It was warm and sunny and I headed down to the garden to find some hot peppers for a recipe I was making. Red cherry tomatoes danced in the summer breeze and I couldn’t resist picking the ripe ones. I … Continue reading
Giant fluffy snowflakes are drifting out of a grey sky this afternoon. It’s one of my favorite kind of days really, when everything gets canceled because of the snow and all I have to do is do whatever I feel like doing.
But today I’m feeling that wanderlust itch. Today, I’d happily give up my beloved snowflakes to be transported to Gimmelwald in the Swiss Alps, Haarlem’s bicycle busy cobbled streets in the Netherlands, or the Cinque Terre along the Tyrrhenian Sea in Italy.
On snow days I read blog posts like this and this and the gorgeous pictures of far away places make me smile and cry at the same time. Maybe it helps cure the travel bug bite… maybe it makes it worse.
It’s funny how the senses can take you back in time to a specific place. Pictures, food, music, and smells – they all do that to me. I love it. The smell of Torani Hazelnut syrup takes me right back to the counter of the Rocky Mountain Candy Factory in Georgetown, CO. Steven Curtis Chapman’s “Not Home Yet” finds me driving in the wee hours of the morning on lonely highways through Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. And the combination of kalamata olives, tomatoes and feta cheese? Well, you know where that’s headed…
I found these adorable mini eggplants at the market for 10 cents a piece, that’s right, 2 bucks for all 20 of them…
…And I thought to myself (Well, I don’t know, maybe I said it out loud right to the produce guy placing them in the bins), these would be perfect stuffed.
Slice in half and place on a baking sheet. Sprinkle on the olive oil, salt and pepper and roast @ 375 for about 20 minutes.
Scoop out the insides with a spoon (I used my melon baller-dilly-wopper-thing.). Place the shells back on the pan.
Chop the flesh into small pieces and put in a bowl. Add some chopped tomatoes, green onions, kalamata olives, feta cheese and cooked quinoa.
How about some fresh oregano if you have some? Oregano is pretty tough stuff. Mine is living through it’s second winter.
Season with olive oil, pepper and more salt if needed.
Spoon into eggplant skins and top with Parmesan cheese.
Bake at 350 until the cheese is melted on top and it’s warm throughout – about 15 minutes.
May the flavors transport you to your favorite Mediterranean getaway!
And where would that be?
Stir It Up! 