need to do:
* Preheat your oven's broiler
* Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil, and spray with cooking spray or rub with olive oil
* Cut your eggplant in half, and then slice it into 1/2 inch slices, with each being the approximate width of a lasagna noodle
* Lay the eggplant pieces on the foil. Do not overlap.
* Place in the over and broil each side for 5-7 minutes, or until cooked through
Now, it's ready to replace the noodles in your recipe. This is an extra tasty AND extra healthy swap!
I think it tastes like a cross between a potato and a zucchini. While our culture seems to appreciate the other two, eggplants are rarely used. If you are looking for a wonderful use for an eggplant, here's an idea: Take your favorite lasagna recipe and use eggplant instead of the noodles. To do this, here is what you need to do:
* Preheat your oven's broiler
* Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil, and spray with cooking spray or rub with olive oil
* Cut your eggplant in half, and then slice it into 1/2 inch slices, with each being the approximate width of a lasagna noodle
* Lay the eggplant pieces on the foil. Do not overlap.
* Place in the over and broil each side for 5-7 minutes, or until cooked through
Now, it's ready to replace the noodles in your recipe. This is an extra tasty AND extra healthy swap!
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Friday, April 23, 2010
6:57 PM | Posted by
LibraryKerri
Welcome to Green Bag Special! My family is changing the way we eat, and this blog will be a place to share some of those changes as we go through this evolution.
Our thoughts and course of action are being influenced by various media. We are reading books by Michael Pollan, such as In Defense of Food. We are watching Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution on television, and we viewed the movie Food, inc.
Why? First and foremost is health. We were shocked to learn that this generation of children may have as many as 1 in 3 become diabetic. As parents, we have scrutinized almost every decision we made regarding our children's care; however, we didn't deeply scrutinize our diets. Now, we want to dig a little deeper to lead our children down a better path. We also were concerned about our own health as we head toward middle age (maybe we're already there--yikes!). When you start having your cholesterol and blood pressured scrutinized, it becomes real that our diets influence our health.
We are also heading down this path to help ourselves lose weight. My husband and I have struggled with weight for most of our adult lives. We know what we need to do: eat less and move more. However, in the day-to-day struggle to keep up with our jobs and families, those simple lessons are hard to follow.
This spring, we are making a major change to our diet, which leads us to the title of this blog: The Green Bag Special. We have joined a CSA (community support agriculture) farm, which allows us to receive a bag of locally-grown organic veggies each week. The contents of the bag of veggies will vary based on what's in season. I have always enjoyed a wide range of vegetables, but I can't say the same for my family (especially my youngest child, who only eats a range of about five-ten foods). The weekly Green Bag Special will encourage me to find new recipes to enjoy the wide variety of vegetables we receive. I plan to use this blog to share what's in the bag and what I plan to do with it.
So, welcome. I hope to make this an interactive blog where others can share their recipes and thoughts, so feel free to share.
Our thoughts and course of action are being influenced by various media. We are reading books by Michael Pollan, such as In Defense of Food. We are watching Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution on television, and we viewed the movie Food, inc.
Why? First and foremost is health. We were shocked to learn that this generation of children may have as many as 1 in 3 become diabetic. As parents, we have scrutinized almost every decision we made regarding our children's care; however, we didn't deeply scrutinize our diets. Now, we want to dig a little deeper to lead our children down a better path. We also were concerned about our own health as we head toward middle age (maybe we're already there--yikes!). When you start having your cholesterol and blood pressured scrutinized, it becomes real that our diets influence our health.
We are also heading down this path to help ourselves lose weight. My husband and I have struggled with weight for most of our adult lives. We know what we need to do: eat less and move more. However, in the day-to-day struggle to keep up with our jobs and families, those simple lessons are hard to follow.
This spring, we are making a major change to our diet, which leads us to the title of this blog: The Green Bag Special. We have joined a CSA (community support agriculture) farm, which allows us to receive a bag of locally-grown organic veggies each week. The contents of the bag of veggies will vary based on what's in season. I have always enjoyed a wide range of vegetables, but I can't say the same for my family (especially my youngest child, who only eats a range of about five-ten foods). The weekly Green Bag Special will encourage me to find new recipes to enjoy the wide variety of vegetables we receive. I plan to use this blog to share what's in the bag and what I plan to do with it.
So, welcome. I hope to make this an interactive blog where others can share their recipes and thoughts, so feel free to share.
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