New member from Greece, eggplant country

[Guest guest]

Hi all!

I'm a Greek-Italian vegetarian mother of two, based in Athens,

Greece. We've got lots of vegetarian recipes here, although they are

seldom found in touristic restaurants, because they would have to be

cheaper than their meat counterparts. There is a tradition of

vegetable dishes because of Orthodox Christian Lent and other

religious occasions. Of course those hypocrits don't eat animal

products during this period, but they feast on fish and seafood, but

this is another matter!

I am actually preparing a book on Greek cooking, but for the moment

being it's in Greek, so...

 

Anyway, this is to tell you that there are lots of interesting Greek

(and Italian) recipes for you, although vegetables are always more

time consuming than meat, so I don't know exactly what are your time

limits. Half an hour? A bit more?

I work as a journalist and translator. I am interested in yoga,

travelling, and have a 600+ volume collection of cookbooks, most of

them vegetarian, including many on Indian cooking, one of my

passions. I'm also running a mailing list on slimming (using healthy

eating, hypnosis, visualization and other techniques), but I won't

say more about that lest it may be considered advertising!

 

I ran a search on " aubergine " and " eggplant " and saw no mention of

eggplant puree, which is a staple here,and a favourite of my

daughter's.

Can it be labelled quick? Well, if you have a mini-processor, yes. I

make it in minutes. Of course there is the grilling of the eggplant,

but then you don't have to sit and watch it as it cooks, you do other

things in between. Sorry if I don't give exact quantities for that,

I've never made it from a book!

 

So, enough babbling. Happy to have joined you

 

Irene

 

EGGPLANT PUREE

(Greek and Middle Eastern, with variations)

 

1 large eggplant, or 2-3 smaller ones. The round type works better,

but I suppose any would do.

extra-virgin olive oil

juice of 1 lemon

salt

pinch of red pepper

1 small onion or 2 spring onions

 

Optional:

parsley leaves (time consuming but excellent taste and very healthy)

walnuts

Put the eggplant under the grill turning it once, until the outside

is charred and the inside soft. Peel and squeeze it to remove most of

the juices.

Put the onion in the mini-processor, with the eggplant and all

ingredients except for the oil. Blend more or less well (some people

like it a big chunky, I don't), then put some oil, blend, some more,

blend, taste, eventually a little more oil. It shouldn't taste oily,

but also not eggplanty.

 

Eat on bread, use as a spread for sandwiches or as a dip for raw

vegetables.

[Guest guest]

At 08:39 AM 9/20/02 +0000, you wrote:

>Hi all!

>I'm a Greek-Italian vegetarian mother of two, based in Athens,

>Greece.

 

Welcome, Irene! I *adore* eggplant--thanks for the recipe! I'll put it

next to my usual baba ganouj recipe.

 

Quick question--what would *you* serve for a Greek Appetizers potluck, if

you had tofu in the fridge that needed to be used up?

 

Katy

[Guest guest]

, " Irene " <shantima@o...> wrote:

> Hi all!

> I'm a Greek-Italian vegetarian mother of two, based in Athens,

> Greece. We've got lots of vegetarian recipes here....

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Welcome to the group, Irene. Thanks for that wonderful recipe. *s*

 

~ P_T ~

/

 

Words have the power to both destroy and heal. When words are both true

and kind, they can change our world.

--Buddha

[Guest guest]

Welcome, Irene! Your recipe sounds yummy and healthy. When you

say " under the grill " are you talking about using the broiler

feature in our ovens?

 

 

Melinda