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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

Roasted Red Pepper Dressing

I go through phases, you could even say obsessions with certain things. Sometimes it’s a movie, or a song, maybe it’s a band or a photographer, perhaps an ingredient or a food is grabbing my attention, but there’s always something. For instance, I’ve had a long time love affair with the films of Wes Anderson and roasted red peppers. Recently, I’ve become obsessed with The Devil Wears Prada.

I caught it on TV the other night, and let’s just say that I watched it at 9:30 and then again at 12. Yep. Officially obsessed, and I want to watch it again tonight. I feel like my film teachers would shake their heads in disgust if I said that I was obsessed with this movie. And my fellow classmates, I don’t even want to know what they would think. I don’t care though because I love it. The best part is that a couple of months ago I was lucky enough to attend a Q&A session with director David Frankel, and perhaps hearing him talk about the process of making The Devil Wears Prada (among his many other films) just made me fall even more in love with the film. Whatever the reason, I’m obsessed. You can’t deny that Meryl’s delivery of Miranda Priestly is just perfect, how she remembers all those lines and delivers them so quickly and with such a frosty demeanor. Love Meryl. Have I mentioned that before?

This salad dressing is packed with flavor. The roasted red pepper adds a nice sweetness and makes the dressing creamy without adding any sour cream or yogurt. I feel like Miranda Priestly would approve of this salad dressing, at least I hope she would!

Roasted Red Pepper Dressing (makes 2/3 cup)
Recipe by Lou

Ingredients

1 roasted red pepper
1/2 clove garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/8 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp basil

Directions

Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and pulse until combined.

Now that is a delicious salad dressing that is perfect for Meatless Mondays.

Do you think Miranda Priestly would approve?

- Lou

Seafood Salad

The Golden Globes are tomorrow night which means one thing: Award Show Season is finally here! After a year packed of movie watching, we can finally see what movies are on the road and destined for Oscar glory. I always try to see most of the movies nominated in the award show season circuit and this year we have a great crop of films. We’ve got some of the big guys back this year, Scorsese with Hugo and Spielberg with Warhorse and Tintin. I’m going to see Hugo in a couple of hours, but I’ve seen Warhorse and it was just beautiful. It should be a strong contender for the cinematography awards. I highly recommend it.

Have you seen any great films this year? The Help (just won 3 Critics Choice Awards) was one of my favourites. A beautiful story was turned into a film that had all the right notes. I laughed and cried, was angry and happy, and in the end, I emerged from the theater seeing some awards on the horizon for Viola Davies and Octavia Spencer. And then Meryl shows up. It’s going to be a tight race this year, with the ever amazing, and my favourite actress, Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg in the race for Best Actress. The Golden Globes will be a great precursor to who is going to get those coveted Oscar nominations, I’ll bet on Meryl getting a nomination. She’s an Academy favourite, she’s had 16 nominations.

I won’t even touch on Best Actor. How someone can pick between Clooney, DiCaprio, Gosling and Pitt is beyond me. They are all my favourites. With special attention going to Leo and Ryan. We’re on a first name basis. Yep…I wish.

Alright, enough blabbering about film, let’s get to the recipe. So here’s the deal. I love to host Oscar parties. I spend hours picking out my Oscar menu, the way some spend hours picking out their Superbowl menus. This year I have six recipes to share that I will be serving at my Oscar party, and I will be posting them weekly up until The Big Night; along with some thoughts on the race, the films and of course the style! The first recipe in the spread is a Seafood Salad, a little fancy and delicious.

Seafood Salad (serves 6)
Recipe by Lou

Ingredients

For the salad

1 cup diced red pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
2/3 lb frozen raw seafood medley, thawed
1/2 lb frozen precooked shrimp, thawed
1/2 cup chopped Kalamata olives
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

Dressing

4 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
2 tbsp dried basil
1/4 tsp hot chili flakes
2 tbsp chopped sundried tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tbsp capers, chopped

Directions

Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the red peppers and cook for 5-8 minutes.

