The title for this entry could have been really long. Like it could have been miso ginger sesame marinated grilled eggplant and zucchini with vegetable fried rice, because that’s what it is for real. But it sounds a bit daunting and I certainly don’t want to scare anyone off, because you should make this dish. Even if you don’t love eggplant, you will love eggplant marinated in other delicious tastes. Eggplant is akin to a sponge, it just soaks up whatever you immerse it in, making for a versatile little vegetable. It’s beauty epitomizes the nightshade family, that deep purple skin which makes eggplant the most gothic and mysterious of vegetables (ahem, I mean fruit). For many years I feared this mysterious creature, but now I embrace its dark allure, in all of it’s variations.
Strips of grilled yellow zucchini make this dinner plate appear as night and day and since you’re going to be left with quite a bit of tasty marinade, you may as well make fried rice and call it a meal. A very vegan friendly, garden spotlight of a meal.
You can’t go wrong with a 2 in 1 sauce, you could even mix in a bit more oil and use it as a salad dressing, but the fried rice is smashing alongside grilled veggies.
We brought a few things to our new place and tried to go camping the other day. Our spot ended up being full so we slept on the floor of our new home. Days later, still sore, I got into some familiar old yoga poses today alongside baby Mavi. Of course it didn’t last long and I ended up blowing zerberts and nursing the voracious bean sprout little peanut ( I know my pet names all have to do with food :P). Which got me thinking about dedication. How many things can you truly be dedicated to at once? There was a time when I was passionately dedicated to my yoga practice, and in my heart I know I will get back to that someday. The replacement is more important and the dedication deeper when it comes to my little man. It doesn’t matter so much where our devotion lies, more so that it exists, that there is something we pour our soul into expecting nothing in return. This zeal is what makes life worth living, and we all have our different callings, our dedication grows with ardor in an ideal world. Can you imagine if we all got to live our lives based on what we care most about, if money were no object. What would you do? I think I would grow food, and host large dinner parties every weekend for all to enjoy, you’re invited 🙂
Mix together coconut amino or tamari, sesame oil, sesame seeds, honey or sugar, miso and ginger.
Add eggplant and zucchini to a ziploc bag and add marinade. Let this sit for 1 hour to overnight.
Heat for grill to 425F, grill pieces of eggplant and zucchini 3 minutes per side.
For the fried rice
Cook basmati in 2 cup water or as per instructions on the bag.
In a wok or large frying pan add sesame oil and onion, when the onion starts to brown add the egg and scramble, add vegetables and half of marinade. Cover and let the veggies steam for a few minutes.
Add rice and the rest of marinate, mix it all up and raise the heat to high for 2 minutes to finish and evaporate any excess moisture. Garnish with chopped basil.
Thick hot day, the kind that melts you and makes everyone feel heavy. Lets go for a walk up to a friends, he suggests. Are you mad? I’m not walking anywhere but the beach. Yes, that kind of day. Even the car hating little one sleeps soundly. The kind of day where all you can do is try and keep it all together, and not fall asleep at the wheel. And come home to crave smoky BBQ ribs and brownies for dessert. But not just any old ribs, and certainly no typical brownies. Chug onwards, and give up on sleep, it’s for sissies anyway. The pressure of the harvest is on and mid-vortex-internet-suucubus overtaking you, a thought, that those saskatoons will fade before you know it, and their plumpness begs to be picked. Proud of my speed, you learn to pick fast when your baby is screaming and mosquitos feast upon your flesh. 4 L bucket – 7 minutes, I think it’s time to quit my day job.
I’ll tell you something, this is the first time I’ve ever made ribs of any kind. I saw these local organic baby back ribs at the market and in a rush just grabbed them (my brain doesn’t work on logic at the market) hardly knowing at all what to do. My mom made ribs for us, they were good, but not this good, sorry ma. I did my homework, checked out some rib recipes around the net and got the basic gist that low and slow is essential, and like all things, a good sauce. I wanted something classic, yet refined, out of the ordinary, yet still lip smacking good. The berries call to me, and I remember their plump abundance sitting on the counter, waiting to be transformed. This sauce consists of ample saskatoon berries which could be swapped out for blueberries, shadbush or huckleberry. Along with raspberries, and some black raspberry (a cross between a blackberry and a raspberry). Feel inspired to use whatever is most available to you, the more wild, the better. Even cherries would work well in this recipe.
