Eggplant Glory

This is going to be a really short blog; however, tomorrow shall produce a lengthy one. I wanted to use up some of the beautiful eggplant that I got at the farmers market in St. Louis. So, my idea in my head was to make an eggplant roll-up stuffed with a wild rice mixture placed atop polenta cakes and spinach topped with a bruschetta topping and a balsamic vinaigrette. Well, the eggplant was a little to short for a roll up. Nevertheless, it kinda turned out the same anyway.

The eggplant was broiled in the oven with tomato sauce. The polenta cakes were fried in a pan with olive oil. Here is the recipe for the wild rice side.

2 cups brown rice, cooked
1 cup red quinoa, cooked
1/2 cup, each of green, yellow and red bell peppers, diced
1/2 cup mushrooms, diced
salt
pepper

Combine all of these ingredient in a bowl and TAH DAH you have a protein-rich side.

The bruschetta topping was quite simple. It was just some diced roma tomatoes, diced red onions, minced garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, and chiffonade basil with salt to taste.

The vinaigrette was just balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar, and agave and olive oil, all mixed together to create an emulsification.

This is how I created the dish: I put a bunch of spinach on the plate, laid the corn cakes on top. Then placed the eggplant on top of the corn cakes (note: I scraped off most of the roasting tomato sauce). I topped that with the bruschetta and balsamic vinaigrette. On the side, I placed the quinoa-brown rice salad.

Everything combined was delicious. But to be honest, I would have preferred the quinoa-brown rice salad with the bruschetta topping mixed in. Then have a spinach salad on the side. Forget the eggplant and polenta cakes. Not saying that they aren't good, but they were unnecessary. And the irony of it all is that I thought of this dish because of the eggplant and I really wanted to try polenta. Eh, you win some and you lose some.

Overall, this was delicious as always. Tomorrow I am going to be cooking up a storm with a good friend. Be on the look out for that entry!

This was the meal that satisfied la lengua de un vegan.