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Baked Buffalo Cauliflower Wings

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If you’re hosting a Super Bowl gathering this year, we’ve got a new favorite you’ll want to add to your lineup–Baked Buffalo Cauliflower Wings. These little fire balls are so much better than you might think. Their texture and taste stands up to the traditional chicken wing but they have far less calories and are seriously fun to eat.

This is not a new idea of course. The healthier version of your favorite burger, fries, nachos–you get it–has been around forever. Normally, my philosophy is, “if you want some cheesy nachos, buy good tortillas and organic cheese and good quality ingredients and just go for it and enjoy them in moderation!” This year, I had two talented dietetic interns working with me, pushing me beyond my comfort zone. Grace Chan and Jane Pelcher, of Golden Gate Dietetic Internship Program, expanded my horizons as they went on a search for healthy wings we could demo with our friends at AAA in Walnut Creek at a Four Pillars of Health event they were hosting for employees.

Scanning numerous options they found, I encouraged them to make the recipe as replicable as possible across the country and as vegan, vegetarian, and food allergen friendly as possible. Ever so slightly adapted from a delicious recipe by Gimme Delicious Food, they tested this fool-proof recipe in their own kitchens for our upcoming demo and decided this was the winner!

Let me just say that these little nibbles are exciting in your mouth. When we arrived at AAA for the demo, Stan Paskewitz of Sodexo had his kitchen staff prepare both this recipe and my Winter Squash Quesadilla with Creamy Avocado Sauce from the Joyful 12. I was blown away by the crunchy texture, taste, and zing of the cauliflower buffalo wings. As the demo went on, AAA employees had the same reaction–surprise, delight, and culinary joy!

What really blew people away was the difference in calories between a cauliflower wing and a traditional wing–whoa! As health supportive educators, we’re not against chicken wings by any means. What we do want to help people realize is that you can get playful with getting more veggies into your diet and feel good knowing they will balance out a junk filled night like the Super Bowl with their nutrient packed makeup.

So here’s to keeping your Super Bowl party healthy and delicious–packed with spice, flavor, and cruciferous vegetable love–regardless of which team wins! Thank you Grace and Jane for upping my game with your expertise and amazingly fun “Guess the Calorie Count” game for our favorite Super Bowl indulgences.

Baked Buffalo Cauliflower Wings
Adapted from Layla, Gimme Delicious Food
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Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
45 min
Total Time
55 min
Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
45 min
Total Time
55 min
Ingredients
  1. 1 head cauliflower, washed and cut into bite sized pieces
  2. 1⁄2 cup milk (V use water or almond or soy milk)
  3. 1⁄2 cup water
  4. 1 cup all-purpose flour (V use brown rice or garbanzo flour; GF use gluten free flour)
  5. 2 tsp garlic powder
  6. 1 tsp cumin
  7. 1 tsp paprika
  8. 1⁄4 tsp salt
  9. 1⁄4 tsp ground pepper
  10. 1 cup hot sauce
  11. 1 tbsp butter (VL use Earth Balance)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 425-450F.
  2. Mix the milk, water, flour, and spices in a medium mixing bowl. Mix until the batter is thick and able to coat the cauliflower without dripping.
  3. Dip the cauliflower in the batter either one by one or in batches. Shake off excess batter. Lay the cauliflower single layer on a lined and greased baking sheet.
  4. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown, flip the florets half way.
  5. In a small saucepan on low, heat butter and mix in hot sauce. Remove from the heat just as it starts to melt. Stir together and set aside.
  6. Once the cauliflower is done, remove from the oven and put them into a mixing bowl with the wing sauce and toss to coat evenly. Return cauliflower to baking sheet and bake in the oven for another 20-25minutes.
  7. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce. Enjoy!
Notes
  1. V Vegan, GF Gluten Free, L Lactose Intolerance
JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/

Easy Homemade Salsas for Taco Tuesday!

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Taco top shot close up

Beautiful photography in this post by Nina Menconi. Huge thanks to Ariel and Debbie Sultan at Food Guru for their amazing video on how to make my salsas.

What I love most about Taco Tuesday is that the whole family can get involved in making dinner delicious. Creating easy to assemble fixings for a build your own taco bar is the way to go when you are tight on time but still want the whole family to eat well. I’ve found the key to keeping this theme night fresh and fun is to mix it up each week with a homemade salsa topper.

My friends Debbie and Ariel Sultan, co-founders of Food Guru, captured just how fun and easy it can be to whip up fresh salsas. After watching our minute-long tutorial, you can become a salsa master, too!

Pineapple radish salsa 1

When it comes to cooking for my family, I love using seasonal fruit like pineapples for my weekly salsa fix. They are so naturally juicy with just the right balance of acidity and sweetness. Just add a little lime juice, cilantro, spring radishes and green onions to your diced pineapple and you’re ready to take your taco to a whole new level. Oh, how I can eat this salsa with a spoon!

Taco Stuffing Ingredients Laid Out

My other tip for making taco night stress free is to keep the stuffing simple. My loco good pinto bean stuffing is ready in just 15 minutes, using canned organic beans and a quick saute of onions and bright yellow bell pepper with spices and fresh lime juice.

Pineapple Salsa Ingredients Placing cilantro on top

Be sure to have some fun this summer trying out your own version of salsa after you’ve mastered my three favorite easy recipes, perfect for any family’s Taco Tuesday.

About Food Guru:

Mother/ daughter team, Debbie and Ariel Sultan, use their baby boomer-millennial perspectives to form Food Guru, a marketing and video production company. They work as an agency and marketing department for food and beverage businesses to create, connect, and convert audiences to loyal customers and influencers. Check out their sizzle reel here.

