March » 2012 » Living Lou

Eggplant Salad

Today, I’m sharing a recipe for a somewhat, purple dish: Eggplant Salad. It is an easy meatless, and vegan dish that is perfect to bring to a potluck. Fresh tasting, it goes well on its own or served on a piece of toast as a little crostini type dish. It’s got a little bit of a Mediterranean flare, and makes a super healthy and easy appetizer or side dish.

A little side note from the yummy recipe, March 26th is Purple Day - The Global Day of Epilepsy Awareness. Epilepsy is something close to my heart because my sister is one of the 1% of people that have epilepsy. Epilepsy is a disease that has been mistreated and condemned for centuries, but it’s something that is very real for many people. I wanted to write a little something about Epilepsy in hopes that my little spot here on the internet can help raise awareness. If you want to learn more about Purple Day and what you can do to raise awareness, take a look at the official website, Purpleday.org

Eggplant Salad
Recipe by Lou

Ingredients

1 large eggplant
1 large tomato, diced
1 tbsp diced onion
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vinegar
3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
salt & pepper to taste

Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

On a baking dish, bake eggplant for an hour. Allow to cool and cut into bite sized pieces.

Add tomato, onion and garlic to bowl. Add in the eggplant.

Toss with olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar and parsley.

I hope you enjoy this Eggplant Salad.

- Lou

Corn Muffins

Corn Muffins are something that I’ve wanted to try making forever. I’ve always enjoyed them, but never got around to making them. For this month’s Secret Recipe Club I was assigned to Robin’s blog Penny-Pinching Provisions. What I love about Penny-Pinching Provisions is that it’s really all about the food. There are so many recipes that all sound equally as good. I was so lucky to be assigned to Robin’s blog because there is such a large variety of recipes that really, I could have made anything I wanted!

With that said, I had a really tough time picking a recipe because there were so many good ones. I mean, hello – she has over 15 muffin recipes! At first I was planning on making her Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins (how good do those sound!) but when I saw this recipe I knew that I had to make these.

Corn Muffins (makes 7-9)
Recipe from Penny Pinching Provisions

Ingredients

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup margarine
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
1 cup cornmeal
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 egg

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Grease muffin tin to line with muffin liners.

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and scoop into muffin tin.

Bake for 20 minutes.

This is seriously, one of the easiest recipes and I found myself baking another batch of these on a Monday night between commercials of a really bad show I’m embarrassed to admit I watch.

- Lou

Coconut Crusted Chicken Strips

So I’m going through a bit of coconut phase right now. And a chipotle phase. And a Beatles phase. And a cakey-sugar-coated-doughnut phase. Which is definitely the worst of all my phases. I can confirm that sugar induced headaches do exist. Need I say more?

I had coconut crusted chicken breasts a few months ago at an event I attended and ever since then, I’ve wanted to recreate them. After a couple of attempts I realized that they were too sweet and missing a little tang. So I added a little chipotle. Seriously, chipotle and coconut are a match made in heaven. It’s not too heavy on the chipotle, it is used more to create a balance between the savory and sweet side of this dish.

Now that I’ve done my obligatory this-is-a-food-blog-must-discuss-food intro, I can talk about what I really want to talk about. I mentioned it on Twitter the other day: the fact that Here There and Everywhere is most definitely, without a fact, the most underrated Beatles song ever. I mean, how can you not wish that Paul had written this song about you? This is definitely one of, if not the best, Paul McCartney love song. And that’s saying a lot considering he has made a career out of writing, literally hundreds of “silly love songs”. He also said that along with Blackbird, this is his favourite song he’s ever written. I’ll stop with the facts now.

Seriously. How can you not love that song?

Coconut Crusted Chicken Strips (serves 2-4)
Recipe by Lou

Ingredients
1 lbs chicken breasts cut into strips
1/2 cup flour
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried parsley
salt and pepper to taste
2 eggs
1 tsp Chipotle hot sauce
1 1/2 cup unsweetened flaked coconut

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 and grease a baking sheet with a little oil.

Using three bowls prepare the ingredients. In the first bowl whisk together the flour, spices, salt and pepper. In the next bowl whisk the egg with the Chipotle hot sauce. In the last bowl, place the flaked coconut.

To prepare the chicken strips, coat in flour mixture. Next, dip in the egg mixture, allowing any excess to drip back into the bowl. Next, coat in the coconut.

Place on a baking sheet and bake for 18-20 minutes or until cooked through.

I like to serve these Coconut Crusted Chicken Strips with a little more Chipotle sauce on the side.

- Lou