march 29th. Farfalle with parsley and olive oil. Eggplant and zucchini stew. roasted asparagus

Phoebe Brooks, daughter of Lena and Julian turned two months old yesterday.  Julian is back at work, Lena home with baby is immersed in the quest for the perfect schedule and easy nap.

We had a lunch date today, so I got to start the day chopping eggplant and zucchini (still working on emptying the refrigerator-hoping to have it empty enough for a close to bare-naked photo later this week).  I was thinking some kind of simple pasta with garlic and parsley--with an assortment of other vegetables that could be eaten either on the side, or on top.

I had a small eggplant, a large zucchini, and two orange peppers deep in the fridge which I made into some sort of stew.  I'll write it exactly as I made it--but all proportions could vary widely with fine results.

INGREDIENTS:
One Eggplant
One Large or two small zucchini, cut into 1 inch pieces
One Large Onion, cut roughly into one-two inch pieces
Two Orange Peppers, cut into one inch pieces
One pint Roasted Tomatoes
Two Tablespoons capers
Two Tablespoons golden raisins
Olive Oil
salt, pepper
smoked paprika

I started by roasting the tomatoes.  I can never have too many roasted tomatoes, but you could just use canned tomatoes.

While the tomatoes are in the oven (if you choose that aromatic path), heat the olive oil, lightly brown the onion, add the peppers, and when both are cooked, put them into a heavy casserole--and brown the eggplant and zucchini.  When they are browned and soft--add them to the casserole along with the roasted tomatoes, season with salt and pepper and  smoked paprika and cook for 10-20 minutes, adding the capers and raisins for the last five minutes or so.

Lunch with Lena

I would have made a simple garlic and parsley sauce for the farfalle, but Lena requested no garlic, so I just cooked the pasta and tossed it with a bit of olive oil and chopped parsley.

I also roasted asparagus. This is a staple, and I thought I'd written this long ago, but perhaps I didn't. It's not that difficult to roast any vegetable--but asparagus might be the easiest.  I break off the bottoms (snapping where they naturally break), put a bit of olive oil in a jelly roll pan, roll the stalks around--and roast at around 400 degrees. Length of cooking varies--depending on the size of the stalks, and whether or not you want to crisp them.  Start checking after seven or eight minutes.  When they're done to your liking--remove from heat, top with salt, pepper, lemon juice and a few shavings of parmesan--and there you are.  I also made a salad and there was of course left-over key-lime pie.  Many tupperware containers packed into a tote bag.