The Smiling Onion

Vegetarian and Gluten-free Cooking

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Baingan Bharta

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Some food has a season, and baingan bharta is one of those foods. One of my all-time favorite Indian eggplant dishes, baingan bharta is best enjoyed at the intersection of two important external realities:

  1. Eggplant and tomatoes are in season
  2. Keeping the oven at 450°F for an extended amount of time doesn’t make you want to kill yourself nor result in AC bills that trigger thoughts of bankruptcy.

Now, more often than not, when one of these considerations rings true, the other does not. However, thanks to this very late autumn, eggplants and tomatoes are still in abundance at the Greenmarket, even while the weather starts to turn a tad chillier. And that means – time for baingan bharta!

This recipe is onion and garlic free, but extremely flavorful. Eggplant is roasted until very tender, and then the flesh is cooked with scallions, ginger, serrano, tomatoes, and the perfect blend of Indian spices. Finished with some fresh lime juice and cilantro, this is eggplant at its best.

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Spicy Tibetan-Style Potatoes & Spinach

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This dish is great because it’s so versatile. Can it be an stand-out veggie side? You betcha. How about a main dish? Yup – just serve it with your favorite grain, add in some lentils or chickpeas for protein, and maybe a drizzle of yogurt over your bowl of goodness for good measure! It also makes a fantastic stuffing: use it for cabbage rolls, stuffed peppers, inside my buckwheat kati roll wrappers, or as the filling for a fabulous fusion taco. (Add some chopped cilantro and potentially some mild feta, drizzle with yogurt and maybe some mint chutney and you are in taco fusion heaven!) It’s also fantastic for breakfast alongside some eggs. In fact, I really can’t think of a savory-meal situation where it couldn’t play a role!

Yesterday, my husband and I enjoyed this over millet with some Lapsang Souchang tea. And what a wonderful meal it was! As bite after bite of warming, spicy potatoes coated in a flavorful gravy of Indian spices like  turmeric, paprika, coriander, and garam masala hit my palate – along with crispy bits of scallion and serrano –  I was reminded of the potatoes our Tibetan housemate used to make when I was little. Granted, I will not go so far as to say these are “authentically” Tibetan. I’ve never studied Tibetan cooking and I was actually going for North Indian when I put this recipe together. However, they definitely have a Tibetan or Nepalese flair!

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Quinoa-Vegetable Lettuce Wraps (Mexican-Style!)

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Alright – I may be getting ahead of myself with this recipe – it screams summer. But summer is coming!! It really is!! And as the days get longer and the sun shines brighter, I’ve been craving some lighter meals. In my opinion, lettuce wraps are one of the most refreshing and delicious ways to satisfy that craving. And, luckily for me, I am able to get really delicious local, greenhouse-grown lettuce to form the base of my wraps (so don’t judge me too harshly for throwing in a summer-style recipe when it’s still spring :p)

Plus…the filling for these wraps is nice and warm and rich and savory and delicious and spicy and …(I could go on for a while here.) What I’m trying to say is that –– if you look past the fact that zucchini is definitely not in season this time of year –– this dish is actually the perfect prelude to summer. It’s light and fresh, but still warming, hearty, and satisfying.

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Open-Faced Breadless Eggplant Sandwiches
(Vegan Option)

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There is something incredibly satisfying about breadless sandwiches, and I think it has to do with breaking rules.

I mean, to most people, bread is one of the defining characteristics of a sandwich. When you think of a sandwich, you most likely envision two slices of bread, or if you went to alternative schools all of your life and consider yourself a unique thinker, possibly a roll or a bun. Maybe you sidestep the bread characteristic, but if you do, you’re probably thinking of an oreo or some other construction where something in the middle is sandwiched between two symmetrical edible surfaces. This sandwich, however, breaks both fundamental sandwich rules – it’s both open-faced and breadless. And yet it has the look, feel, and taste of a classic sandwich.

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