 

Loco Good Pinto Bean Tacos with 3 Easy Homemade Salsas
Serves 4
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Taco Filling
  1. Pinto beans, (30 oz.)
  2. Garlic, 2 cloves
  3. Red onion, 1
  4. Yellow bell pepper, 1
  5. Jalapeno, 1
  6. Salt, 1 teaspoon
  7. Olive oil, 2 tablespoons
  8. Cumin, 1 ½ teaspoons
  9. Cayenne, ¼ teaspoon
  10. Chili powder, 2 teaspoons
  11. Lime, 1 (juice and zest)
  12. Corn or Flour tortillas, small, 1 package
Pineapple Radish Salsa
  1. Pineapple (1/2 fresh, medium sized)
  2. Red radish, 1 bunch
  3. Green onion, 1 bunch
  4. Lime, 1
  5. Cilantro, ½ cup
Sun Kissed Tomato Salsa
  1. Tomatoes, 4 large
  2. Salt, 1 tsp.
  3. Onion (red), medium sized, 1/4
  4. Jalapeño pepper, medium sized, 1
  5. Cilantro (fresh), 1 cup (packed)
  6. Garlic, 2 cloves
  7. Lime, 1
  8. Olive oil, about ¼ cup
Tomatillo and Avocado Salsa
  1. Tomatillos, 6, medium sized
  2. Garlic, 2 cloves
  3. Cilantro (fresh), 1 cup (packed)
  4. Onion (white), small to medium, ¼
  5. Jalapeño pepper, small, 1
  6. Salt, 2 tsp.
  7. Lime, 1
  8. Avocados, 2
Prep
  1. Take 5 minutes to get out all your ingredients, measuring and cooking equipment needed, and place them on a cookie sheet within easy reach.
  2. Drain beans, rinse, and hold.
  3. Cut onion and bell pepper into dice.
Cook
  1. In a preheated skillet, add olive oil and salt and sauté onion, bell pepper and jalapeno on medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes.
  2. Add spices and continue to cook for another minute to warm up spices.
  3. Add beans and heat through for another few minutes.
  4. Squeeze lime over mixture and stir well.
  5. Build tacos with bean mixture on the bottom and some of your fresh salsa on top!
Pineapple Salsa
  1. Put diced green onion and chopped cilantro (stems and leaves) into a medium sized bowl.
  2. Add the zest and juice of your lime.
  3. To prepare the pineapple: twist off the top. Cut off the rind with a knife. Then cut the pineapple into quarters. Remove the core with your knife. Chop pineapple into dice.
  4. Slice radish into thin rounds or half-moon shapes and add to the salsa.
Sun Kissed Salsa
  1. Cut tomatoes into small dice: first slice into rounds, then into slices and then into dice. We like cutting tomatoes with a serrated knife (bread knife), as it cuts easily through the tomato’s skin.
  2. Put the diced tomatoes in a bowl and add salt to allow the tomatoes to release their natural juices while you are cutting up the remaining ingredients.
  3. Dice ¼ of the red onion.
  4. Deseed the jalapeño, and cut into small dice. The easiest way to do this is to cut down one side, like you would an apple, trying to avoid the core. Then, you can cut down the other three sides. You should be left with a stem attached to the spicy seeds. Discard the stem and seeds. Don't forget to wash your hands after handling the jalapeño! The oils from the pepper get on your skin and can sting your eyes or anywhere else you touch. Many people wear gloves when handling jalapeños.
  5. Roughly chop 1-cup cilantro leaves.
  6. Cut garlic into a fine mince.
  7. Zest and juice the lime.
  8. Drain the salted tomatoes. They should have released a good bit of juice.
  9. In a large bowl, mix the drained tomatoes with olive oil, the chopped cilantro, minced garlic, zest and juice of the lime, diced jalapeño, and red onion. Stir together well. The longer the salsa sits, the more flavor will develop.
Tomatillo Salsa
  1. Turn on your oven’s broiler to high.
  2. Wash the cilantro, lime, jalapeño pepper, and avocados.
  3. Remove the husks from the tomatillos.
  4. Rinse the tomatillos under water to remove the sticky coating. Cut them into halves, and place on a parchment or tinfoil lined cookie sheet with raised sides, and broil for 10 minutes.
  5. Peel the garlic and set aside.
  6. Measure out 1-cup cilantro, packed. Don’t fuss with picking leaves. Just rip off the tops of the cilantro. They will go in a blender, so it does not need to be perfect.
  7. Peel and cut the onion into quarters. You will add ¼ of the onion to the blender for this salsa.
  8. Deseed the jalapeño. The easiest way to do this is to cut down one side, like you would an apple, trying to avoid the core. Then, you can cut down the other three sides. You should be left with a stem attached to the spicy seeds. Discard the stem and seeds. The remaining pieces will go into the blender. Don't forget to wash your hands after handling the jalapeño! The oils from the pepper get on your skin and can sting your eyes or anywhere else you touch. Many people wear gloves when handling jalapeños.
  9. Juice and zest the lime.
  10. Put all the ingredients in a blender, except the avocado, and blend until chunky. Add diced avocado and gently mix. Enjoy!
JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/

Lemony Bright Artichoke and Spinach Orzo

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Orozo cover shot and newletter shot Beautiful photography in this post by Nina Menconi.

I’ll never forget traveling through Italy during late May a few years ago and desperately searching for artichokes featured on any menu. Each time the waiter said, “I carciofi sono finiti”–artichokes are finished–and I would just sigh! How was it possible that we missed the window to enjoy my favorite spring vegetable “alla Romana, al forno, fritti, or in tasty little fried balls called polpette ghiotte?!”

Orzo ingredient shot

You see, I LOVE artichokes. The first time I truly realized that vegetables were cool was as a ten year old girl, and it was the artichoke that did it. My bonus mom, Debbie, was from California and she introduced artichokes to my dad and I–and it was love at first bite. I was fascinated by this foreign food that required not just eating the meaty leaves with your hands but also digging down until you found the golden heart. And so, I was of course dreaming of tasting the love Italians have for our shared favorite–the artichoke (as they call “carciofi,” which in Italian, also means “pine cone!”).

Orzo side by side both

Each May, when I have the chance to work with the local artichokes that are in season, I can’t help but think about how Mediterranean cooks might highlight them in one of their everyday simple pasta meals. Keeping flavors pure and springlike, I imagine they’d lean on staples like spinach, lemon, parsley, onions, garlic and feta and would pick a pasta like orzo that’s fun and fast to cook.

Orozo placing parsley

Orzo final tossing in bowl

Orzo squeezing the lemon While I’m actually using a jarred artichoke heart in this recipe versus fresh for the sake of convenience and speed, here are my tips on how to select and store fresh spring artichokes and help your child fall in love with artichokes the way my family did so many years ago! 

Spring Orzo final shot

How to pick a great artichoke and keep it fresh

  • Select artichokes that are deep green and feel heavy for their size. A good test of freshness is to press the leaves against each other which should produce a squeaking sound.
  • To store artichokes: sprinkle (but do not wash) artichokes with a little water and refrigerate in an airtight bag or container. They can last up to a week when stored properly.
  • If you are looking for a good artichoke outside of their peak season during spring, you may find fall or winter artichokes “touched by frost – winter-kissed with a whitish, blistered appearance.” These are considered to be tender, tasty and premier–so don’t let their ugly exterior leaves deter you!

