Red Beans and Whipped Cream

Yesterday afternoon at work I started thinking about what I was going to make for dinner. I’d spent way too much at the store already this week, yet we’d already eaten the things I’d planned. A coworker came up and asked if I like eggplant, and when I said I do, she handed me two of them. I already had one at home, so it was pretty obvious that I should do something involving eggplant, especially after my success at eggplant parm earlier this week.

Before this week I’d only had eggplant disasters. There was the eggplant-as-noodles lasagna which was pretty awful. My sister, coincidentally, had the same experience, completely independent of my own. Before that there was the evil eggplant of doom that always chased Master Higgins in Adventure Island. You can imagine that it’s taken me a long time to warm up to that little plant.

Then I thought about all the Parmesan that I have, and thought of Alfredo sauce. Then I thought of biscuit pizzas. Thus it became:

Little Eggplant Alfredo Pizzas

Biscuits (I made 1/2 batch of this recipe, without the cheddar and thyme, but rolled it out thinner to make 10 biscuits instead of 5. You could make a whole batch for 20 biscuits, though, because there was plenty of alfredo leftover)

For Alfredo sauce:
1 eggplant, diced
1-2 cups Parmesan or asiago cheeses, grated
5 tablespoons butter, divided
1-2 cups milk
2 tablespoon flour
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper to taste

To build your pizzas:
2 tomatoes, chopped
Pepperoni
Extra grated cheese
Other things that sound good- you could do olives, fresh mozzarella, etc…

Cook the biscuits until they are just on the verge between underdone and done. Remove from oven. If they’re really puffy, squish them down just a little.

Throw 3 tablespoons butter into a large pot and add garlic and eggplant (you could throw in some onion, too… and I threw in some smoked paprika).

Stir frequently until the eggplant is tender. Create a little empty space in the middle of the pot and add the rest of the butter. Once that is mostly melted, add the flour and stir. Add the milk. Stir frequently until it is getting thickened.

Remove from heat and let cool until no longer bubbling. Add the cheese a little at a time. I used 2 cups, but mine was very very finely grated and fluffy. If yours is more dense, 1 cup would probably do.

Building your pizza:

Put a pepperoni in the middle of each biscuit (or more, if you love them like Zach does)

Add a spoonful of the eggplant Alfredo.

Top with tomatoes, etc, and then grate a little extra cheese on top if you wish.

Stick back in the oven for 5 minutes, or until cheese is melty.

I hope you don’t think I’m taking the easy way out by just linking to other blogs’ recipes. Some of these bloggers take great pictures and make their recipes look so much better than I could. So I figure why copy their recipes down just to have them not look as good.

Pioneer Woman, especially, makes me want to just provide you with a link. Last night I made her springy pasta, though I did lighten my version up just a bit.

Despite her protests, I made mine with part-skim ricotta. I used 1/2 cup of egg beaters intead of two eggs. I added some spinach to the mix, because I had it in the freezer. I scattered a chopped tomato on the top layer, since I had one that needed to be used. I used whole wheat shells.

If you’d offered this to me a few years ago I would have laughed at you, but my tastes have definitely changed. It didn’t taste too “green” but it wasn’t too heavy, either.

So go make Pioneer Woman’s Springy Shells

Been invited to a cookout and can’t think of anything to bring? Here’s your answer (assuming you’re not a vegetarian… perhaps tofu kabobs?) This recipe is great for last-minute cookouts, too.

Ham and Pineapple Kabobs
1/2 – 3/4 pound of cooked ham, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 (15 ounce) can of pineapple chunks (or, even better, use fresh!)
3 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp white vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp mustard
skewers (if you use wooden ones, make sure to soak them for a few minutes first, so they don’t burn)

Mix all the ingredients together. Add anything else you think sounds good. A dash of soy sauce? A bit of minced garlic or onion? Some smoky paprika? Bit of wochestershire? This recipe is forgiving. Let marinate for at least 30 minutes, but longer if you want.

Thread the pineapple and ham onto skewers and place on the girll, turning frequently. You could baste with a bit of the marinade if you wanted.

Once they’re hot and are starting to carmalize on the outside, they’re ready to go.

Sorry I don’t have any pictures of these, but I’ll just put it this way: the guys started eating them before the rest of the food was even done. Picture ham and pineapple on a skewer, though, and you’ll get the idea!

This was a random, use-up-some-ingredients meal, and I think it worked well!

Chicken Cream Cheese Egg Rolls

Package of egg roll wrappers
3 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded (use two forks, one to hold the chicken and then drag the other across the chicken to shred it)
1 small tub flavored light cream cheese (I used garden veggie flavor, but there are so many that would be good)
1 small yellow onion, diced
2 tsp garlic powder
1 c cooked chopped spinach
1/4-1/2 c shredded gruyere and/or parmesan (I used my microplane which grates cheese very fluffy, so I used the higher amount)
salt to taste
dash of red pepper flakes (optional)
dash of paprika (optional)
Butter, melted

Serve with:
Salsa
Sour cream

Mix all of the ingredients together except the egg roll wrappers and melted butter. Follow the directions on the package for folding the egg rolls (or scroll down here and look at the pictures of my egg rolls… sorry I didn’t get pictures of these!)

Brush the tops of the egg rolls with melted butter, and cook at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with salsa and sour cream.