Roasted Eggplant with Feta and Beef

 This simple recipe makes 2 servings, and incorporates these cool long and skinny eggplants that are popular to grown down in the South.  Our very nice neighbor gave some to us, and this was a great way to use them up before they went pruny.  Eggplant + feta, how can you go wrong, right?  Right!  Especially when you add to the team my standing favorites...garlic and onion.

Ingredients:

4 garlic cloves, med-large, chopped

1 medium onion, coarsely chopped

4 long eggplants, sliced in half, then in 1-2 inch pieces

1/2 pound ground beef

2 cups loose fresh spinach, long stems removed

4-5 oz. crumbled feta

10-12 small caper berries

1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

salt for sweating (sea salt preferred)

olive oil for sauteing, approximately 1 ½-2 T

margarine for greasing

Do:

• Grease a 9 x 9 glass pan bottom and 1” up sides
• Sweat eggplant by sprinkling salt on cut side, let sit while sauteing onion and garlic, then mop with paper towel to absorb excess liquid
• Sauté onions at low heat just until they begin to break down and become limp, before browning
• Sauté garlic until softened, set aside with the onion



Almost wilted

• The olive oil will now have been mostly used up, add the eggplant in sections, placing the cut side face down on the skillet for about 2 minutes on low heat, flip and cook for another 2 minutes.  *Watch the coloring on the skin, it should be changed about 1/2 way up the sides with the meat getting tender but not mushy.  Set aside.
• Brown the ground beef at med-high heat, drain excess fat, lower heat
• Add to the beef the capers, lay the spinach leaves on top, and add the black pepper, turning with a spatula just until the spinach leaves start to wilt and are evenly dispersed

Assemble:

In the greased pan, place the eggplant, cut side up

Evenly distribute the onion/garlic mixture over this

Then add the beef/spinach/caper mixture

Top with the crumbled feta

Eggplant, face up

Add onion/garlic

Assembly complete

Cook:

Bake covered at 350 degrees for 20 minutes

Remove cover and broil on high for 3-4 minutes, just until the feta begins to brown

Serve in bowls (will become tossed when you dish, this adds to appearance), with herbed orzo on the side.

The feta was the key ingredient here, it brought the necessary flavor to tie this together and make it quite good.  A regular, fat eggplant could be used as well, and the capers are optional, but add a nice salty bite.  Try it, change it, improve it!  Just let me know…

Greek Inspired Cold Salad

Now here is a salad that I believe I stumbled into purely buy chance and luck, but my family and former co-workers sure gave it a healthy thumbs-up. It's so simple, and incorporates many of my favorite foods, so of course I'm biased. Guess you'll just have to give it a chance and try it yourself! Actually, this combination of flavors is wonderful as a side dish, an alternative to traditional salads, or a light lunch on it's own. It compliments grilled lamb very well. We even tried the left-overs served over spinach leaves and it was fantastic that way too. I think it might be somewhat healthy too...oops!

Here is my recipe for my so-called

Greek Inspired Cold Salad

Combine the following ingredients in a large bowl:

1 can chick peas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and picked of skins (14-15 oz.)

1 can large whole black olives, drained and torn in half (14-15 oz.)

1/2 a large red onion, diced

1 large slice white onion, diced

1 large cucumber, skin on, diced

3 larger roma tomatoes, diced

Stir and add

1/2 C of your favorite balsamic vinaigrette dressing

1/2 pound of feta, crumbled*

Combine all in the large bowl, and eat now or let it sit overnight for the best taste.

*Note: use feta cheese that is as fresh and wet as possible, if you can buy it in water at a market, you are very lucky, we used to have that luxury in Memphis, now we have to get the chunk feta by Athenos (which is also more affordable by the oz than the precrumbled and tastes better too), which unfortunately does not compare to the Bulgarian feta at that little Mediterranean Grocery store on Park Ave. That was incredible feta!!! You carved off your own sized piece and fished it out of the milky water, and I've never tasted anything like it. It was beautiful, and it was cheaper. Sigh.

Well, try this recipe for the summer! Enjoy!