Next, add the raw seafood medley to the pan and continue cooking with red peppers for 5-7 minutes.

Remove from heat, pour into a bowl and add the chopped olives and tomatoes.

Meanwhile, prepare the dressing by whisking together all of the dressing ingredients.

Pour over salad ingredients, stirring to coat. Cover and set in the fridge for at least 2 hours for flavors to combine.

Who else is planning on throwing an Oscar party? Looking for menu ideas? Check Living Lou weekly for a new Oscar Party recipe!

- Lou

Coleslaw

I’ve recently rediscovered my love for coleslaw. I find that it’s such a good snack to have in the fridge at all times because it’s just so tasty. This recipe is a variation of the recipe my great grandmother, or Nana as we called her, would make. She was an awesome cook, and a pretty stellar lady herself. She never ran out of stories of her days growing up in Northern Ontario, and her many siblings. She would always be drinking her beer, and somehow, despite her small stature she could eat more than all of us. She never failed to order dessert, one of her favourites was the apple crumble.

It was pretty ironic that I stumbled upon her hand written recipe card the other day, a recipe which she had written down for my mom back in 1989. It was only last week that I had been thinking about how delicious her coleslaw was, and finding this recipe was definitely something I welcomed with open arms. It really is one of the best I’ve ever tasted, I find that it has the perfect balance between tangy and sweet. Try out the recipe for yourself and let me know what you think.

Nana’s Coleslaw (makes 6 cups of coleslaw)
Recipe adapted from my Nana’s by Lou

Ingredients

1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup +1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp celery salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup water
6 cups of shredded cabbage
1 shredded carrot

Directions

In a small saucepan, bring olive oil, sugar, vinegars, salt, spices and water to a boil. Boil for 30 seconds and remove from heat.

This recipe makes about 1 1/2 cups of dressing. Personally, I like my coleslaw to be drenched with dressing, but start by pouring 1 cup of dressing, and adding the other 1/2 cup if you want to. Toss to coat.

Enjoy your coleslaw, I’m going to have a bowl right now.

- Lou

Summer Salad

Who doesn’t love a good salad in the summer? It’s light, cool, and requires no use of the stove. Sounds like a winner to me! With both Independence Day and Canada Day behind us, and after all the burgers, macaroni salad, potato salad and hot dogs, and then we can’t forget the pies, cupcakes and cookies, I think we all need a little salad in our lives. And I mean real salad, not the cream loaded, potato and macaroni versions we’re so fond of during these summer months.

Sometimes sharing a recipe for a salad can be kind of pointless, I mean duh, lettuce and cucumber plus oil and vinegar = obvious. But this salad, is one of my favourites. It combines simple ingredients that we all have on hand to create the ideal main course salad. There’s protein from the beans, flavor from the roasted red peppers, capers and sun dried tomatoes, and the dressing is an all around winner. And the best part about this salad, not only is it vegetarian but it’s vegan too! I know some people are afraid that vegan food is bland, but let me tell you, this salad does not skimp on the flavor. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Summer Salad (serves 4)
Recipe by Lou

Indredients

1 roasted red pepper, chopped (see post, How to Roast a Red Pepper)
1 19 oz can bean medley, drained and washed
1 1/2 – 2 inch piece of cucumber
1 green onion, finely sliced
3 cups baby spinach
1/4 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes
1 tbsp capers
salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste

For the dressing:

2 1/2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano

Directions

To make the dressing, in a small bowl, squeeze lemon. Drizzle in olive oil, whisking to combine. Whisk in the oregano.

In a large bowl, stir roasted red pepper, and bean medley together. Cover with dressing and toss to coat. Add remaining ingredients and serve. Season with salt and freshly cracked pepper.

Enjoy this salad, sometimes I like to change it up and throw a few hot pepper flakes and avocado in there as well. This summer salad is a fabulous base to let your imagination run wild.

- Lou

Eggplant Salad

Roasted Red Pepper Dressing

Seafood Salad

Coleslaw

Summer Salad

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