Artichoke fun facts about this thistle we adore

    • Ask your child what part of the plant they think an artichoke comes from. The artichoke is a flower that has not yet bloomed. If allowed to flower, the buds develop into magnificent purple-blue blooms.
    • Did you know that California produces 100% of the United States artichoke crop? Castroville, California, calls itself the “Artichoke Center of the World.”
    • Do you know where the word artichoke comes from? The Italian words—articiocco and articoclos—which means pine cone.
Lemony Bright Feta, Artichoke and Spinach Orzo
Serves 6
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Prep Time
15 min
Cook Time
20 min
Prep Time
15 min
Cook Time
20 min
Ingredients
  1. Onion (yellow), 1
  2. Garlic, 3 cloves
  3. Olive oil, ¼ cup (divided)
  4. Salt, 1 tsp (divided)
  5. Black pepper, ¼ tsp
  6. Artichoke hearts (quartered), 14 oz
  7. Spinach (baby, pre-washed, bagged), 1 bag (8 cups)
  8. White wine, ½ cup
  9. Vegetable broth, ½ cup
  10. Lemon, ½ large or 1 small
  11. Orzo pasta, 1lb
  12. Feta cheese, 7 oz
  13. Parsley, ½ small bunch
Get Organized
  1. Take 5 minutes to get out all your ingredients, measuring and cooking equipment needed, and place them on a cookie sheet within easy reach.
  2. Bring a large pot of salty water up to a boil for the orzo.
  3. Dice onion.
  4. Empty the quartered artichoke hearts, rinse them, drain and set aside.
  5. Crumble the feta and set aside.
  6. Rough chop parsley (stems and leaves).
To Cook
  1. When water begins to boil, add orzo pasta and cook according to package instructions (about 7-9 minutes). Note: we like to undercook the orzo as we’ll add the pasta to the sauce to finish cooking.
  2. Saute onion in two tablespoons olive oil and ½ teaspoon salt on medium high heat until translucent (3-4 minutes).
  3. Add artichoke hearts and continue sauteing for another 3 minutes.
  4. Next add spinach, garlic, and two more tablespoons olive oil. Stir well to combine.
  5. Deglaze pan with white wine by pulling the pan off the heat, adding the wine, and then placing the pan back on medium high heat. Use your wooden spoon to scrape the bottom of the pan to stir up any of the good onion bits that stuck to the bottom.
  6. Add vegetable broth and continue simmering for about five minutes to help concentrate sauce.
  7. Add another ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper and stir.
  8. Turn off the heat. Add lemon, parsley, and feta and stir.
  9. Serve in bowls garnished with extra parsley.
JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/

Bursting with Spring Buckwheat Noodles

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Beautiful photography in this post by Nina Menconi.

 

Spring makes me happy. It’s not just the sweet strawberries and ripe cherries that start popping up everywhere this time of year, or the yellow daffodils and tulips that tell me that winter is a distant memory. It’s the baby carrots and happy easter radishes, crunchy sweet sugar snap peas, and tender stalks of asparagus that make me want to cook and play in the kitchen. From radish dips to noodles bursting with spring produce, I’m energized to find ways to easily work in these yummy seasonal treats into my weekly meals.

soba noodles ingredients shot

And it’s not only because I love the taste of spring. Do you know how many nutritious goodies (including energy!) these vegetables and fruits provide?! I love looking at Ashley Koff’s spring vegetable “picks” list to feel great knowing that I’m treating my body and my family’s health right! The key of course is to “try” not go overboard–playing with new recipes should be fun, not stressful. That’s why I love simple one dish meals like soba noodles. I use my go-to sauce from the Joyful 12 kitchen learning lab and just mix up the seasonal produce on hand.

soba noodles up close asparagus

One of my new favorite things to add to soba noodles is roasted tofu. It sounds a little crazy, but I’m a newcomer to tofu as a protein source that makes it home in my shopping cart! I just never played with it much until recently when I was trying out a recipe that called for roasting it. In just 20-minutes, roasted tofu develops the most beautiful brown color and deep flavor without having to pan sear or fry it in a bunch of oil. And while I have the oven on anyway, I throw in some diced asparagus for ten minutes–just long enough to develop flavor but not lose the vibrant green hues.

soba noodles roasted tofu soba noodles roasted asparagus shot

When it comes to play, my motto is always to have fun making mistakes. Take this goof for example. I put my cooked soba noodles into my pan, along with the sauce and veggies and stirred and stirred and stirred, and guess what. The noodles broke! So much for long beautiful soba noodles–more like soba rice! But that just gave me the chance to make this recipe one more time for my husband, Jim, who adores soba noodles. After a little research, I discovered that the trick to not breaking your cooked noodles is to first wash them after cooking them in a big bowl of cold water (to remove some of their starch) AND to add your sauce and veggies off the heat and gently toss them just before serving. Version one was still delicious!

soba noodles sidebyside

If you’re looking for a seriously happy and delicious spring meal, perfect for Meatless Monday, grab some sugar snap peas and asparagus and let the soba noodle party commence!

