Chickpea polenta with olives

SERVES 8
Ingredients

1 3/4 cups chickpea (garbanzo) flour
2 cups plain soy milk (soya milk)
1 cup chicken stock, vegetable stock or broth
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme, oregano or basil, or 1 teaspoon dried
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 egg whites

For the topping
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, minced
1/4 cup coarsely chopped pitted Nicoise olives
1/4 cup dry-packed sun-dried tomatoes, soaked in water to rehydrate, drained and chopped
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf (Italian) parsley

Directions

In a blender or food processor, combine the flour, soy milk, stock, olive oil, garlic, thyme, mustard, salt and pepper. Process until smooth. Pour the batter into a large bowl. Let stand for 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 425 F. Lightly coat a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
In a large, spotlessly clean bowl, using an electric mixer on high speed, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until puffed and lightly browned around the edges, about 15 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes.Preheat the broiler. Position the rack 4 inches from the heat source.While the polenta is cooling, make the topping. In a small saute or frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until soft and lightly golden, about 6 minutes. Add the olives and tomatoes and cook for 1 minute. Remove from the heat.
Carefully spoon the onion mixture evenly over the baked polenta and sprinkle with the cheese. Broil until the top is lightly browned. Watch carefully; this takes only about 1 minute. Sprinkle with the parsley. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes. Cut into 8 squares, then cut the squares on the diagonal into 16 wedges. Serve immediately

Tamarind-Spiced Chickpeas and Greens

Ingredients
(serves 6)
2 tablespoons expeller-pressed safflower oil
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
pinch of cayenne
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes (abt 4 medium diced fresh tomatoes)
1/3 cup water
1 teaspoon evaporated cane juice sugar
1 teaspoon tamarind concentrate
2 (15 ounce) cans chickpeas, drained (3 cups cooked)
1 (6 ounce) package pre-washed baby spinach (about 6 cups)or substitute with swiss chard
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
pepper, to taste

Directions
Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until softened and golden brown, about 7 minutes. Add cumin, coriander and cayenne to skillet and stir to coat onion with spices. Cook for one minute then add diced tomatoes, with their juice, water, sugar and tamarind concentrate. Stir to mix well. Add chickpeas and bring mixture to a gentle boil. Reduce heat and simmer over medium-low heat, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Stir in spinach until wilted. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Roasted Eggplant Salad with Walnuts ( A Turkish Recipe)

from turkishcookbook.com
( serves 4)

Ingredients
2 large eggplants
Juice from 1/2 lemon juice ( or acc to taste)
50 ml extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
Salt
Pepper
Topping:
1/3 cup walnuts, crumbled

Directions
Before putting them in the oven, make holes on the eggplants with a fork so that they will soften and roast better. Then place them on an oven tray and roast for about 25 minutes on broil. Alternatively, you can barbecue them until softened. Then peel them, remove any seeds and place in a strainer to drain.
Place the roasted eggplants in an ovenproof dish. Cut into small pieces with a knife. Add the lemon juice, olive oil, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper and toss. Sprinkle the walnuts all over.
Place the dish on the second rack from the top in the oven. Grill for about 4 minutes until walnuts become lightly roasted.

Aubergine Ruffles

Ingredients
augbergines (eggplant)
olive oil
salt and pepper to season
Freshly chopped parsley to garnish

Directions
Thinly slice the aubergines and brush both sides of each slice with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Lay on a baking sheet and bake in a 500ºF/260ºC oven 15 minutes per side. Toss with salt, pepper, olive oil and freshly chopped parsley. Serve warm or at room temperature.
These can be eaten as chips with Tahini sauce or used as burger in a sandwich.