Be prepared to never want these bumble berry BBQ ribs to end, don’t be like me and use only 1 rack of ribs for 2 people, I could’ve easily eaten a full one to myself. J was literally ticked that I only made 1 rack, but how was I to know they’d be so good. Beginners luck I suppose…
1 scotch bonnet pepper, very finely minced, or a habanero or jalapeño for less intense spice
1 Tsp coconut oil or other fat
Instructions
Preheat oven to 300F.
Combine spices for the cajun seasoning, salt and pepper.
Cover the ribs with your dry rub mixture. Optionally you could let the ribs absorb the spices overnight.
Cook, covered with foil for 2 hours.
Add the berries and water to a small pot and heat to a simmer until the berries have released their juices.
In a separate pot or pan, heat the oil and add to it the garlic and onions, sauté until translucent and aromatic. Add the paprika, Worcester sauce,vinegar and the hot pepper.
Strain the berries in a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth, add the juice to the other pot with the onion.You can use the berry pulp in smoothies or baked good.
Bring the mix to a simmer and turn off.
Heat oven to broil and uncover ribs from the foil, smother them in BBQ sauce and broil for 5 mins.
Potent little packages of pure goodness. My heart sped up when I saw two huge bunches of the most perfect italian parsley in our CSA box this week. What a treat, and on top of that, gorgeous fresh mint bundles and long spindly green onions. Wild oregano has replaced grass in our yard, its one of the few things the chickens don’t nosh on. So what does one do when the herbs are all a plenty? Mix copious amounts with buttery rice, summer vegetables, fresh mango and hearty meatballs. Yes, yum.
I didn’t think I was hungry enough to devour a huge bowl of this herbed goodness, but I was wrong. Even with chop sticks it all disappeared pretty fast.
I have this secret innate drive to be a hunter. It’s almost a childlike fantasy, since I have no hunting knowledge whatsoever. But there is a group here devoted to the sacred side of hunting, honouring the animal, honing in with intuition, blessing, praising this life which has given itself so that we can continue living. A part of me wants to join this group, but another part is terrified at the thought of killing, I can’t even kill a fish without weeping. Those tears don’t necessarily mean that it’s wrong somehow, they are really tears of gratitude. (more…)
I’m eating delightful pickled green beans as I write this. Green beans I’ve hoarded since last fall, and now it’s time. Time to eat all those canned delicacies that haven’t already been gobbled up over the winter months. Gotta clear the space for all the new abundance coming our way. ps. I will post a recipe for those green beans once they are in season, soo good.
Always I am seeking new ways to bring dandelion in to the mix. This green is versatile, free and of course, everywhere! Wild greens are just that, wild. You are what you eat. I don’t want to be some manicured, tended to, doted over, pest infested lettuce. I would rather be a rugged, crazy, and sometimes out of control wild thing. But hey, I love lettuce too it’s just nice to dabble in some wild greens when they’re available. Make hay while the sun shines. Dandelion is a great detox food for the liver, it’s also high in iron and mildly diuretic. So get picking! (more…)
In a final farewell to sweetness, last night both J and I indulged in *ahem* 4 pieces each of the delectable cinnamon toast crunch raw pie. Can’t say it was worth it, although every bite was so good, neither of us slept well and baby Mav was up all night. Too much energy for us all so late at night, oops. Needless to say we couldn’t ditch our coffee habit this morning. Although we both passed on the added cream and sugar regime. I did whip up a whole30 friendly version- a can of coconut milk and 2 eggs blended on high for 30 seconds. A good substitute for dairy indeed, though it is a bit odd to have raw egg in your morning coffee ( I didn’t tell J, he’d flip). I trust our eggs, they come straight from our 25 or so backyard chickens, I probably wouldn’t trust commercially raised hens. What a blessing to know where things come from these days.
Hey I'm Chantelle, my alter ego would be a mermaid if I wasn't such a terrible swimmer. I love writing authentically and cooking in my pyjamas. My favourite pastimes include eating avocados, travelling the world and hanging out with a toddler.