soba noodles twitter pic

Bursting with Spring Buckwheat Noodles
Serves 4
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Prep Time
30 min
Cook Time
10 min
Total Time
40 min
Prep Time
30 min
Cook Time
10 min
Total Time
40 min
Ingredients
  1. Asparagus, 1 bunch
  2. Olive oil, 3 TBS (divided)
  3. Salt, ½ tsp (divided)
  4. Tofu, firm, 14 oz
  5. Black pepper, ⅛ tsp
  6. Green onion, 1 bunch
  7. Sugar snap peas, 1 cup
  8. Ginger (fresh), 1tsp finely chopped
  9. Soba noodles (100% Buckwheat) 7 oz
Noodle Sauce
  1. Hot pepper flakes, 1/4 tsp
  2. Rice wine vinegar, 2 TBS
  3. Tamari (gluten free soy sauce), 1/4 cup
  4. Sesame oil, 1/4 cup
  5. Ginger (fresh), 2 tsp finely grated
Instructions
  1. Take 5 minutes to get out all your ingredients, measuring and cooking equipment needed, and place them on a cookie sheet within easy reach.
  2. Preheat oven to 425F.
  3. Cut asparagus on the bias into medium sized pieces. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil, and sprinkle with ¼ teaspoon of salt.
  4. Dry off tofu and cut into medium sized (bite-sized) cubes, drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil, and sprinkle with ¼ teaspoon of salt and ⅛ teaspoon black pepper.
  5. Place tofu and asparagus on two different baking pans lined with parchment paper--roast the tofu for 20 minutes and the asparagus for 10 minutes at 425F.
  6. Cut green onion into small pieces. Set aside some of the green tops to use as a garnish on the noodles when you serve them.
  7. Cut the sugar snap peas into bite sized pieces.
  8. Chop 1 teaspoon of ginger and set aside for the vegetable saute. Finely grate 2 additional teaspoons ginger for the noodle sauce.
  9. Make the pasta sauce by combining all the ingredients in a bowl and stirring together.
Cook
  1. Cook noodles separately, according to their package instructions (approximately 5-7 minutes in boiling water--DO NOT salt!). Get a colander ready so you can rinse the noodles right after they are done cooking in cool water. Note: soba noodles should not be al dente, but you also don’t want to overcook them so taste one before pulling the pot off the heat. Once they have been rinsed, you’re now going to dunk the cooked noodles in a big bowl of cold water and “wash them” of their starch. Use your hands and rub them in the water. Drain again in the colander. Now they are ready to be used.
  2. In a pre-heated pan, saute green onion, peas and ginger in 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium high heat for 3 minutes.
  3. Add roasted asparagus, tofu, and your sauce to the saute and continue cooking another 2 minutes.
  4. Gently toss sauteed vegetables and sauce with the noodles in a bowl (off the heat).
  5. Serve in bowls garnished with a little extra green onion and sprinkled with hot pepper flakes, if you like it extra spicy!
JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/

Wellness in the Schools Bean Cooking Labs at Lu Sutton Elementary

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WITS chili labs team effort
Special thanks to our amazing partners that make these labs possible: Wellness in the Schools, Novato Unified School District’s Director of Food and Nutritional Services, Miguel Villarreal, Lu Sutton’s principal, Bonnie Barron, and the Lu Sutton PTA, led by Emy Everett. We look forward to expanding into all elementary schools in Novato, with your support. Beautiful photography by Nina Menconi.

Do you love beans? I know 365 Novato California elementary school students who NOW adore them. When adults ask me what we do in the Wellness in the Schools Cooking Labs, I have to pause and respond thoughtfully. There is just so much that happens that you really have to be there to experience it. But each time, I try to focus on the bigger role we’re hoping to play each and every time we teach a fifty minute nutrition and food literacy lab using this beautiful curriculum, so I generally explain that, “We help kids fall in love with cooking and eating healthy, local foods growing in season, and we make it fun to explore new foods without fear.”

WITS chili labs excited about beans WITS Chili Lab showing beans

Beans are no exception. From statements like, “I don’t eat beans” at the beginning of our recent WITS labs to asking for second helpings of WITS’ multi bean chili after only fifty minutes of food literacy education, well that’s gotta be love! It’s not just beans of course. These labs teach kids about kale and carrots, tomatoes and potatoes, apples and those locally grown foods that are also being served in the school cafeteria. Regardless of the starring produce of the lab, it’s the positive, hands-on learning experience that leads to 77% of students saying they loved the Ginger Kale Salad and 75% saying they now love eating veggie bean chili.

WITS chili labs joy with chili

To create magic, it’s a build. I like to make sure parents know this because I never enter a cooking lab expecting for everything to be perfect. What I aspire for are small, incremental positive experiences for children with fresh foods. Some kids love to learn our “juicy chef words,” which in our chili lab included descriptive vocabulary like translucent, garnish, saute, and simmer. Other children get super excited by the tactile portions of our learning, like sorting various varieties of dried beans and discovering ones they’d never known existed or holding the bell peppers to see which one is heavier or lighter.

WITS chili lab dietetic intern WITS Chili Labs in love with bell peppers

Most children relish the knife skills part of the cooking lab, where we practice knife safety with nylon cutting knives from Curious Chefs, using our bear claw to hold what we’re cutting or the tunnel, and learning new cuts–for kale it was “chiffonade” cut, which is to cut into thin ribbons–for the chili recipe it was slicing and then dicing our multicolored bell peppers.

joyfoodly1

The amazing thing about ensuring that all children of the elementary school get this food literacy education is that they learn together that healthy eating is the cool thing to do. It’s fun, not punitive! The school community becomes one team, where kitchen staff at school see more kids participating, parents are supported in their efforts back at home, and even kids become teachers to their parents or grandparents. One of our second grade students was chopping away at her bell pepper in our recent chili lab when she beamed this story to me that she was so proud to share, “Chef Hollie, I made the kale salad for my dad. At first, he would only take one spoonful, but then he ate the whole bowl! It’s the only way I can get him to eat his vegetables now!”

WITS chili labs team work WITS chili labs going for more garnish

What I love best is when our students from one lab to the next build upon what they’ve learned. We focus on listening to the foods–just ask your child what they should hear when an onion is put into a hot pan (sizzle) or how to know when you can stop massaging the kale salad (hint: it no longer crunches).

WITS chili labs finishing the chili WITS chili labs knife skills with chef hollie

We also engage the children to learn that exploring new foods is fun by focusing on using all of our senses to taste and describe the foods we’re experiencing. Lu Sutton kids don’t make a decision about a new food until they’ve looked at it, smelled it, touched it, tasted it, and yes, listened to it. They love when a bell pepper squirts them in the face when cutting, because they know that the vitamin C in that pepper is good for their skin (a.k.a Vitamin C facial!). After teaching these WITS labs to kids, I’m also confident that even in this small amount of time, we are teaching these precious children at all ages that they are worthy of beautiful, fresh foods. What more empowerment can you ask for?  Now, that’s what I call love.

WITS chili labs focused on tasting WTIS chili labs taste focus

If you are a parent or teacher of Lu Sutton and you have not yet taken advantage of the free Joyful 12 memberships I provide with every school we work with, please be sure to go to www.joyful12.com/lusutton and take advantage of my online kitchen learning lab. I hope it will be a beautiful resource to you and your family after each lab to keep that enthusiasm about cooking thriving back at home! To learn more about our Joyful 12 School Project and how you can help us expand in our goal to grow healthy kids in all eight elementary schools in Novato, please visit our project page today.

