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Guest feature with the Vegetarian Momma–Sweet n Spicy Eggplant Pasta

Aug 17 by Chef Hollie Greene Leave a Comment

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eggplant easy 0

This week, I’m over the moon thrilled to have my Sweet n Spicy Eggplant Pasta recipe from the Joyful 12 featured by the Vegetarian Momma on her beautiful site. What I love most about Cindy’s site is that she’s dedicated to helping families feel confident that they can cook real foods that are allergen friendly (primarily gluten and nut free), vegetarian focused, and easy for busy families. Her approach is to have joy in the cooking process, and that’s how I know we’re kindred spirits!

eggplant easy 1

This recipe was created as a “throw-it-together” simple seasonal meal. It’s based in my love of Italian cooking and the beauty of convenience plus bright flavors. Head on over to Cindy’s site to get the recipe, and if you’d like to learn more about my Joyful 12 Online Kitchen Learning Lab where we explore cooking 48 vegetables and fruits through family friendly recipes and videos over the course of a year together (all gluten free!), start cooking now with this 50% off coupon code: joyfoodlyfriends

learning-lab-ad

Filed Under: Guest Post Tagged With: dinner, eggplant, gluten free, onion, summer, summer 2015, tomatoes, vegetarian

Summer Moroccan Salads

Jul 27 by Chef Hollie Greene Leave a Comment

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7-20 #1 cover shot

Tearing off a hot piece of the freshly baked Berber bread, we dove in with gusto. Green, red, orange, and purple colors danced on the plates put down before us. Mounds of airy grated carrots, heaps of perfectly diced tomatoes and fire grilled bell peppers, glistening chunks of earthy purple beets–all displayed at once–were the starters for our first lunch in Morocco.

7-20 #2 up close on salads

Wait. What just happened? Hadn’t we ordered “the Moroccan salad” appetizer? Yet, it felt like a parade of salads had just made its grand entrance into our meal. I love the way Paula Wolfert describes these sensory delights in my favorite of her many beautiful cookbooks, The Food of Morocco:

Moroccan salads are not like ours, mixtures of greens doused with dressings. They’re closer to Italian antipasti, served at the beginning of a meal to inspire the appetite and excite the palate: spiced or sweetened, cooked or raw, or pickled or stewed vegetables, as well as cubed and grilled meat or fish.

7-20 #3 raw ingredient shot 1

Our appetites were inspired…and excited. This was a side of Moroccan cooking I had never experienced stateside. We were all too familiar with tagine and couscous but had yet to relish in the glory of these heavenly treats at the beginning of every meal. You see, the area of Morocco we started our trip in, around Rabat, Meknes and Fez, is known for their agricultural delights–from grapes for wine to artichokes, beets, tomatoes, olives and a whole myriad of vegetables that make this part of Morocco the culinary capital.

7-20 #4 roasted bell peppers

And then I wondered. How do families really do this in their own homes? Was this a restaurant show or really a part of their food culture? As it turns out, most Moroccan families will have their three or four go-to salads, usually prepared a day in advance that can be pulled out of the refrigerator and served quickly at the start of a meal.

7-20 #5 ingredients with roasted peppers

Both simple and seasonal, the brilliance of the Moroccan salad spread is the reliance on a few seasoning combos that you see repeated in numerous variations of the same salad–from the basics of olive, salt and pepper, to spices like cumin, paprika, and coriander to fresh herbs like parsley and cilantro. So when I got back home and tested out my own version of this glorious buffet of salad bites, I kept to the same principles. And some salads were pre-made things I picked up, like an amazing artichoke hummus at our local farmers market and some harissa brined olives from Bi-Rite Market.

7-20 #6 prepped ingredients

Others, I made up as I went along, making a game of seeing what flavors would work together. Diving into Paula’s cookbook, I grabbed ideas from here and there. For example, she has a beautiful carrot and orange salad that’s as simple as mixing together grated or peeled carrots and tossing them with a tiny splash of orange blossom water (I use the Sadaf brand that’s about 2 bucks), a few tablespoons of fresh lemon juice, cinnamon, and a pinch of sugar. You just can’t imagine how refreshing grated cucumbers are with that same flavor combo!

