Appetizer » 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

Oscar Recipe Roundup

We’re all ready to watch The Oscars here at Living Lou, we’ve got our recipes cooking away in the oven or chilling in the fridge, we’re rethinking our choices for our Oscar pool and gearing up to watch the hours of pre-Oscar fun. If you’ve been following along as we prepare for our big Oscar Party then maybe you have some of my recipes on your menu, but if not, there’s always next year! Here’s a roundup of my menu for The 84th Academy Awards.

Seafood Salad

Olive and Mozzarella Breadsticks

Shrimp and Vegetable Skewers

Appetizer Meatballs

Raspberry Lemon Fouls

Parmesan Popcorn

If you’re looking for some other ideas checkout

Parmesan Popcorn

Can you believe that there are only nine short days of Feburary left! Feburary is probably my least favourite month in the year; it’s cold, it’s busy and it’s just not really much fun. It’s one of those months where you have to take the fun into your own hands and make something out of the month. For me this means celebrating a year in some great, hilarious, sad and terrible movies. There were some beautiful movies like Warhorse, highly anticipated, childhood ending films like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 as well as some wonderful performances like those in My Week with Marilyn, The Artist and The Help. We saw a year of entertaining films like Midnight in Paris and funny ones like Friends with Benefits. As always we had many romcoms, some wonderful like Crazy Stupid Love and others were not so wonderful. Who can forget the amazing laugh-out-loud hilarious film that was Bridesmaids? How about all the action movies, Captain America, Thor and Transformers 3 to name a few. I think all in all 2011 wasn’t too bad for film!

We’ve finally reached the end of our countdown: less than a week to go until The Oscars! This is the final recipe that I will be serving at my party - you can’t have a party celebrating movies without popcorn. This popcorn is on the savory side, topped with butter and Parmesan cheese means it’s a little decadent and so satisfying. I’m always looking for new ways to spice up popcorn since I watch so many movies.

Parmesan Popcorn
Recipe by Lou

Ingredients

1/2 cup popcorn kernels, popped using your favourite method
1/4 cup melted butter
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
1/8 tsp black pepper

Directions

Toss the popcorn with the melted butter.

Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and black pepper. Serve.

Who else is planning an Oscar Party? I’d love to hear what’s on your menu!

- Lou

Appetizer Meatballs

I know there are others out there like me, we’re the ones who are just not really into the Superbowl. Football isn’t really my thing. I’m more into figure skating, or soccer, or food. Which isn’t a sport, but it should be. So while North America is gearing up for the big game, I’m gearing up for the big night. We’re well on our way to The Oscars; The Critics Choice are a distant memory and The Golden Globes have come and gone, all that’s left is that coveted golden statue, Oscar. You see, there are tons of Oscar categories that unfortunately, go unnoticed. One of my favourite “under the radar” categories is the Best Original Score. Have you ever taken the time to listen to a score? They are beautiful, and they add so much to a film.

It’s only recently that I’ve begun to notice scores, but I’m so glad that I did. Not only are they stunning, they help me concentrate. Everyone has those times when things have to get serious. You throw your hair into a messy bun and set a plan to get all your readings done, or to reply to all of your emails or to write a couple of blog posts. It’s during those times when focusing is necessary that I turn to film scores to help me concentrate. One of my favourite websites, 8tracks.com has amazing playlists of movie scores. This is one of my current favourites as well as this playlist. Also, as you all know I love Harry Potter so naturally, I love listening the Harry Potter scores, they bring back so many memories.

Appetizer Meatballs (makes 40 small meatballs)
Recipe by Lou

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs minced pork
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 egg
1/4 cup flour
2 1/2 tsp paprika
3/4 tsp cayenne
3/4 tsp cumin
3/4 tsp oregano
3/4 tsp black pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients for the meatballs.

Using your hands, roll out 40 small meatballs. Place on a lightly oiled baking sheet.

Cook in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until fully cooked. Serve with toothpicks.

Have a great Superbowl Sunday everyone, I’ll be off listening to my film scores.

- Lou

Shrimp and Vegetable Skewers

So we’re nearing the halfway mark for our award show countdown and the Oscar nominations are finally out – yay! Who’s surprised? Disappointed? Excited? I have to say that I’m a little surprised that Michael Fassbender wasn’t nominated for Shame. I’ve yet to see the movie, but I’ve heard his performance was one of the best of the year. I’m off to see My Week With Marilyn today and am really looking forward to it, having heard great things. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is also on my radar.

Onto the food – this next dish for our Oscar spread are these easy and flavorful Shrimp and Vegetable Skewers. Shrimp for the meat-eaters and vegetables are a vegetarian option, which means that there will be something for everyone at your party. These are also pretty substantial so your guests won’t be hungry. What I love about these skewers is that you can serve them warm, but they also taste amazing when cold. Since both skewers are made with the same marinade, they are really versatile and delicious. My favourite part is the deep flavor of the tomatoes, mmm.

[Have you been keeping up with our Oscar Party recipes? Check out the Olive and Mozzarella Breadsticks and the Seafood Salad.]

Skewers (serves 8 – about 14 skewers.)

Ingredients

Marinade
6 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp melted butter
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 dried basil
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp thyme

Skewers
1 lb bag of raw, deveined peeled shrimp
8 New potatoes
8 pearl onions, peeled
8-10 asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces
12-14 cherry tomatoes

Directions

Preheat oven to 325.

Skewer shrimp onto half of the skewers, and then skewers the vegetables onto the remaining half of the skewers.

Combine the ingredients for the marinade and brush over all skewers.

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Flip skewers and bake for another 15.

These taste great served warm or cold, happy Award Season.

- Lou

Eggplant Salad

Oscar Recipe Roundup

Parmesan Popcorn

Appetizer Meatballs

Shrimp and Vegetable Skewers

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