Veggie Chili by Wellness in The Schools
Serves 6
Chef Hollie’s cooking note: I make this chili recipe now almost weekly. My husband and I love to garnish with thinly sliced purple cabbage, sour cream, avocado, and a little cheese. We usually buy several colors of bell pepper, so that we can use some diced raw as garnish along with the cilantro suggested!
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Prep Time
15 min
Cook Time
45 min
Prep Time
15 min
Cook Time
45 min
Ingredients
  1. *30 oz canned beans (we used 1 can of pinto beans and 1 can of black beans in our Novato labs)
  2. 1 ½ Tbsp olive oil
  3. 1 onion, diced
  4. 1 red pepper, diced
  5. 1 clove garlic, minced
  6. ½ jalapeno, seeded, de-ribbed & minced (optional)
  7. 1 Tbsp ground chili powder
  8. 1 ½ tsp cumin
  9. 1 ½ tsp oregano
  10. 14.5 oz can tomatoes, in juice, chopped
  11. 1 ½ Tbsp tomato paste
  12. 1 cup water
  13. 1 tsp salt* (original recipe = ½ tsp)
  14. Fresh cilantro, chopped (for garnish--optional)
Directions
  1. Rinse and drain beans and set aside.
  2. In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat until warm.
  3. Add onion, red pepper, garlic and jalapeno and cook, stirring, until onions are translucent. Stir in spices and cook 1 minute.
  4. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, water, salt and drained and rinsed beans; reduce heat and simmer for 30-40 minutes, until flavors are well combined.
  5. Garnish with cilantro just before serving. (*Note: in California, we also love a rainbow of raw diced bell peppers on top as a garnish)
Notes
  1. *modified from way written in the original recipe
JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/

Get Radical and Go Meatless One Night A Week!

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joyfoodlyfood-143

Who doesn’t love being radical? At the top of my New Year’s resolutions list this year was: 1) do not take yourself too seriously in 2016, 2) find more time for play, and 3) eat even MORE veggies and less meat! So when I say get radical, I’m sort of poking fun because if you’ve been following trends over the last decade beginning with when Michael Pollan steared us in the right direction to “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants,” you’ll already know that vegetables have clearly become the delicious center of the plate. What I’m really suggesting in this week’s “Healthy, Not Boring” Tip is to make cooking and eating vegetables more fun for your entire family. There’s no easier way to do this than by going all out “theme” one night a week–Italian night, Tex Mex night, Chinese night–oh YES! Join me this week as we take our Meatless Mondays to a whole new healthy, not boring level with these three fun and delicious meals!

1st-Broccoli pesto final shot 1

What I love about pesto is that it’s a green sauce that requires zero cooking! In my Joyful 12 recipe, Betcha Won’t Believe It’s Broccoli Pesto Pasta, I’m mixing up the standard basil centric recipe with a winter veggie that most kids and adults already love. What’s super fun about this pesto is its neon green color that comes from quickly blanching the broccoli florets and stems in the salty pasta water for a few minutes before they go into the food processor. If you didn’t already know this super cool science trick, it’s the salt in the water that keeps the chlorophyll from leaching out of green veggies that have been blanched! I’ll guarantee this hazelnut, parsley, and broccoli loving sauce will become your family’s favorite Italian meal this winter!

joyfoodlyfood-137

If you’re looking for a taste explosion, you’ve got to make Elena’s Kickin Southwestern Quinoa bowl. I’m addicted. What I love about this dish is that once you make it, you can continue eating it for several days in different ways–one night in a burrito, the next alongside a grilled piece of fish, or as a packed lunch on the go. With Elena’s recipe for a sweet and spicy mango salsa to top off all of this plant based yumminess, you’re guaranteed to return to this recipe as I have time and time again.

8th-Broccoli fried rice add roasted veggies

As I write this post, we are literally making fried rice for dinner! It’s always a variation of my standard Joyful 12 recipe based on whatever veggies I’ve got on hand. What I do though to make a Monday meal just a little more civilized is I do a little prep Sunday night when I’m vegging out to Downton Abbey, i.e., that’s when I cook my brown rice ahead of time. And don’t sweat it if you lean on those frozen veggies in your fried rice. Believe me, you’re going to pack in loads of fiber and flavor with so little effort, you’ll see why I call this my go-to Meatless Monday meal!

Betcha Won’t Believe it’s Broccoli Pesto Pasta
Serves 4
A Joyful 12 recipe
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Prep Time
15 min
Cook Time
25 min
Total Time
40 min
Prep Time
15 min
Cook Time
25 min
Total Time
40 min
Ingredients
  1. Pasta (fusilli), 12 oz.
  2. Salt, 1 ½ tsp.
Broccoli Pesto
  1. Parmesan cheese (grated), 2/3 cup
  2. Hazelnuts, 1/3 cup
  3. Broccoli, 1 head (medium)
  4. Parsley (fresh), 1 bunch (2 cups measured)
  5. Salt, 1 teaspoon
  6. Black pepper, ¼ teaspoon
  7. Olive oil, 1 cup
  8. Garlic, 1-2 cloves (optional)
Prep
  1. Take 5 minutes to get out all your ingredients, measuring and cooking equipment needed, and place them on a cookie sheet within easy reach.
  2. Wash all produce.
  3. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil (for every 8 cups add 1 ½ teaspoons salt).
  4. Grate Parmesan cheese. Set aside a little extra to sprinkle on top of your final dish.
  5. Cut off the tops of the parsley, trying to get mostly leaves. Don’t worry if you get some stems. They will blend up in the pesto.
  6. For the broccoli: cut off the florets (the flowering clusters at the end of the stem). Also cut most of the stem, just discarding the lower woody part. You can quickly cut off the outer parts of the stem (peel it with your knife) that are harder and chop the more tender inside of the stem into chunks.
Cook
  1. First grind cheese and nuts together in a food processor.
  2. In the salted boiling water, drop broccoli florets and stems. After 2 minutes, remove the broccoli and put directly into your food processor.
  3. Add the parsley, salt, pepper, garlic and olive oil and pulse until combined.
  4. Bring the salted water back up to a boil and cook the pasta according to the box instructions.
  5. Drain the noodles.
  6. In a bowl, combine cooked pasta with broccoli pesto and serve with some extra Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.
Notes
  1. Culinary Note: I often find that children are not as fond of raw garlic in their pesto. For this recipe, we like to gently simmer the garlic in olive oil for about 15 minutes before using.
JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/

Yoga in The Kitchen

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  Kajal Dhabalia_Chick Pea Flour & Rice Patties

Good cooking and nutrition should be a lifestyle- that’s the basic premise behind what we do here at Joyfoodly. Is it any surprise that Anna Yoga and Ayurveda share many goals in common. Here to share her thoughts on practicing yoga in the kitchen and to share a favorite recipe is Kajal Dhabalia of WholesomeSoul.com. Her chickpea flour and rice patties feature spinach and onions for a delicious vegetable kick, but can easily be adapted to any number of fresh in season vegetables year-round. -Chef Hollie

Have you ever finished a yoga class feeling grounded, quiet and joyful….and wishing you could feel like this all day long? As someone who spends a lot of time and effort on her yoga and meditation mat, I’ve learned that some of the best ways to continue my practice off the mat is through my diet and lifestyle.