7-20 #7 up close on main salad

But the one recipe I must share with you that’s pure summer Moroccan love is from my buddy, Chef Tarik Ait Yahya at Atelier De Cuisine. Recreating his “favorite” summer salad was so easy and delicious–even back on my home soil. The only thing that takes a little planning with this salad is roasting the bell peppers, which I chose to do in my oven since I don’t have a charcoal grill in my small city apartment. At 400F, flipping them after 20 minutes per side (40 total),it was an easy and foolproof way of roasting them enough to extract those rich flavors.

7-20 #8 tomatoes in bowl

Being rebellious, I chose not to peel my tomatoes as is suggested by any good Moroccan cook–I just couldn’t bring myself to do it with the juicy dry farmed Early Girls I’d bought that morning at the farmers market. I was afraid I’d lose too much juice and good bits…and it worked out just fine!

7-20 #9 pouring in bell peppers 7-20 #10 sprinkling salt 7-20 #11 squeezing lemon

Literally, 1, 2, 3–with the tossing of diced onion, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper, and the tomatoes and roasted green bell peppers–the MOST heavenly summer salad came together. Take your own family on a culinary adventure this summer, and start a new tradition of Moroccan Salads to start your meals that are sure to surprise and delight your appetites!

7-20 #12 action tossing

I hope you’ll also enjoy exploring my post on chicken tagine and my six favorite things I learned about Moroccan food and culture on our blog from July. And as I explore and continue to learn about Moroccan cooking, I can not begin to tell you how in love I am with Mourad Lahlou’s cookbook, Mourad: New Moroccan. From Marrakech to San Francisco, Mourad cooks from his childhood memories but in his own Northern California style–full of love, flavor, and the beauty of Moroccan flavors.

7-20 #13 final

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

Chef Tarik’s Roasted Green Pepper and Tomato Salad
2015-07-20 13:01:00
Serves 4
Adapted slightly (based on my memory) from the original recipe we learned from Chef Tarik Ait Yahya at Atelier de Cuisine outside Marrakech, Morocco
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Prep Time
40 min
Cook Time
15 min
Total Time
55 min
Prep Time
40 min
Cook Time
15 min
Total Time
55 min
Ingredients
  1. Tomatoes, 4 medium (Early Girl variety works great)
  2. Green bell peppers, 2 medium
  3. Red onion, ¼
  4. Lemons, 1
  5. Olive oil, 2 TBS.
  6. Salt, ½ tsp.
  7. Black pepper, ¼ 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. Wash all produce.
  3. Chef Tarik recommends roasting the green peppers over charcoal. If this is not an option, what we did was to roast them for 40 minutes at 400F in our oven, flipping them mid-way through cooking time.
  4. As they are roasting, juice your lemon, dice the red onion, and measure out your spices and olive oil into a bowl.
  5. For fresh summer tomatoes, I do not recommend peeling them, even as this is the traditional Moroccan way. In Morocco, we used a tomato that appeared to be a paste tomato variety (Roma) and with a small pairing knife, starting at the bottom of the tomato, we worked our way around the skin, peeling slowly. Later, we made roses with our tomato skin!
  6. Dice peeled tomato and add to the bowl.
Assemble
  1. When the peppers have finished roasting, place them into a bowl and cover with saran wrap. Let them sit at least 5-10 minutes. This will help the skin to release. Peel the bell peppers, dice them, and add to the salad.
  2. Toss all of the ingredients together. Taste to make sure you have enough seasoning. Enjoy with fresh bread or your favorite Moroccan main dish.
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Filed Under: Meatless Monday Tagged With: meatless monday, onion, salad, summer, tomato, vegan, vegetarian

Hey, I’m Chef Hollie!

Here at JoyFoodly we help families joyfully eat more fruits and veggies each season. I am passionate about helping parents feel good about the food they feed their kids.

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The information on this website is designed for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for informed medical advice or care. You should not use the information found on this website to diagnose or treat any health problems or illnesses. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified healthcare providers (such as a pediatric dietitian) with any questions regarding a medical condition, nutritional issue or any eating/feeding problem.