Feta Stuffed Zucchini Boat

( serves 2 as main dish or 4 as side dish or 8 as appetizer)

Ingredients
2 zucchini, about 7 inches long, halved lengthwise, stem end left intact
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large shallot, minced ( or even regular 1/4 onion will do)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 egg
1 1/2 tablespoon flour ( WW)
2 ounces feta, crumbled
Pimenton (Spanish paprika)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease an ovenproof dish. ( I used cookie sheet lined with foil)
With a small knife, cut around the zucchini, leaving a rim. Cross hatch the center, then scoop out with a grapefruit knife. ( can use spoon and small knife)
In a small skillet, heat the olive oil . Add the zucchini scoopings, shallot and garlic and saute until soft/bit brown. In a small bowl, beat the egg lightly. Stir in the flour, feta and cooked zucchini. ( also put in some pepper and salt). Stuff the zucchini boats. Sprinkle with paprika.
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes till they look cooked and then brown slightly under the broiler.

Roasted Eggplant with Tomatoes (Baigan Bharta)

(Serves 4)

Ingredients
2 Medium eggplants
2 tablespoons water
3 medium onions -- peeled and finely chopped
3 cloves garlic -- peeled and minced
1 tablespoon fresh ginger root -- minced
2 green chiles -- or jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced (optional)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons curry powder -- or garam masala ( or 1 T sabzi masala instead of cumin and curry powder)
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup fresh peas -- (or frozen)
2 tomatoes chopped
1 cup diced peppers (mixture of green,yellow, orange, red) (optional)
2 tablespoons cilantro – chopped
1/3 green lentils dry (then cooked) (optional)
1 cup cooked chickpeas (optional)
½ T olive oil (optional)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Prick each eggplant with a fork in two or three places. On a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil, arrange the eggplants. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until the eggplants are tender and the skin begins to char. Let cool. Carefully peel away and discard the skin. Chop the pulp coarsely and set aside. ( you can mash eggplant too)

In a large nonstick skillet, heat the water or oil if using. Add the onions and sauté for while till bit brown. Add garlic and ginger and sauté for 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and cook till tomatoes are mushy. Then add green chilies, and cook for 2 more minutes, until the whole thing wet solid. Add spices, salt, peas, peppers and simmer over medium-low heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the mashed eggplant, lentils, chickpeas and chopped cilantro. Cook, stirring, for 10 minutes, until the flavors are well blended.
You can prepare this dish 2 days in advance. Refrigerate, then reheat before serving. Eat with flat bread or baked pita chips.

If used as appetizer, one can omit chickpeas and lentils. For main dish, these protein sources can be added.

Low Fat Banana Bread

( makes 2 loaves, 24 slices)

Ingredients
1 ¼ cup sugar ( I used 1 cup )
½ cup softened butter or atleast 65% vegetable oil stick margarine
2 large eggs
1 ½ cup mashed very ripe bananas ( 3 medium)
1/2 cup buttermilk or low fat yogurt
1 t vanilla
2 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
1 cup chopped nuts or 1 cup frozen blueberries ( optional)

Directions
Make sure that oven rack is such that tops of pans are in middle of oven. Preheat ovean to350 deg C. Grease (only bottoms and not sides, so that bread is round on top ) two pans of either size 8 ½ X 4 ½ X 2 ½ inches or 9 X 5 X 3 inches.

Mix sugar and butter in large bowl. Stir in eggs until well blended. Stir in Bananas, buttermilk and vanilla; beat until smooth. Stir in flour, baking soda, salt just until moistened ( don’t mix too much). Stir in nuts and divide batter evenly between 2 pans.

Bake 8 inch loaf pan for about hour and 9 inch one for 1 hr 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pans on wire rack. Loosen pans, and remove loaves from pan to wire rack. Cool for 2 hrs and then only slice ( if not cooled properly, slices might crumble). Wrap tightly and store at room temp for 4 days or in fridge for 10 days.

Lemony Asparagus

Ingredients
(from recipezaar)
(serves 2)

1 lb asparagus, tough ends trimmed
1 lemon, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Toss asparagus, lemon slices, oil, oregano, salt and pepper on a large rimmed baking sheet. Roast, shaking the pan occasionally to toss, until the asparagus is tender-crisp, 13 to 15 minutes. Serve hot or at room temperature.