Kajal Dhabalia_artwork1

The ancient yogi’s of India thought about everything in the context of how things influence our bodies, our minds and ultimately our consciousness. In fact, many people don’t know this, but there’s a whole branch of yoga called Anna Yoga– a science devoted to food for health and happiness. Combined with Ayurveda (the Indian Science of Healing), Anna Yoga and Ayurveda provide great resources for striving yogi’s who want to have a strong yoga and meditation practice…because food after all, is an amazing tool.

Food not only satisfies our hunger, but it replenishes our blood supply, helps us heal and influences the stability of our mind. Yogic cooking does not dissect food into vitamins, minerals, protein, but rather it shows that the true benefits of whole ingredients can be experienced only when they are NOT isolated and are kept true in their natural form as possible (i.e. preservatives, additives, processed foods). They explain that the most vital component to true health is to have a fresh and balanced diet so that all the faculties of digestion can work smoothly.

The core intentions of Anna Yoga + Ayurveda are:

  1. Every body has a different constitution; therefore, not all food is made for every body. To learn what your constitution is, click here: https://www.ayurveda.com/pdf/constitution.pdf
  2. All foods have various qualities of prana (energy) that stimulate the mind/body in different ways. To learn more about basic ayurvedic food guidelines, click here: http://www.ayurveda.com/pdf/food-guidelines.pdf
  3. Food should be easy for the body’s digestion to work smoothly—absorption, assimilation and elimination.
  4. Meals should consist mainly of fresh fruits & veggies and whole grains.
  5. And, developing the understanding and awareness that, we truly are what we eat; so to be conscious of what we put into our bodies.

Hand in hand with becoming more mindful of what we put in our bodies, is the importance of being conscious of the people, places and things we surround ourselves. Just as the food we eat affects us, what we fill our lives up with soaks into our subconscious. For example, good company can inspire us to live well, a meaningful piece of art can serve as a daily reminder of something positive and an uplifting book can put a spark of magic into your day. These little but big doses of inspiration can directly and indirectly shape our perspectives, nourish our faith and foster our own personal growth.

So, here’s to taking your yoga practice off the mat and into your daily life…one bite at a time ☺.

One of my favorite go-to recipes is my Chickpea Flour and Rice Patties. Basically, they turn out like mini, eggless, omelets; easy, delicious and very nourishing. ENJOY!

Chickpea Flour & Rice Patties
Serves 4
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Ingredients
  1. 4 cups cooked rice
  2. 1 cup garbanzo bean flour
  3. 1 cup yogurt
  4. 1-1 1/2 cups water
  5. 3 tablespoons olive oil
  6. 2 teaspoon ginger, finely grated
  7. 1 teaspoon jalapeño, finely grated
  8. 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
  9. 3 cups spinach, finely chopped
  10. 1 1/2 - 2 teaspoon salt (salt to taste)
  11. 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
  12. 1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
  13. 1/4 teaspoon asafetida or ½ cup finely diced onions
Instructions
  1. In a large bowl, place garbanzo bean flour, yogurt and water and beat until smooth.
  2. Add turmeric, red chili powder, asafetida and salt to the batter and mix. Then, add ginger, jalapeño, spinach, cilantro and onions and combine again. Add then fold in cooked rice.
  3. Place a non-stick, medium size skillet on medium heat and place 1 teaspoon of oil on pan.
  4. When oil is heated, place 1/2 cup mixture on skillet, flatten out patty a little, if necessary.
  5. *BE PATIENT and allow to cook 4-5 minutes on each side. I like to wiggle the spatula underneath every so often just to ensure the patty isn't sticking, but make sure to be very gentle.
Notes
  1. *It is very important to keep the skillet well greased so that the patty does not stick.
  2. VEGAN NOTES | Just omit yogurt and add extra water in batter for pancake batter like consistency.
  3. GLUTEN FREE NOTES | Totally gluten free!
JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/
Kajal Dhabalia_artwork2

BIO | Kajal Dhabalia

Kajal Dhabalia is a graphic designer by trade, and at heart a devout lover of yoga, food and art. Basically she loves all things creative and spiritual. When she’s not cooking or doing yoga herself, she runs an online creative design boutique called Wholesome Soul (www.wholesomesoul.com) where she offers an uplifting collection of original art pieces, prints, and other home related goodies, while also sharing a few of her favorite recipes in between.

Since she knows that most of us can’t stay on our yoga mats all day, her mission is to help people stay inspired—off the mat and into their daily lives.

Kajal_Dhabalia

Find Kajal at:

Website: www.wholesomesoul.com
Instagram: https://instagram.com/kajaldhabalia/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wholesome-Soul-by-Kajal-Dhabalia/272191999486604

Veggie Mac n Cheese–More Kale Please!

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10-5-15 #1 cover mac n cheese

Kale and Mac-n-cheese are a match made in heaven. Now, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it–especially since you’ll be feeling so much better about the heaping scoop you’ve put on your plate after you realize you’ve added a superfood to your favorite comfort meal.

10-5 mac n cheese ingredients

If you’ve never made mac-n-cheese from scratch, it’s such a fun recipe to make with kids. There are so many tasks they can help you with from:

  • Grating the cheeses to
  • Tearing kale from its stalks into little pieces to
  • Checking the pasta for “doneness”–is it “al dente?!” to
  • Helping stir the butter and flour into a roux (which will thicken the milk) and letting you know when it starts to smell like cookie dough so you can pour that milk in and stir, stir, stir!

10-5 #3 grid 1 of 4

10-5 #4 grid 2 of 4.08

10-5 #5 grid 3 of 4.39

The most exciting part is when the cheese they grated gets mixed into the creamy bechamel sauce with the noodles and veggies, and it goes into its baking vessel. You get wafts of nutmeg smells as it slides out of the hot pasta pot and into the oven with its crunchy breadcrumb topping.

