A Little About Me and Food

My mom tells a story about how when I was a toddler I wandered into the garden and pulled a green pepper off one of the plants. I started eating it like an apple, which apparently horrified my Grandma, who scolded me for picking something out of the garden without permission. Mom explained to her that it was fine - she would rather have me eating something like green peppers from the garden than a lot of other things.

Now, I am by no means a health food nut, despite the organic gardening/make your own granola/no sugar hippie family in which I grew up. I do, however, love GOOD food... and I believe that just about any food tastes good if it's prepared properly.

I have had many requests for recipes on my facebook page from friends and family and decided rather than sending recipes out multiple times it would be easier to just post them all in one place, and a blog seems like the best option.

So, in honor of that green pepper that started me on the path of loving food, I have named my blog "The Green Pepper." Hope you enjoy... and in honor of my friend Jojo, here are my recipes for Baba Ganoush and Tabouli.

Baba Ganoush
1 or 2 eggplants, depending on size, peeled and sliced
1 medium onion, chopped and sauteed
extra virgin olive oil
dried oregano
juice of two lemons

Saute' the eggplant slices in olive oil over medium-medium high heat. As the eggplant slices are finished, layer them in a baking dish, alternating layers with the sauteed onions. Sprinkle each layer with dried oregano and a sprinkle of lemon juice. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Dump the whole thing in the blender and blend until smooth, or simply mash it up with a potato masher if you like it a little less refined. Both methods work. Add salt if needed. Serve with pita bread.

You can serve this warm or cold, depending on what you like. I have also made it with balsamic vinegar for the lemon juice... and a certain gluten-intolerant friend of mine likes this with corn tortilla chips instead of the pita.


Tabouli
2 cups cooked couscous, cooled (say that five times fast!)
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and finely chopped
1 small to medium onion, finely chopped
2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
1 bunch parsely, minced
small handful minced mint leaves (another tongue twister!)
juice of two lemons
1/4 c olive oil
salt to taste

Combine all inrgedients in a large bowl and serve. Simple as that. For my gluten intolerant friends, you can use cooled rice instead of the couscous. To make it more of a couscous consistency, I dump the cooked rice out onto the cutting board and then run my knife through it like you would if you were chopping nuts or herbs. It tastes just as good!