10-5 #7 going into oven 11.40.21

And as your kids dig their forks into this ooey gooey pasta masterpiece, you’ll relish knowing that the kale (and maybe a little broccoli) that you stuffed into this classic is pumping their brains with antioxidants, their muscles with calcium and vitamin k, and their bodies with fiber to keep them full and happy. Go ahead and crown yourself a kale hero. I surely will.

Don’t miss all of the fun that will be happening across the country on National Kale Day, October 7th, 2015. We will be serving students of Lu Sutton Elementary the Ginger Kale Salad by Wellness in the Schools that they learned the week before in our cooking labs. What kind of kale adventures do you have in store? Here’s to the kale hero in each of us!

Veggie Mac & Cheese - More Kale Please!
Serves 8
Note on additions: we love to add in some broccoli to our kale saute!
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Prep Time
15 min
Cook Time
1 hr
Total Time
1 hr 15 min
Prep Time
15 min
Cook Time
1 hr
Total Time
1 hr 15 min
Ingredients
  1. elbow macaroni, 1 lb (can also use GF brand)
  2. salt, 1 tsp
  3. vegetable broth, 1 quart
  4. all purpose flour, 1/4 cup (can also use GF flour)
  5. kale, 1 bunch
  6. olive oil, 4 TBS
  7. butter, 4 TBS
  8. milk (2% or full), 3 cups
  9. nutmeg (ground), 1 tsp
  10. emmental (type of swiss cheese), 1/2 lb
  11. white cheddar cheese (not sharp), grated, 1/2 lb
  12. bread crumbs, 1 cup (can also use GF breadcrumbs)
Prep
  1. Take 5 minutes to get out all your ingredients, measuring and cooking equipment needed, and place them on a cookie sheet within easy reach.
  2. Preheat oven to 350F.
  3. Grate cheeses.
  4. Thinly slice the greens.
  5. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. **Note, the pasta boxes always recommend you put way more water than is needed to cook these noodles. Just make sure you’ve put enough water to cover them completely! You don’t need a special pot.
Cook Noodles
  1. Add macaroni to boiling water and cook until al dente (a little chewy to the tooth). The pasta will keep cooking when we bake the mac n cheese in the oven!
  2. Remove ¼ cup of the water they cooked in before you drain the noodles. Place the cooking water into a bowl.
  3. Drain the noodles and then add them to the bowl where you put the ¼ cup cooking liquid. This should keep them from sticking together until you are ready to add them to the final mac and cheese.
  4. Sauté greens + add cooked noodles
  5. Use the same pot you cooked your noodles to sauté the greens in 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1 teaspoon salt for 2-3 minutes.
  6. Add ¼ cup vegetable broth and cook another 2-3 minutes. Cook until slightly crisp.
  7. Add your cooked noodles and about ¼ cup of the reserved pasta liquid to the pot with the cooked greens.
Make white sauce, called béchamel
  1. In a separate medium pot, melt 4 tablespoons butter on med/high heat and add ¼ cup flour, whisking until the mixture is like sand and a golden color.
  2. Add 3 cups of milk and 1 cup of vegetable broth.
  3. Stay on medium-high heat, continuously stirring with a whisk until thickened—approximately 10 minutes.
  4. Add nutmeg and 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper.
  5. Turn off the heat; add your grated cheeses and stir until melted.
  6. Add your cooked vegetables and noodles to this pot and combine.
  7. Place in an ovenproof dish, top with breadcrumbs with a drizzle of olive oil and bake at 350 for 35 minutes.
JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/

Can’t Eat Just One–Crisp Kale Chips

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SM 9-21 kale chips new final shot

I make it a game each week to come up with a whole host of delicious ways to use up my fresh fall greens–and yes, kale chips are at the top of that list.

9-21 remove rib soak

When it comes to making it easy to use up greens, for me, it’s all about making them too convenient to pass up when I start to refrigerator dive for my breakfast, lunch, or dinner ideas. Try this no waste tip when you come home with your next bundle of kale, collards, or other hearty greens:

  • Give them a good wash: tear off their leaves from the woody stalks and dunk them into a big bowl of water, so that any dirt or organic bugs that have hitched a ride home with them drop to the bottom of the bowl.
  • Scoop them up, dry them in a salad spinner or on a towel, and place them in a sealed container, so they are now ready to be used.
  • Save the stalks for your next soup or saute–they’re crunchy and loaded with nutrients but need a little extra cooking time.

9-21 shot of kale chips on tray

The next time you get a craving for a salty and crunchy snack, don’t forget that kale chips are only 10 minutes away, since you’ve already done the hard work of getting them ready to be cooked. Whether you have the curly variety or the flat one known as dinosaur kale, this green makes a delicious and fun chip that’s so good for you.

9-21 Joyful 12 school project cover image

And if you’ve been making kale chips for years and are looking for a little inspiration for other ways to relish kale, join us as we gear up for National Kale Day on October 7th, 2015. We’ll be joining the National Kale team as they share tips, recipes, and fun ideas for how to get the whole family loving kale and all greens. At JoyFoodly, we’ll also be launching the next phase of our Joyful 12 School Project, in partnership with the national program Wellness in the Schools, making their amazingly delicious and simple Ginger Kale Salad with all 350 children of Lu Sutton Elementary in Novato, California through Food Literacy Cooking Labs. Stay tuned and join us in this kale celebration!

9-21 Week three spinach smoothie with kids

Can't Eat Just One Crisp Kale Chips
Serves 4
Note on substitutions: we know that you can’t always find flat kale, also known as Dino or Lacinato Kale, so curly kale works great, too. See below for how we alter the recipe slightly depending on which type of kale you use.
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Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
10 min
Total Time
20 min
Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
10 min
Total Time
20 min
Ingredients
  1. kale, 1 bunch
  2. olive oil, 2 - 4 TBS
  3. salt, 1/2 tsp
Prep
  1. Take 5 minutes to get out all your ingredients, measuring and cooking equipment needed, and place them on a cookie sheet within easy reach.
  2. Preheat oven to 300F.
Prep kale
  1. For flat kale, cut off the tougher bottom part of the stem and leave the upper stem and leaves in tact. This will make a nice big chip. Otherwise, you can pull the leaves off in big chunks on either side of the stem. Be sure to use bigger pieces, as the kale will shrink in the oven.
  2. **If you have curly kale, the stem is tougher, so we recommend you remove it with a knife and then tear the curly leaves apart into bigger pieces.
  3. Wash well in water. Use a salad spinner to dry and then lay them out on paper towels or a clean cloth to get them completely dry. *For curly kale you need to get between the creases!
Cook
  1. Rub kale pieces with 1-2 tablespoons olive oil. This will keep them from burning in the oven and allow them to crisp up.
  2. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  3. Do not overlap; ensure they all have space in one layer on the cookie sheet.
  4. Bake for 5 minutes and check. You may want to move the cookie sheets around so edges on one part of the tray do not get too hot due to your oven. Cook for about 3 minutes longer or until they just start to turn brown on the edges but not burning! This can happen fast, so remove them and know they’ll keep cooking a little on the hot pan out of the oven. *Note, curly kale can take a little longer to cook so keep an eye on it.
  5. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and enjoy within the hour. Yum!
JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/

Sumac Grilled Chinese Eggplant Dressed with Tomatoes, Basil and Feta

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#1 cover

How often has this happened to you? The smell of someone grilling in their backyard stops you in your tracks. The rich smoky wafts of something caramelizing on the bbq are intoxicating. And while I do adore grilled meats and fish, where I really spend most of my creative cooking energy is on those summer grilled vegetables. Vegetables are meant to be grilled. And not just in the form of a kabob.

#2 grilled vegetables

Recently, I heard the best public radio chat on how to grill like a pro over the summer. Mostly the banter between the three chefs was meat focused, but then, one of the chefs brilliantly suggested that taking a large globe eggplant and stuffing it with garlic, wrapping it in tinfoil, and throwing it on top of the charcoals was the way to go. The finished grilled eggplant was cut open like a potato and dressed like a mozzarella and tomato salad–with olive oil, salt, and a little balsamic vinegar.

#3 basil and cheese #4 tomatoes

Are you drooling? I was. No, really. It was hard to concentrate on driving! I knew I wanted to try to recreate this luscious image he has planted into my brain, but I was stuck. We don’t have a charcoal grill, just a mini gas Weber grill that literally sits on top of a table out the back door of our small San Francisco apartment. Hmm….grilled globe eggplant was not in my immediate future.

#5 eggplant and ingredients

I couldn’t give up. So I figured I’d opt for another variety that would work for my grill, Chinese eggplant. These thinner light purple eggplants are so popular today you can find them in grocery stores all over the country. The best thing about them is that they cook quickly, have great taste and don’t require salting. Now I was ready to grill!

#6 dipping in olive oil

First, I brushed each cut half with a generous amount of olive oil before salting them and placing them down on the searing hot grill for about three to four minutes.

#7 brushing the olive oil

Once I had some nice grill marks on the cut side of each eggplant, I pulled them off the grill. More olive oil was brushed on, and at this stage I added big pinches of my sumac and paprika spices and a little more salt. Placing the two halves back together, I wrapped each eggplant in tinfoil and put them back on the grill for seven to ten more minutes.

#8 putting bowl of tomatoes down

The first night we ate them immediately after grilling with all of the fixings I’d dreamed up, but then I discovered something that worked even better–letting them cool in the refrigerator and serving them later to guests as a cool antipasti appetizer helped the smoky but sweet flavors of the grilled eggplant to develop.

#9 dropping tomatoes

Scattered with red and yellow cherry tomatoes.

#10 putting on feta

Crumbled salty feta on top and freshly torn basil.

#11 tearing basil

Drizzled with generous spoonfuls of good balsamic vinegar and fruity extra virgin olive oil.

#12 drizzling with balsamic

This is my new favorite antipasti summer side that is sure to make you relish eggplant and want to grill vegetables all summer long. Don’t be shy! Share your favorite summer grilling tips with me–I’m officially addicted to vegetable grilling!

Special thanks to Elle Wildhagen, our photographer and videographer, for this beautiful shoot.

 

Sumac Grilled Chinese Eggplant Stuffed with Tomatoes, Basil and Feta Drizzled with Balsamic Vinegar and Olive Oil
Serves 4
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Prep Time
15 min
Cook Time
15 min
Total Time
30 min
Prep Time
15 min
Cook Time
15 min
Total Time
30 min
Ingredients
  1. Chinese eggplant (or fairytale), 4
  2. Olive oil, about ¼ cup (divided)
  3. Salt, 1 tsp. (divided)
  4. Sumac spice, ½ tsp.
  5. Sweet paprika, ½ tsp.
  6. Cherry tomatoes, 1 cup
  7. Balsamic vinegar, 2 TBS
  8. Feta Cheese, 6-7 oz.
  9. Basil, ½ cup
Prep
  1. Take 5 minutes to get out all your ingredients, measuring and cooking equipment needed, and place them on a cookie sheet within easy reach.
  2. Wash all produce.
  3. Pre-heat grill.
  4. Cut eggplants into halves. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with ½ teaspoon salt.
  5. Get toppings ready: cut tomatoes into halves, crumble feta, tear basil with your hands.
  6. Toss cut tomatoes in 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar and 2 tablespoons olive oil and set aside.
Cook
  1. Grill eggplant cut side down on the hotter side of your grill for 4 minutes.
  2. Take off of the heat and place on a plate. Sprinkle the seared side with the sumac and sweet paprika. Then, wrap each eggplant (the two cut halves back together) in tinfoil. Place them back on the grill over medium low heat, close the lid, and cook another 7-10 minutes (depending on how thick your eggplant are).
  3. To serve, place cooked eggplant on a big platter. Drizzle with a little more olive oil and balsamic vinegar, top with tomatoes, crumbled feta and basil. Sprinkle more salt and cracked black pepper on top, as desired.
Notes
  1. Culinary note: we tested this recipe with the small light purple variety of eggplants, called Chinese eggplants. They are very different from the globe eggplant we are used to, as they do not require pre-salting and cook very quickly. Another summer variety that would work is called fairytale eggplant. They are small, round and a beautiful speckled purple and white color.
  2. Cooking equipment: we grilled our eggplant on a very small Weber gas grill (like it fits on a table top!), so do not worry about your grilling equipment—this is an easy summer recipe! Find the hottest part of your grill to sear the eggplant and build some nice flavor. After 3-4 minutes, we pulled ours off the highest heat, and wrapped each one in tinfoil to create the ability for the eggplant to steam and therefore cook quicker on the lower heat area of the grill.
JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/